Gianluca Grignani
Romantico Rock Show

Before starting to talk about the album, I want to highlight a small defect of ours that is entirely Italian. The dear and affectionate habit of mistreating our musicians... we even gave Lucio Battisti a hard time... and forgot Ivan Graziani.

With terrible definitions and a personalized desire for clichés, we give life to prejudice. Yesterday I was in the car driving to familiar areas... We need to spice up the landscape. 250 km of driving always leads me to listen to something new... I put on a record I bought a few days earlier...

The album in question is ''Romantico Rock Show'', the recent album by Gianluca Grignani... the first thing I have in mind is to compare the work with old masterpieces... Like ''Destinazione, Fabbrica di Plastica, Campi di Popcorn, Sdraiato su una nuvola'' etc... Then I let myself go to the present:

''Più veloce del suono'' a classic rhythmic rock piece by Grignani that can shake me, but overall it's just a decent track to start the run... Live, it will surely have its reasons. Well played... 03:06 of good adrenaline directs me to the second track... It comes almost from afar, seems to announce a shy and emotional moment, a carpet of hypnotic sounds, clear and dreamy guitars:

''a volte io lo so che ci devo provare... a volte devo lasciarmi andare''.

It is psychedelia and apparent calm. The lyrics bring you close to his world, a melancholic tunnel... rough guitars perform the tormented arrangement. But only for a moment... Here the scenario expands and makes the listener a victim of a dirty rock but of rare elegance... A technique sensitivity that is moving...

''Sei tu che colpisci forte''

The piece closes with a gospel choir fused with Grignani's refined guitars... Which for the occasion gives us a solo played with the talk box.

The third track is a ballad... Simple, but surprising for the type of composition... There's everything, even the sax... Which gives the piece a slight metropolitan flavor. Linear and full of sound... Urgent drums... The lyrics are homogeneous with the complex...

''io sono sempre stato tuo, tu sei sempre stata mia''

Philosophical without dancing around it too much.

Apart from the first gem mentioned ''Romantico Rock Show'' still in the dish doesn’t feel that scattered nature... The one that in the 90s bewitched his current fans... The sense of solitude, the anger with a taste of tears... The desire to get out of the dark room, and smash the city... Here comes an almost progressive drum intro... Perfect guitars... The piece is ''Il più fragile'', text of an untouchable metric... Almost AOR... Direct without too many added poetic filters... The arrangement is as refined as it is radio-friendly, energetic... Without lightening the tones of the text... Intimate by nature...

I have always thought that to marry the poetry of songwriters with rock, you need more than a genius on your shoulder... To avoid falling into a banal text... Few have succeeded... Grignani has always highlighted this quality... Listen to believe.

''Rimani acqua di mare'', here emerges the great ability to make music. The composition is classic... Adaptable also to the piano, to do justice to the taste of the notes... The maturity of a Grignani looking for someone who is getting lost... The maturity of a Rocker who has always looked beyond. The piece deals with a dramatic moment. When a person is about to leave us... But does not want to go away completely... Remains in our life... Changing only the body... Poetry.

The thing I like most about the album is the desire to experiment... In the past, Grignani has always stood out for his way of whispering things... Even while he was shouting... He musically adopted a more electro-acoustic genre... Perhaps more bluesy... Here one finds a contemporary flavor... A brand new Groove... Perhaps more pumped up... But definitely captivating...

''Sei unica''

(to cite one of the most well-known singles)

I think that in its simplicity of chart pop-rock there’s a moment of Lucio Battisti closer to the masses... at times it reminds me of ''Una donna per amico'' for that ''good good'' way of making rock. The album needs to be discovered...

-''Non ho più fiducia''

-''Amica mia''

-''Un'anno come un'ora''

-''Come solo tu''

-''Le-ro-la''

(an old song taken up with excellent arrangements)

The most important piece of the album is ''allo stesso tempo'' bonus tracks downloadable from iTunes (then included in the deluxe reissue of the album) heir of ''Falco a metà'' rock of mastery... lyrics as genius as touching...

''C'è chi mi ha incontrato al meglio di una situazione

ed invece chi mi ha visto in fondo ad un burrone

ma sai cos'è che c'è, c'è che son contento

perché han giudicato allo stesso tempo''

Written by an author who has always fought for musical freedom, difficult to achieve... The piece opens with an acoustic guitar arpeggio...

Who are the ''Pearl Jam'' on that carpet?

Neil Young?

(it’s important to watch the videoclip to understand its intensity and strength)

No! It is a GRIGNANI TO BE DISCOVERED.

Suspended... Between being a man and being an artist...

It closes with an emotional explosion... The voice becomes hoarse and scratchy... The voice becomes soul. It gets lost and doesn’t want to return anymore... It wants its freedom to be. Made of psychedelic guitars...

I remind you that Grignani has always played almost all the guitars on his albums... Arranging and producing every single note.

Safe travels...