Litfiba
Croce e Delizia

THE REVIEW

Well, the Litfiba. The "real" Litfiba. Quite a few years ago (I think it was 1998, during the World Cup), I had glued the lyrics of "Regina di cuori" cut out from Tutto (a must, by the way, they don't publish it anymore, did you know???). I liked it because it reminded me of the mythical group of friends. One of them lent me the cassette of "Mondi sommersi". It made me want to discover more and go backward because I had only heard of them from others until then, and I knew there was something else. I went to a record store and found out there were no greatest hits or official compilations. Indecisive about which album to choose among El Diablo, Terremoto, and Spirito (I admit I got momentarily distracted by Ricky Martin as well, oh "La copa de la vida" was the hit!), I saw this and said "Alright, let's take it". Listened to it no more than a couple of times, it ended up shelved, supplanted by much more polished and glamorous CDs that Pelù & Renzulli churned out later. Then death, crazy bulls, and boomerang bombs on one side and electrowitchcraft and golden rooms on the other. A few weeks ago, the rediscovery. Damn, the rough rock of the big guitars still goes with so much pleasure.

This is a double CD with live recordings dating back to the early '90s, with Pelù at the helm of a machine grinding out awesome sounds. In some riffs they seem like the most powerful Guns, live arrangements extremely engaging, Piero rallying the applauding crowd with a voice at the peak of expressive power. The booklet describes all the details of those concerts and the formations that revolved around the two (I don't want to make a huge mistake but I think even Captain Fede Poggipollini "turned" with them), the tracklist is truly remarkable. None of their hits are missing, from all their "eras": they smoothly transition from "Fata morgana" to "Proibito", from "Spirito" to "El Diablo", from "Goccia a goccia" to "Soldi". In total, 20 tracks for a sonic journey into the history of the group that embodies true Italian rock, even today when it practically no longer exists. Absolutely listen to the versions of "Cangaceiro" (impressive), "Sparami" and "Lacio drom". Alone, they are worth, if not the purchase (but it's not wasted money), at least the download of this double.

After this, anthologies galore have rained on the shelves, doubles and triples even at mid-price made of random audio tracks mixed together to take advantage of the emotional wave of the breakup, but none, and I underline none, reaches the level of "authenticity" of this live where the Litfiba's connection with the audience, the stage, the rock is so palpable that it seems to catapult you into a live dimension that is past and never to return. Now it's back in heavy rotation in the car and at home because what's now history must not be forgotten...