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Post-atomic caresses infused with a genuinely Tuscan rage. European impulses without ever denying the roots. A piercing need for expression to demonstrate that rock is an attitude before it's music. The good family that stifles a restless, thoroughbred character as in the best Palio tradition. Siena, a suit too tight, hence the escape; first to Milan, immediately a second skin; the grind with the first important encounters in the off-circuit; then the disappointment of that dreamed and idealized America; finally Berlin, the city where anything can happen - and at the time it truly happened - for the final consecration.
La Gianna (strictly with the article before the name) arrives in the German capital in 1982 and immediately enters the circle of artists of the Berlin avant-garde; for a while, she shares an apartment with a young and eccentric London musician named Ann Lennox, who shortly will become the lady of Eurythmics; however, it’s the encounter with Conny Plank, a highly acclaimed producer and inventor of krautrock (responsible for the sounds of Kraftwerk’s production up to "Autobahn") that changes her life and consequently her career. 5 years of collaboration and 5 years of successive successes; until 1987, when Plank will die of cancer at just 47 years old. The international imprint of the German producer perfectly blends with the Italian melodic sensitivity of the Sienese artist, and "Latin Lover" is the (first) clear proof of it. The track that gives the album its title, now a classic of Italian music, is an energetic rock, characterized by a straight beat and lyrics that ironically play on the stereotypes of the Latin male, on which Gianna's husky and scratchy voice emerges with power and assertiveness. Another memorable episode is represented by “Carillon”, an intense and poignant memory of a love, highlighted by poetic lyrics, among “scents of incense, cigarettes, and chocolates”; the piece starts quietly and then explodes in all its pathos. Then there are the very fast-paced and angry “Primadonna” and “Amore amore”, in which irony – always one of the trademarks of the Sienese artist – reigns supreme; “Wagon-lits” is the story of a clandestine adventure on a train, while the hypnotic and anxiety-inducing “Fumetto” seems like a Sin City ahead of its time. There is, therefore, the opening to the new millennium with the futuristic “Volo5/4”, among “Gods via radio and Gods of the future”, leading up to the “total” piece, one of the points of no return in Italian song; “Ragazzo dell’Europa”. On a musical carpet that truly speaks of Europe, of travels, of fights and alcohol, Gianna, in this quasi-self-portrait, narrates the restlessness and the continual need for new challenges. The song is a small great miracle; simply tear-jerking.
The album achieves great success, also thanks to first-rate musicians, including Mauro Pagani and Annie Lennox on keyboards. For the definitive international consecration, we have to wait another 2 years, when the melancholy of “Fotoromanza” will invade all of Europe; what is already evident, however, is that when talking about Italian female rock, one cannot disregard - even now - Gianna Nannini, an artist who in 33 years of honorable and glorious career has given and continues to give shining examples of great music.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Primadonna (03:49)
Ti guardo in giro e lo sai
sei proprio l'unico ormai
mi cammini mi cambi
mi produci anche i sogni
mi fai essere stereo
tu mi rubi il respiro
mi prepari il terreno
io sono solo un'idea
per la tua platea
tu mi inventi e mi dai
ogni giorno mi fai
salire sempre più in alto
tu che mi mandi in onda
non vuoi stare nell'ombra
Primadonna
non lo so non lo so
non lo so non lo so non so se questo è amore
Primadonna
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show scarica le pistole
e lasciati toccare
lasciati sfogare
come una vera star
Primadonna
tu mi sai a memoria
mi cuci addosso una storia asciugami e clichè
sempre pronti per me sulla tua scrivania
tu che metti la faccia
nella mia fotografia poi mi stampi a colori
mi vendi senza gilet
mi elettrizzi col flash
donna rock e bignè
da buttare alla stampa
tu che sbatti la sedia.
sai godere nell'ombra
Primadonna
non lo so non lo so
non lo so non lo so non so se questo è amore
Primadonna
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show scarica le pistole
e lasciati toccare
lasciati sfogare
come una vera star
Primadonna
Primadonna
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show scarica le pistole
Primadonna
non lo so non lo so
non lo so non lo so non so se questo è amore
Primadonna fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show
fai il tuo show scarica le pistole
04 Latin Lover (04:37)
Sangue caldo profumo da sballo
Medaglioni sotto la t-shirt
Marlon Brando questioni di tango
Mette in vendita il tuo sex-appeal
Ogni notte cambi faccia cambi stile cambi parole
Latin lover, latin lover
Sigarette fumate di fretta
Gli occhi frugano nei decoltés
Vedi Ornella muta muta
Che si cuce la bocca per te
Mentre tu stai cambiando macchina
Cambiando motore
Latin lover, latin lover
Latin lover, latin lover
Stai con le tue foto
Stai con I tuoi trucchi
Stai sull'orlo della notte
Stai coi tuoi disegni
Stai con le tue storie storte
Sull'orlo della notte
"Bella bimba bella bimba
Non restare così sola al sole
Latin lover"
Bere forte mischiare le carte
Per vedere quello che non c'è
Fa l'amore allo specchio
Di notte col suo negligé
Ogni volta cambi stile cambi dieta
Cambi emozione
Latin lover, latin lover
Jenny è fuori di testa stasera
Non capisce perché sei così
Beve birra non parla di guerra
Vuole il feeling subito
Mentre tu non hai voglia
Non hai voglia più di questa canzone
Latin lover, latin lover
Latin lover, latin lover
Stai con le tue foto
"Bella bimba bella bimba
Non restare così sola al sole
Latin lover"
Stai con le tue foto
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Latin Lover is one of her most edgy and dark albums, very electronic and experimental, yet with a voice always attentive to melody.
This album is very different from the others by Nannini, perhaps not the most beautiful but certainly the most interesting, especially for those who love electronics.
