Max Pezzali
Astronave Max

The album "Astonave Max" by Max Pezzali is truly Max's return with an album exclusively of unreleased songs, as it was preceded two years earlier by "Max 20," an album containing 5 new songs and various old songs by Max and the 883 sung with various leading singers of the Italian music scene, including Antonello Venditti and Edoardo Bennato, and three years earlier by a remake of the debut album of 883, "Hanno ucciso l'uomo ragno," this time sung with various rappers. In short, the last album of unreleased songs before "Astronave Max" was released in 2011, with Max's participation in Sanremo with the song "Il mio secondo tempo."

The first single from this much-anticipated album was "È venerdì," announced six days earlier on Facebook by the singer himself, with a series of images leading up to the day of its release. I believe the only reason this song was chosen as the first single was for the nice idea of the images on Facebook, especially since it was late April, and usually, during that period, they release songs destined to become summer hits, and Max has accustomed us to this. And the title "È venerdì," which is also the first track of the album, made us hope it would be a summer hit. It wasn't. That said, I don't mean to say the track is bad, on the contrary... I think it's absolutely decent and can easily fit into an album, a song in the classic pop style in which Max has often taken refuge, catchy with a hook that gets stuck in your head. But the fact that it was a flop is also certified by the fact that just over a month later, three days before the album's release, a second single, "Sopravviverai," was released. The second track, "La prima in basso," is probably among the most appreciated songs by Max's fans, a song that recalls Max's pieces from the period after the breakup of the 883 to the album "Time out." In addition, in the chorus, he reaches a very wide vocal range, uncommon in his songs. This is followed by "Superstar," a piece that recalls even earlier times mentioned before: the 883. In fact, beyond the music, the theme is drawn from old songs, including "Sei un mito" and "La regina del celebrità." The fourth track, as well as the second single, "Sopravviverai" is a great piece, and I agree with the choice to promote it as a single, although I think the timing was wrong, because as a summer single, I would have chosen something else, to then offer this beautiful piece maybe at another time, although it does talk about summer in the song. "I fiori nel deserto" openly competes with "Ogni giorno una canzone" for the role of successor of "L'universo tranne noi," which many were expecting, and thinking about it, despite these two last pieces being not bad at all, doesn't exist.

This is followed by "Col senno di poi," a piece that takes us back to the '80s, with sounds of that era and an old-fashioned melody, although overall catchy and not outside the parameters to which Max has accustomed us. The seventh track, "Niete di grave," is the third single extracted from "Astronave Max," and perhaps, in my opinion, the only one that fits the period and song. The theme is very beautiful, that of the "passing the baton" between generations, as well as the video. Followed by two pieces that, in my opinion, lower the album's average: "Generazioni," which deals with a recurring theme in Max's pieces, the comparison between old and new generations, and "L'astronave madre," a track that in fact inspires the entire album's theme. The song has an overall catchy chorus, and the verses vaguely recall the style that Battiato has in some pieces. But here the real flaw is the theme: a shopping mall. When you write about a shopping mall, I don't think you want to communicate something relevant. "Fallo tu" is a beautiful piece sung with Syria, and recalls the theme of "Non me la menare," the first Italian song presented by the 883. Beautiful the idea, during the tour, to join them into one song.

"Come Bonnie e Clyde" is the real stone in the shoe for many fans. In fact, it would have been perfect as a launch single, as well as a summer track: fresh, nice theme (again, generations in comparison), and a great choice of autotune, which gives an additional freshness to the piece. An official video was also created, released that same summer. The piece only lacked being a single. "Ogni giorno una canzone," already mentioned earlier, has a guest worth noting, Saturnino, because his bass makes the track particularly beautiful, giving that sense of novelty in a Max slow track never seen before. This is followed by "Il treno," a track without infamy and without praise, recalling the track "La strada" by Max, contained in "Time out." The last track is simply the instrumental base of "L'astronave madre."