Kano
Greatest Hits

THE REVIEW

Year: 1990 

The credit goes to Serge Santigo. Without him, I believe I would never have discovered this Italian group founded in 1980 by keyboardist Stefano Pulga and guitarist Luciano Ninzatti, who were later joined by vocalist Glenn White.

All the tracks were composed between 1980 and 1983. But let's proceed in order. As the opening track, we have the (now very famous) "It's a war". Compared to the version we all know, we find guitar, new keyboard riff, and vocals (!!), fantastic. Then follows "Now baby now", disco melodies and falsetto vocals added to vocoder and synth. The third track: "Cosmic voyager", all very beautiful, at least until the chorus begins (obviously in falsetto) which feels a bit like a Christmas carol... let's move on. "Ahjia" an excellent example of disco music, fresh, sunny, and almost "happy", thanks to the funky bass and the vocal. "Super Extra Sexy Sign" is not great... unlike the following "I'm ready", much more refined and convincing: beautiful bassline and well-placed shifts between melodies and between vocoder and the excellent singing.

Let's move on to the second part of the album. It is good to make this division because the first six tracks are from the early period, 1980, while the subsequent ones (except for "Holly Dolly") are from 1983. And the difference is quite noticeable: in "I need love" we find darker atmospheres; "new", "futuristic" sounds, in fact, all instruments are replaced by their electronic counterparts, and falsetto vocals give way to the powerful black voice of Glenn White. "Another Life" is perhaps one of Kano's most famous tracks, strong atmosphere and rich and evocative melodies. With "Ikeya Seki", an entirely instrumental track, strikingly oriental melodies are encountered. "Queen of witches" is a track strongly leaning towards pop that doesn’t quite fit with the previous tracks, with sounds and melodies being too gaudy. "Holly dolly", as previously mentioned, belongs to Kano's early period. Even here, however, the melodies are not the happiest, and the rhythm tires easily, only the guitar riff manages to lift the piece a bit. The last track is a remix by Morris Backer that emphasizes the rhythmic base of the track with a more incisive bass drum... in my opinion, a "avoidable" work.

In conclusion, an interesting journey into 80s sounds.