Lucio Dalla
Anidride Solforosa

1975. "Sulphur Dioxide". From the cover, it seems that the ideas of Dalla-Roversi are becoming even more confused, more foggy, contrasting with the content and lexical renewal intentions of the Bolognese duo. Fortunately, this is not the case. The album is decidedly more homogeneous, more immediate than the previous "Il Giorno Aveva Cinque Teste", and for this reason more accessible and direct.

The title track, eccentrically interpreted by a Dalla mimicking the old Romagna noblesse, clarifies what hadn't been understood with the previous lp: Sulphur Dioxide, a harmful substitute for breathable air, is the premise and conclusion of the physical and metaphorical fogging of today's individual, the toxic cloud that truly makes it "barely visible" in the metropolises, but at the same time clouds, on a metaphorical level, the "naive" point of view according to which love is a natural feeling; now, "processors" will replace traditional objects alongside those of emotions: "we'll know how many times to make love and how many times the rivers in Italy overflow." Unsettling.

The process of human regression goes through the individual stories of the marginalized, the street gypsies forgotten among trash bins (Carmen Colon), childhood friends now unrecognizable (Non Era Più Lui), loves that no longer speak the language of youth (Tu Parlavi Una Lingua Meravigliosa); mingled with allegorical tales (Merlino E L'Ombra), historical episodes (Un Mazzo Di Fiori), personal reinterpretations of Myth (Ulisse Coperto Di Sale).
Then, there is a masterpiece, musically and verbally speaking, that Machiavellian mosaic which is Le Parole Incrociate placed at the end of the album: a puzzle game linking answers to historical definitions, it's a snapshot of past and present through which Roversi denounces the perpetuation of the abuse of the wartime individual's prerogatives, without indicating the definitive solution to the riddle.

In all this whirlwind, Dalla now seems more fit into the role he plays, more genuine, and nonetheless always effective in the quality of his performances, among which stand out the climax of Tu Parlavi Una Lingua Meravigliosa, the ambient of Un Mazzo Di Fiori, the pounding progression of the already mentioned last track of the lp, all the ballads.

A more linear, pleasant, melodious work. But there's no time to catch a breath because the "Automobili" are about to get moving...

(to be continued...)