Litfiba
17 Re

Anno Domini 1986. After 6 years of career, one album, a soundtrack for a theatrical performance, a 45 rpm single, and three EPs, Litfiba decided to take a significant quality leap. As their second album, they courageously decided to release a double LP consisting of 16 tracks (as the title suggested, there should have been 17, but the title track was excluded before the release). Everything about this album makes it one of the masterpieces of Italian rock of all time: the fantastic arrangements crafted by Francesco Magnelli and Gianni Maroccolo, the visionary lyrics of Piero Pelù (never again as inspired after "17 Re"), the cohesive rhythm section of Maroccolo-De Palma, and the soundscapes created by Antonio Aiazzi's keyboards and Ghigo Renzulli's essential guitars.

It stands as the second episode of the "Trilogia del Potere", between "Desaparecido" (1985) and "Litfiba 3" (1988), and thus the themes addressed are renewed: anti-militarism, rejection of military service, criticism of established power and society.

The 16 songs contained in the album differ greatly in style: from the more typically new-wave pieces to the post-punk attacks, to the sweet ballads, concluding finally with the new-wave frenzy of "Ferito," the epitaph of a genre that would no longer see great masterpieces after this album.

Finding a hair in the egg, the only flaw of this work lies in the voice, still not mature, of Piero Pelù. On the whole, however, it is not noticeable, and "17 Re" remains a masterpiece: the beauty of songs like "Apapaia," "Come un Dio," the already mentioned "Ferito," "Gira nel mio Cerchio" (which immediately became classics of the Florentine band) or "Sulla Terra" and "Oro Nero," make listening to the album a pleasure for anyone; any detractor of Litfiba will be disproven after a careful listening to "17 Re."