Litfiba
Litfiba 3

I set out with the goal of not reviewing more than one work by the same artist, but here it gets really tough; having to choose among one of the three masterpieces by Litfiba (the so-called Trilogy, namely Desaparecido, 17 Re, and Litfiba 3) is a bit like forcing a child to declare whether they love their mom, dad, or sibling more. Within the Trilogy, I choose Litfiba 3, not without difficulty; afterwards, the band will change genre, shifting from New Wave to a much more commercial rock, under the precise directive of the CGD stable (the label that acquired the small IRA), which requested a more rock-oriented, commercial sound more suitable for penetrating the market on a large scale. From that moment, the Florentine boys will gain immense popularity, but in my opinion, they will lose the fascinating sound of the early years; I must not have been the only one to think so, as the two creative geniuses of the band (Antonio Aiazzi and especially Gianni Maroccolo) will leave the group, leaving the reins to frontman Piero Pelù and guitarist Ghigo Renzulli (in reality, Aiazzi remained as an "external", no longer a direct member).
As mentioned, I choose to review Litfiba 3, which follows the wonderful Desaparecido and 17 Re (amazing albums that everyone should own), because in my opinion, with this record, the band reaches full maturity, a bridge between their initial New Wave and a more progressive rock, still extremely sharp and refined; the ideas carried forward by Aiazzi and Maroccolo's minds are ingenious, while Pelù reaches his peak, as a matured frontman aware of his incredible means with a grandiose performance, capable of stirring emotions from the first to the last note. Central is the political theme, starting with the cover photo, denouncing a potential execution by death penalty on racial grounds of a colored person in Florida. The first track is "Santiago", an indictment of Pope John Paul II visiting the then Chilean dictator Pinochet, followed by the beautiful "Amigo" which the band will dedicate to drummer Ringo De Palma; then comes the theme of protest against the death penalty again with the heart-wrenching ballad "Lousiana"; the fourth track "Ci sei solo tu", also featuring one of the rare guitar solos in which Renzulli hints that he's not there by chance, he's not a top-level guitarist but he's certainly characterized by an unmistakable sound. The protest against war continues in the fantastic "Paname", partially in French (although Pelù is not completely fluent in it) to pay homage to the protest held just over the Alps. The second side of the record opens with the beautiful "Cuore di vetro", where the band starts to explore a more rock sound, followed by "Tex", which again shows the soul defending the most vulnerable, in this case against the genocide of Native Americans; an even more beautiful version of this song in the studio will be the one in the semi-live Pirata, where Pelù will offer a truly exhilarating performance. The eighth track is "Peste", with a slow and repetitive motif, which at first doesn't excite, but on closer listening stands up to the superlative level of the record; from the slow rhythm, it suddenly moves to the lively "Corri", which again starts to wink at a more rock-oriented soul that the band is slowly acquiring. The last piece of the record is "Bambino", a story of Pelù's own childhood, closing this immense masterpiece. It is absolutely necessary to have all three records of the Trilogy, in addition to the live Aprite i vostri occhi. Before the band's change of direction, which will begin with El Diablo, there will be a swan song, with a heavily tampered studio live, namely Pirata, which I don't feel like pushing too much, it certainly isn't bad, but you can already start to hear the first changes, yet two stunning versions of "Tex" and "Lousiana" are still noteworthy, so why not. Iwon't comment much on the continuation of the band, maybe they partly conformed to the label's directives and maybe this change was already brewing inside them in some way, but at least they could have avoided revamping some past masterpieces in their later guise, but certainly nothing will ever erase the emotions that the Trilogy gave me.