"Neon, Neon...Who were they?"...
The Neon (initially a duo from Florence, born in 1978) are one of the most important bands of the Italian new wave during the much-lauded (or vilified) decade of the '80s, as well as the most influential and important group of that movement which, through the musical discourse of this and other bands (such as Diaframma, Litfiba, and Moda in Tuscany, or Gaznevada, CCCP, Krisma more broadly), deeply marked the path of Italian avant-garde music in those years and the ones to come.
Prolific, eclectic, and refined, despite their undeniable success with both the public and critics, they managed to produce in reality only one true album, namely "Rituals", remaining a cult but niche group, therefore destined for an audience that is diverse yet almost elitist.
Children of a musical era positioned at the boundary line between post-punk, new wave, and the darkest of electronics (Kraftwerk, Ultravox, and Joy Division, foremost), they fully assimilated the atmospheres of each of these genres to give body and life to a highly personal style that at first distracted listening could be mistakenly perceived as commercial due to the catchiness of the melodies, but which spanned from pop to the darkest and most gothic of rock, with strong and hypnotic synth-electronic twists.
This unique "hybrid" characteristic of theirs perhaps was partly the cause of their "contained success":
too refined to be appreciated by the widespread audience of the charts, too easy (commercial) for the purists of the alternative scene, they remained, as I said, a niche band, truly appreciated to the fullest only by a select few.
A pity because all this, after intense live and studio activity, gradually led to the first divergences within the group (by then a quartet) up to the actual disbandment, made official in 1990.
Currently available on the market is the "Boxed" edition which collects all scattered works in 7 CDs (including EPs), a "Greatest", a "Live", but above all the highly refined reissue in question, released in 2006,
containing, in addition to the original LP, the remix versions of "Last Chance", "Dark Age", and the splendid "My Blues Is You", a true bastion of Italian wave, here in the 12" version.
For enthusiasts and nostalgics, certainly, but also for those very young curious individuals who, thank heavens, are still in search of solid testimonies, of artists with firm roots and true temperament.
PS: Yes, I know the CD was already reviewed on the site, but it seemed quite appropriate to repeat.
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