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Rating: Now Let's Talk About Morgan. I already know there's a review of this latest Castoldi effort on DeBaser, and although I had promised myself to only review albums not present in the magical database, I can’t hold back from expressing my humble opinion. I'll start by saying that in my opinion, the only valid song among the 11 is track number 10: "Liebestood", perhaps because it's sung in English, so I don’t fully grasp the nonsense that it no doubt spouts.
Morgan (always according to my personal view) is one of the most annoying characters around, and there are several reasons for this. First and foremost, it’s important to highlight his air of a Brilliant Intellectual who looks down on everyone, not considering them at his level.
In Bluvertigo (which I don’t like either but I respect), this demeanor was somewhat more balanced, but from "Canzoni dell'Appartamento" onwards... it was a downfall. His musical ideas have nothing new and/or vaguely original in them: meaningful, songwriter songs have been performed millions of times by millions of people, with outcomes clearly superior to his. But then, can Morgan’s songs truly be considered "meaningful"? Of course, it depends on the viewpoint from which one considers this term, but generally, I dare to state that Castoldi’s songs are nothing more than pretentious mockeries for people who allow themselves to be duped by his easy and lowly references, thus believing he can join the club of meaningful songwriters, like De André or Gaber were.
With his attitude of I-feel-cool-because-I-banged(banged)-Argento and his renewed look ready to participate in the fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film in place of Keith Richards, Morgan acts as the spokesperson for a (fake) stereotypical musical sophistication seasoned with embarrassing déjà-vus.
In our music scene, where the market is now moved almost exclusively by the prepubescent age group (except for rare exceptions) and where those who sell are individuals without a shred of talent (Libague, Vasco Rossi, Paolo Meneguzzi, etc...) it’s easy to take on an intellectual, non-conformist air: just write pretend-cultured lyrics filled with other people's quotes (which only highlight one's lack of inventiveness) and issue some harsh comments about the show business: then people will say: "How cool is Morgan, he’s the one who doesn’t think about money (!!) but about the true quality of music, he’s the one who doesn't care about the screaming young girls who buy his CD, how good he is, what a serious person, what an eminent pillar of contemporary music!" and other irreproducible nonsense that I have heard with my own ears.
Revisiting "Non al denaro, non all'amore né al cielo," Morgan has demonstrated all of this. Otherwise, why reproduce something in a perfectly identical manner that was already almost perfect on its own?
Briefly analyzing this latest work of his: in some parts the specter of Battiato hovers everywhere, and where it's not present, there are slavish transpositions in a post-modern key of plundered styles: there's Capossela, there’s Gaber, and many others. The often cryptic lyrics reveal an absolute lack of innovation, while the discussed themes are nothing but heart/love under a veil of snobbery (perhaps only "Contro me stesso" can be excluded from such observation).
The only undeniable ability of Morgan is his capacity to continue to fool naive people who believe they have found the messiah in him, Amen.
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