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Rating: Finally, the great music, the one with a capital A, is forcefully making a comeback on DeBaser after months of oblivion where artists far from Italian excellence reigned supreme on the fateful Home Page. Therefore, I would like to continue with a review along the lines of "The Greatest Hits," which had the merit of encapsulating the best of the best of our beloved popular music in just two records.
The artist in question for this review (and I even made a rhyme) is the indestructible Mal, born Paul Bradley Couling, a great British-born singer naturalized Italian. His story started back in the distant '60s with him dealing with rock and roll covers and various participations in important country fairs where he had the chance to mature his great talent. The turning point seemed to come when, reading an ad in the famous Rolling Stones magazine, Mal learned that "Spirit" were looking for a singer: obviously, the opportunity was unmissable, and success seemed imminent, so much so that, once joined the group, he even managed to perform in real concerts in front of a real audience. Unfortunately, misfortune sees very well, and indeed the group's guitarist left to get married, which obviously put our hero in crisis but only until he had a brilliant intuition: to form his own band, the Primitives, where he would become the complete leader.
The new band would accumulate success after success, alternating English diamonds with Italian pearls (which would bring them more satisfaction), even being called as headliner at the famous "Pipier" in Rome, a true temple of 2-steps. However, the songs were always and only covers, and at a certain point, Mal got frustrated and decided it was time to debut: as a solo artist. And the success, the real one, full of chart-topping climbs and appearances on Domenica In, could not fail to arrive. And this success has come to the present day with Mal who continues relentlessly to release new albums full of original tracks that promptly become great hits (original ones).
Of course, every great artist is also entitled to their own "best" sooner or later, and so, in 2002, Mal decided to open his boundless archives to seek, remix, and include in this splendid box set (complete with a poster) the best of his monumental output. There is really everything in these two CDs, which skillfully spans all of Mal's artistic periods, going from the unmatchable 2-steps of the '60s, to '70s disco, to today's songwriter songs, not forgetting the astute soft-core experiments of the '80s.
The album presents itself as pretty aggressive from the first notes of "Sole, Pioggia E Vento," where Mal's fantastic voice with its delightful and distinctive British accent immediately stands out, practically his trademark; note how the range of his voice seems at times to rival that of an Albano from the good old days. The same goes for "Yeeeh," a wild guitar/tambourine boogie with Mal repeating the unbelievable chorus in a high voice like never before: listen to his yeahhh, making Phil D'Anselmo envious. Then we move through true works of art like "Treno Che Corri," "Betty Blue" passing through the amusement "Over The Rainbow," an extravagant nursery rhyme in English and more space for the psychedelic "Occhi Neri Occhi Neri" taken from the '80s where the heavy contribution of keyboards and synths is noticeable; "Guardo Te Vedo Lei," with its pragmatic lyrics, well represents his songwriter period, just as "Pensiero D'Amore" (a bit sensual) represents the good, although not essential, disco music period.
Of course, I'm saving the top tracks, those that are worth a career, for last. The incredible "Incidente" is one of them: the track caused a stir in the prudish '60s due to its alleged subliminal message encouraging speeding on the roads; the lyrics would leave no room for our hero: "Stai a 300 metri...stai a 200 metri...stai a 100 metri...frenaaa!!!" followed by a terrifying and wild scream from his. We are approaching the grand finale, which promises to be a spectacular one: "Parlami d'Amore Mariù," a moving bluesy power ballad, worthy of the best Robert Johnson with a never so expressive and profound Mal, is a great piece. But the finale is all for her, for that track, an authentic soundtrack of our life and incredible fortune for jukebox producers: "Furia cauallo del uest che beve solo caffè per mantenere il suo pelo, il più nero che ceee"... pleasure! Guys, I'm talking about "Furia," one of those tracks that... that... but really do we need to add anything else? If you don't know it or worse don't like it, I suggest you check your pulse: you are probably dead.
In short, an artist like this, capable of giving so many emo-tions, needs no further introduction and/or recommendations: listen to your heart (and not your brain, I suggest) and rediscover this enormous talent. Highly recommended.
UH! [cit.]
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