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Liga is out of ideas. Not just now, for a while, though he’s certainly not alone. With nothing left to say (his last album, “Deidicato a noi,” 2023, is beyond comment) he jumps at the chance to ride the anniversary train. It’s the thirtieth year since the release of “Buon compleanno Elvis”: I was 11, I wore out that cassette, and as the years went by I kept loving it—and even now, when I know it by heart, I still enjoy it. Even if I always found the “sound” of ClanDestino more original and authentic than that of the Banda. Details.
“Buon compleanno Elvis 2025” (which was given to me by a now ex-friend, and indeed he’s now an ex) is an account of those sessions, plus some other miscellanea, spread over 3 CDs, but if you really want to hurt yourself (and throw your money out the window), there’s even a 6—I repeat, 6—CD version. It only costs 30 euros: credit where credit’s due, at least they didn’t milk the price (these days, for 6 CDs, Springsteen would charge you at least 300 euros). But, price aside, the substance—the actual content—is the cosmic void. Or worse, an attempt to artificially ruin what, perhaps a bit miraculously, turned out so well so many (too many) years ago.
It starts with our old pal Liga, who, on the first CD, re-sings the entire album, with “new” mixes—so he says. They may be new but it’s basically a carbon copy of the original, with some very minimal rearrangements (which is a problem, since songs like “Seduto in riva al fosso” and “Un figlio di nome Elvis” have lost the Hammond organ lines, which were among the best features of both). With one caveat: Liga’s voice is different, seems more controlled, maybe even a bit more seductive. No, wait, my mistake—it’s just older. And as a result, he drops pretty much every song by a note because, in the end, he just can’t hit them anymore.
The second CD brings us the sessions. Meaning, those tossed-away songs, rejects, melodies that never had strong enough lyrics and then got recycled years and years later. That’s how you discover that “Kay è stata qui” (which would end up on the 1999 album “Miss Mondo”) was originally “Un minuto fa,” a song Liga would only release in 2020. The takeaway: in 1995 a song existed whose lyrics would get a new melody four years later, and that melody would show up again 25 years later with different lyrics. Tutto molto interessante, direbbe Rovazzi, il quale aggiungerebbe “Vuoi che ti mostri il ca... che me ne frega?”, because honestly, who cares. Two previously unreleased tracks that were thrown away at the time: “Scusate sono solo questo qua,” which is the embryo of the later “Sulla mia strada” (again in “Miss Mondo”), musically very minimal, almost nice, shame about a lyric that calling awkward would be a compliment (“C’è chi mi compra col biglietto, ma resta il fatto che si sa, che si sa, scusate sono solo questa qua, se non vi va cercate pure altrove”), and what’s more, some lines were copied word-for-word in “Tra palco e realtà” (which was at least tolerable); “Nati con il vento contro,” which would become “Buon compleanno Elvis” (same music) with different but truly awful lyrics. Then come all—well, almost all—of the tracks from the 1995 album in different arrangements, meaning as they were originally conceived. Can I say something? Maybe not even the most hardcore fans would be interested in this sort of thing, especially when it’s so stretched out.
The third CD is Ligabue channeling De Gregori. He already did this with “Arrivederci mostro”: he re-sang the whole album in an acoustic version. So, let’s do it again. The whole (and I mean the whole) “Buon compleanno Elvis” in a stripped-down version, just guitar and vocals, which according to him brings us closer to what the album was like in the beginning, just as it was born, just like every song in this blessed world starts out: guitar and vocals, or piano and vocals. Then comes the arrangement: but that’s just basic music, come on. I stopped at track two, that was enough for me. In the 6 CD version, this “Naked” ordeal (like “Let it be… Naked”) is stretched out over 2 CDs.
For those who want to go for the complete edition, there is a mini CD with 8 songs (again from the same album) in live 2024 versions. Too bad this so-called “precious” musical treasure isn’t accompanied by the only thing that would really be useful—besides a very helpful survival manual: an oxygen tank.
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