Matia Bazar
Melanchòlia

Glacial aloofness, ethereal and enveloping. "Sophisticated lady" reaches unimaginable vocal heights; a "Do you love me or not" that thunders on the radios across half of Europe with explosive power. Never was a title more fitting for the masterpiece by Matia Bazar, that "Melancholìa" dated 1985 that delivers to Italian music a comprehensive work for its homogeneity, colors and balance. 8 songs, 8 pieces of a perfect mosaic.

After the beginnings marked by tradition - yet with an underlying sophistication that distinguished them from the predominant neomelodics of the time (Cugini di Campagna, Collage, Homo Sapiens, etc...), some stretches of cosmic void between the seventies and eighties (listen to the dreadful Italian symphony to understand the direction the four were heading) Matia starts their comeback in 1981; key was the departure from the group of the neomelodic mastermind Piero Cassano (who would dedicate himself to solo and producer projects) and the entry of Mauro Sabbione, who, although staying with the group for only one album, would provide the electronic imprint that would be the trademark of the Genoese band for the entire decade (Matia Bazar artistically ended in 1989 with the departure of Antonella Ruggiero). Then, after the successful "Tango" of 1983 and the interlocutory "Aristocratica" of 1984, comes the melancholy of "Melancholia".

It opens with "Ti sento", a chart-smashing single, a tremendous success also translated into English where Antonella Ruggiero climbs with her voice to unimaginable notes, on a poignant and dramatically modern melody. It is Italy invading Europe, and the desperate cry "Ti sento" becomes one of the anthems of the Eighties. The retro atmospheres of "Cose", beatified by an evocative text between London's fog and plexiglass stories, give the figure of a contrast never so effectively rendered between past and future, as well as the roller coasters of "Via col vento" and "Da qui a...", where everything is compact, rich, varied, and above all credible. Impeccable "Amami", "Fiumi di parole" and "Angelina", which preludes the closing "Souvenir", an ideal and ideological sequel of Vacanze romane, both presented at the Sanremo Festival. This little masterpiece of intimacy and images that bring to mind a Paris suspended between dead leaves in the wind and chansonniers in Pigalle is truly a vintage postcard. The umpteenth masterpiece of one of the most "comprehensive" Italian albums of the last 40 years.

After such an album, one might expect a decline, which however does not occur with the subsequent "Melò" and "Red corner", the latter characterized by the epochal "Stringimi" which will mark Antonella Ruggiero's departure and will represent the swan song of Matia Bazar, who could never again even remotely recreate the magical alchemy of their golden period.