Gemelli Diversi
Fuego

It's October 2002 when Gemelli Diversi, an emerging rap group in the Italian scene, releases an album with a title that would prove to be perfect for the following summer: "Fuego," a record with catchy choruses and original rap-style lyrics, which describe a bit of all the situations you encounter in life (especially in love) and the way of thinking and acting you have when you're young. I must say that this album needs to be listened to at a young age, as I don't think one would have the inclination to deeply appreciate the whole work in later years.

After two intros that already set the atmosphere of the CD, we hear "Tu no," which is also their first single released for the radio. The song talks about old flames, with names and all, of an old Playboy who, this time, has found the right girl, different from the others, realizing over time that with her it's not just about sex, but true love. Right after that, here is the emblematic song of the entire work (and perhaps of their whole future discography): "Mary". Who among you hasn't listened to the splendid words of this song during the summer of 2003? Mary is a girl who has suffered from past sexual abuse and violence from her father, in front of a mother who always stood aside. Now the father is dead "Mary stares at his tombstone, shedding tears is impossible". Various versions of this single (top of the Italian charts for 8 months) came out, including a disco version. If everything had ended after these pieces, we would already be satisfied compared to the previous 3 albums by Gemelli. But instead, the colors increase: here's "Whisky e Margarita", little known because it was never released as a single, but in my view remains one of the most beautiful and original songs of "Fuego". Beautiful, first of all, for its sounds, with almost Spanish-like guitars on a hip-hop base, and then, of course, for the usual chorus that sticks in your head. But the real beauty once again remains the originality of the text. It is a dialogue in a bar between a man who is suddenly and definitively left by his girlfriend and the bartender friend of the man who does everything to cheer him up with pearls of wisdom having had a similar experience; that's it. The third track released is "Tu corri!", another rap ballad where it's the adolescents running after their dreams, in this case, it's about trying to become a footballer. After all, running is nothing else but a metaphor for life, when you are a kid and you look for role models to imitate to become big. This theme will be picked up later and more harshly in "Falsi eroi".

The seventh song really is "Fuego": it's called "Quella cosa" and is truly the sincerest love (maybe sex) song as the speaker says during the intro. Which one of us heterosexual men has never let himself be carried away by "that thing"??? "I love your dark hair, how you move it but I go out...for that thing. Call them dirty thoughts but if you touch me I no longer think of your eyes...but of that thing" more sincere than that. As you can see, the album ranges from one theme to another: from the tenderness and moving story of "Mary", to the fun of "Quella cosa"....from the illusory "Tu corri!" until reaching the eighth track: "Chillin'". The particularity of "Chillin'" is that the text is partly in Italian and partly in English. Chillin' is according to Grido, Strano, and Thema the mental state of a young man, living in tranquility and not a troublemaker. In my humble opinion, certainly not a gem this one, possibly damaged by the English chorus not up to the others. But as we go on we enter a cooler and lighter atmosphere. Here you listen to "Per sempre", a beautiful love song embellished with touches of acoustic guitar. "Per sempre" is the classic piece to dedicate to a girl you are truly in love with. The next "Il momento perfetto" takes us into idyllic and almost surreal themes, moments you live when you are tête-à-tête with nature and your beloved. But I don't want to spend too many words on this, instead saving them for "Sola", the calmest of the entire album but not for this reason bad, on the contrary... excellent chorus and carefree lyrics addressed to a woman who grows even without her partner, but who as she goes on without him will realize she will remain "Sola". Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one....and here comes the next "Un mondo senza sogni" another track about illusions, a recurring theme of "Fuego" hence why I talked about listening to a young audience or at maximum the Peter Pan syndrome effect. The fact is that we all when young think that the world is made just for us, feeling almost immortal, but as we grow, dreams become nothing but utopias.

"Tutto il calore che c'è" is yet another song about love, but it's worth highlighting the guitar and piano riff that accompanies the entire track, truly chilling. The chorus and the text overall aren't even bad, but from such music one would have expected something more, what a pity! We have already hinted something about "Falsi eroi" and already the title of the track says it all. Perhaps it is the angriest text of the CD, also because the Gemelli are at odds with the "dream makers," the false myths to take as an example "dream makers keep them for yourselves, because I don't need false heroes or gods". Also worth highlighting is the 80s-style solo in the central and final part of the piece, truly applause-worthy! The conclusion couldn't be more perfect: and thus from the magic hat of Gemelli Diversi appears the irreverent and brazen "Noi siamo quelli" dedicated to all those who rebel and seek freedom, those who go to sleep when others wake up, who forget what they've eaten, in short... the "Siamo solo noi" hip-hop version. The beauty of "Noi siamo quelli" is the usual chorus, sung in this case also by a children's choir.

I will surely be criticized because we're talking about Gemelli Diversi, and they're not a group loved by the nostalgic rockers of which DeBaser is chock-full and post-60's music, but I only expressed my review because I felt like doing it, having listened to this album again last night after several years, and having been genuinely moved despite not really loving this group, quite the opposite actually! However, I liked the album and I still adore it today, maybe because it reminds me of the splendid summer of 2003. Anyway, it's just a review and above all... listen to it before commenting!