Negramaro
San Siro Live

Not long ago, someone asked me to write a review about an album that hadn’t been discussed before, perhaps from some current band that had absolutely nothing to do with the sacred monsters I talked about in the past two reviews. So, I decided to tell you about one of the few "decent" groups we have in Italy, namely Negramaro. I used to be a big fan of theirs, then with the discovery of good music (the real kind) I rightly decided to put them aside. But I’ll tell you right away that, at least how I see it, they are a modest rock group, which perhaps lately has fallen too much into the banal (and nonsense like Parlami d’amore demonstrates this) but that probably, with a more libertarian record label, could have done better. Perhaps their best album remains "Mentre tutto Scorre," even though "La Finestra," without those a bit too pop arrangements, would have been a great album indeed. In fact, this is precisely what I wanted to talk to you about: the tour following this album saw the release of the first official live album, just "San Siro Live 2008." This album marks a definitive return to the rock origins of the first album (and this can also be seen in the new Casa 69), with tracks also taken from La Finestra, but decidedly more lively. Finally, the tracklist also sees the addition of 5 unreleased tracks (although they aren’t specifically unreleased) but let’s delve deeper into this album.

The album

The opening is entrusted to the first unreleased track, the well-known cover of Domenico Modugno’s Meraviglioso, the only single extracted. As a reinterpretation, it’s not bad at all, with a long guitar arpeggio that then opens to the hoarse voice of Giuliano Sangiorgi, breaking the rhythm and introducing the track; the original, however, that of the great Domenico, remains by far superior. Well, in their small way they tried, succeeding more than decently, definitely achieving sufficiency. The second track is Your Eyes-La Finestra, which is nothing more than the revisitation of the song from the album of the same name. Here the album drops a bit; let’s say that, even in this case, the original is better. In this version, the chorus is missing and is replaced by a duet with Mattafix: well, let’s move on. The electric version of Solo per te is instead decidedly fitting, much more rock compared to the one in Mentre Tutto Scorre (although no less beautiful, I like both versions). The last unreleased track is the splendid Blucobalto, here we are indeed talking! Perhaps one of the most beautiful songs they have done, but probably also one of the least known. Initially slow and with a remarkable rhythm, it will increase over its duration, giving ample space to the electric guitar and percussion. Finally, a scream from Sangiorgi (which in this case is right place, right time) will bring the song to its peak before ending; even the lyrics are good, no doubt about it. After the first four unreleased tracks, we come to the concert, which is opened by La Distrazione, a nice rock song with an engaging initial riff: much better compared to the studio version. Nella mia stanza (performed really well) instead recalls their beginnings, back in the days of the Sanremo disappointment in 2005, of Mentre tutto scorre... and it continues just with this song, offered in a version very similar to the studio one (neither blame nor praise).

After a short instrumental interlude, a guitar introduces Un passo Indietro, probably the most beautiful by the Salento group. We move on to Neanche il Mare and Ruberò per te la luna, maybe not with fantastic lyrics, but with good and engaging instrumental and rhythmic bases: overall, I can more than go with it. The eleventh track is Tu ricordati di me, dedicated to all the war victims. A beautiful rock track (it was one of my favorites back in Middle School days). The live closes with Una volta tanto (Canzone per me), the absolute peak of the album: fantastic in a live key (the original is beautiful anyway) but here everything reaches its maximum, highlighting the creativity of the six, who also extend the duration of the song; Giuliano even uses falsetto, but in this case, it’s anything but irritating... superb execution. The album is closed by a slow version of Blucobalto, with the presence of piano and a string quartet that close this album in the best possible way.

Conclusions

A rather smooth album, of good craftsmanship. It was my favorite for a long time... (before the various Queen, Pink Floyd, and Genesis kidnapped me with their music). I recommend listening to everyone, let’s put aside prejudices for once. This live shows us another side of the band, the rockier and more ambitious one, incomparable to the usual radio songs we know (which are not even part of the setlist).