Faust'O
Poco zucchero

POCO ZUCCHERO- FAUST'O

Second Derecensione, I chose to review Faust'O's second album after reviewing Love Story. This album was made for Caterina Caselli's Ascolti, a satellite of the much more known CGD. I just listened to this album again with headphones to have a clear and impactful opinion. The first track of the album is "Vincent Price" written by Oscar Avogadro, which is a rendition of a Sparks song; this song is very catchy but I don't consider it a real Faust'O song. Moving on to the second track, which is "Cosa Rimane," here you can already feel New Wave influences, like Devo; Faust'O's singing has changed a lot compared to Suicidio. The falsettos, which I really loved, are gone. The lyrics are among the best on the album, as they talk about the prison that is life, in a declaimed manner. Then we move on to the third track, "Attori Malinconici," which starts with a drop loop. This track is one of the highlights of the album as it is beautiful, taking on a life of its own, with words intertwining with the melody in a syncopated manner. Next, we have "Oh!Oh!Oh!," a radio-friendly song made to be played on the radio, breaking the album's previously followed logic; the track is fun and very danceable, with some reggae hints, and it did very well upon release. Finished side A, side B begins with the fifth track, "In Tua Assenza." I'll say something unusual: I prefer "Lipstick" to "In Tua Assenza," given the similarities, also because "In Tua Assenza" has copied the lyrics from David Bowie's "Breaking Glass." If the lyrics had been more reworked, I would have let it pass, but as it stands, this is not possible. Track six is "Kleenex," the best track on the album in my opinion; between this version and the single one, I prefer this without even thinking about it. His voice in this piece is more incisive and confident than usual, which is noticeable and adds to the song. The synths in this track are wonderful, really innovative for Italy at the time; the album is about to end, with only two tracks left: "Il Lungo Addio" and "Funerale A Praga": "Il Lungo Addio" is not a plagiarism of Ultravox, I want to start with this since I have read many saying it's a plagiarism of "Hiroshima Mon Amour." At the beginning, there is a citation, but it ends there; in the way the songs evolve, there is absolutely no correlation. Moreover, the lyrics here are among the best of Faust'O from the seventies, as they deal with depression and dissatisfaction in a spot-on way. As for "Funerale A Praga," I want to say that perhaps it was among the songs that the production touched because towards the end, it veers a bit into prog, the lyrics are really beautiful, more rarefied than the previous. If I have to sum up, this album suffers from a few tracks; for this reason, I believe it is his most incomplete album, and then his poetics are watered down by too many Anglophone citations, by pieces written by others, and by pieces for the radio. Without a doubt, it served to mature Faust'O, so it was not wasted at all. If you want to listen to just one song, I recommend "Kleenex."