7. The Clouds
After the colossal international experiment of ethnic music in the Genoese dialect with Creuza de ma, De André took many years for a new work. But the long wait was fully rewarded with the exceptional Le nuvole. An album where the experience from the previous album is blended into yet another concept album analyzing, on one side, the powerful and, on the other, the poor souls who perpetually live in the shadow of these figures. The record, however, opens in a very particular way, with the title track: a monologue recited by two ladies (one younger and one older) where the continuous movement of the clouds is described in a very poetic manner. After such a load of pathos, we move on to an interesting Ottocento, which, if we may say, encapsulates the meaning of the entire album, a very famous Don Raffaè (written with Ivano Fossati, who also contributes in A çimma), and a dystopian and heart-wrenching La domenica delle salme, where the moral and political decay of Italy is rendered with totally disillusioned clarity. The second side tackles lighter themes: everyday life stories of a hypochondriac man (Megù megùn), a cook who prepares a typical Genoese dish starting at dawn (the already mentioned A çimma), and a man who falls in love with a donkey (Monti di Imola, which for the joy of the de-sarder is sung entirely in Sardinian). Le nuvole once again testifies to De André's artistic growth, where he manages to find a balance between the experiments of Creuza de ma and his past production.
Meticulous rating: 9+
The gem among gems (with an attached stunning videoclip): Fabrizio De André - La domenica delle salme (Official Video)