Lucio Battisti
L'apparenza

Let me start right away by saying that this duplicate is needed: one review doesn't really talk about the album but is a kind of "in-depth" look at it, another is a text that, although nice, doesn't talk about the album, and the last one is just a big joke that doesn't do justice to the record at all. That said, here's my approach to discussing L'apparenza. Released in 1988, for some, it's the second of the "white" albums, for others the first (I'm among those who say it's the second "white" album because it seems terribly and unbearably nitpicky to exclude Don Giovanni just because the cover is beige and not white). For some, it’s the masterpiece of the last Battisti, while for others, the worst. Obviously, compared to Don Giovanni, the arrangements become more electronic with some leftover strings popping up here and there, and the lyrics become more elusive and impenetrable. All these elements are already noticeable in the opener A portata di mano, which kicks off with a clash between drums and keyboards and sinks into your ears with lyrics that are hard to follow; in short, it's a race where if you stop for a moment, you get lost. This track is perhaps the most difficult among those on the tracklist, appearing at first as a radio-friendly song but actually being light years away from traditional songwriting. With such an opening, all our intuitions are scattered elsewhere, and we can only blindly continue through the rest of the collection.

Let’s skip over Specchi opposti and Allontanando for a moment (we'll return to them shortly, don't worry) and focus on the title track, L'apparenza: a song that seems to talk about love but doesn't actually talk about love. It begins as a slow and calm dance that becomes pressing in the second half, with a light piano and drums that support the piece second by second, with a sprinkle of keyboards to make everything more "out of this world"; at first, it doesn't make much sense, then by the second listen, we begin to absorb it, by the third we understand the core of the piece, and from the fourth onward, we are captivated, enchanted by this electronic and surreal dance.

Now, we come to the pair that follows the first track: Specchi opposti and Allontanando. These two tracks can easily be the opposite of each other and together form the two sides of the coin of this album: the first is more closely linked to the orchestrations of the previous Don Giovanni, where we also find here lyrics that may or may not talk about love, with a hint of melancholy; or it could simply talk about two people who don't recognize each other, who have opposite reflections but are drawn to each other like the poles of a magnet. Allontanando is the exact opposite: again, lyrics that talk but don't talk about love, this time supported by an arrangement that conveys joy, engaging the listener with a phrase repeated multiple times and managing to stick in one's head as if it were a refrain, only it's not a refrain.

At the beginning of the second part of the album, we find a track often underestimated but better not left in the shadows: Per altri motivi may seem like a filler, a track added to stretch the soup, but that would be a wrong intuition. The arrangement is surprisingly structured, perhaps foreshadowing some dance remnants that will pop up in the next album but here take on a darker turn, accompanied by one of the most beautiful lyrics of the production with Panella, filled with absurd images that the listener themselves will connect listen after listen until forming this kind of surreal painting; a puzzle made up of pieces that apparently can't be joined but, paying attention, one can find unity among all these pieces.

Per nome can be seen as the magnum opus of the album, both for its duration and the piece itself: the lyrics are where the amorous theme is rendered almost explicitly, with an arrangement that manages to be both gentle, due to the strings that play their game especially in the "refrain," and powerful because of that hard and precise drum. It wouldn't have been surprising if it had been released as a single because it has all the trappings of a big single that, with a bit of luck, could also succeed. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, too bad.

We reach the finale with the duo composed of Dalle prima battute and Lo scenario. These two tracks encapsulate the more rock soul of the album: the first has been softened in sound and can't immediately give the idea of a rock piece, but it has the energy and grit of this genre, making it all the more compelling and powerful, even if the lyrics might appear romantic at times. Lo scenario deserves careful listening, especially because its lyrics can effortlessly be the key to understanding the meaning not only of the album but of all of Battisti's "white" production; the arrangement, however, is composed of the meeting between the drums and bass and the keyboards that frame it all: one can already glimpse some flashes of the funk genre, that funk that will bring so much joy four years later in the fabulous C.S.A.R.

Obviously, I recommend to those who have not listened to it to give it at least a chance, because they won't be disappointed at all (maybe). I can also close the review here, as I have already said, don't complain that it's a duplicate because it's the only one on the forum that goes into detail about this album and delves a little into the tracks (at least I hope so). See you around.