Jovanotti
Lorenzo 2005: Buon Sangue

THE REVIEW

Do you remember that handsome young man (a term from which his very original name derives) who used to jump from right to left (first to the right and then to the left) like a crazed monkey shouting "viva l'America", someone who would wipe his ass with the stars and stripes flag, and then morphed into some sort of rap Che Guevara? Well, this handsome Jovanotti is back! Specifically, in 2005 with an album that, despite my disgust for some of his previous works, I thoroughly enjoyed.

Before talking about this album, I would like to briefly recount some episodes from the "strange" career of this artist. What amazes me about Jovanotti is his special peculiarity of being able to alternate between gold and crap! His persona is synonymous with mystery, on one side there's the lad giggling on stage with a shameful Italian rap that fully offends the entire music world, a guy who spouts a mountain of colossal nonsense like "it's raining, hear how it's raining, oh my, how it's raining" a song through which I learned to swear, because guess what I said after "hear how it's raining"? It's impossible not to swear in front of such nonsense, "I want to go home... where's the home" "bricklayer, bricklayer builds walls, the bricklayer" "no Vasco, I won’t fall for it" sometimes you feel like climbing on stage while he's singing this nonsense, punching him in the head, and yelling in his ear "Go get a jobbbbbbb"... but... but then... On the other side, there's the splendid lyricist, a composer of classy melodies, a kind of rap poet who manages to captivate you with the deep meaning of his words, an artist who has the courage to experiment with new sounds mixing various musical influences and offer you gems like " serenata rap" "mi fido di te" "la linea d'ombra", and then you wonder... But what kind of artist is Jovanotti? But perhaps his specialty is precisely this, not belonging to a precise genre, thus being able to reach a more or less diverse audience.

This versatility of his and his desire to experiment with new rhythms has led him to conceive this album with the captivating title "Buon sangue" which two years ago caught many of his fans and others, including me, by surprise, due to its unprecedented sonic impact in a Jovanotti album.

As a pure lover of electronic music, I was particularly impressed by Lorenzo Cherubini's choice to include this musical genre in his album, sure, some electronic sounds were also present in his previous works, but in this case, his musicians almost completely dedicated themselves to this art form, churning out catchy and engaging tracks, starting with what became the summer hit of 2005 "Tanto" which despite the horrible lyrics (a sort of interview made up of back-and-forth dialogue between him and him, really rubbish) presented a rap/electronic rhythm of considerable class and sonic involvement (the guitar riff mid-song is very beautiful) that showed a Jovanotti different from usual, closer to the Dance Floor than the rhythmic/melodic rap we were used to with previous records. The rhythmic/electronic songs in this album are great fun and qualitatively excellent! The well-crafted and refined sounds, range from pure rhythm (rap, disco, psychedelia, there's something for everyone) to sweet, smooth, and velvety sounds, the engaging and powerful bass line in the robust "Penelope" should be mentioned, a fiery rap song that reminds us of the best Jovanotti ever but in an updated key, a piece that's hard to stop dancing to on your living room table. Very gritty and lively are also "Falla Girare" and the club-like "Coraggio" with its Techno/Tribal/rap intertwines.

Also noteworthy are the romantic ballads where our Lorenzo brings out his beautiful words as a poet, the beautiful "Mi fido di te" is perhaps one of the highest episodes of his career, a deep song full of meaning... just as "Una storia d'amore" showcases a remarkable artistic maturity of our darling, to the point that for a moment (I wouldn't want to exaggerate) I felt like comparing him to great Italian singer-songwriters like de André and Venditti... But then... how can one dare such a comparison when in his "Penelope" he comes up with "if I eat two chickens and you none, statistically we've eaten one each" or even "stir the minestrone, otherwise it sticks, water this plant, otherwise it dries, open the window and let the wind in" !!!!!!!! But then I say, is this guy just playing at it? How is it possible to go from a wonderful romantic song full of meanings and musically valid to a sample of phrases so nonsensical they'd make Leone di Lernia envious? But I repeat... Jovanotti is like this! Either you love him or you hate him... I'm one of those who feels both emotions! As a character, he's always given me the impression of a big trickster who plays at being political and socially committed just to be a bit "alternative" which is so trendy today.

'Buon Sangue' is an album characterized by excellent sounds and presents a remarkable mix of various genres, especially electronics, beyond its author whom we all love and we all hate, I highly recommend this album to all those who want to have a good time with friends or want to dedicate some beautiful romantic songs to their partner ("mi fido di te" is highly recommended for young lovers).
Except for some aberrant phrases and some ridiculous raps, 'Buon Sangue' is an engaging and excellently played album, on a sonic level perhaps it's his best mixing work. An album that in my opinion would have deserved a much higher rating... but unfortunately... during the listen, there's someone named Lorenzo who keeps spouting nonsense.