•
Rating:
I begin this review by saying that this is Pino Daniele's last album.
That is, it isn't truly his last, also because he released one in February of this year (2007), but for me, as an avid fan, I consider it as such. It's an album from 1993 that boasts collaborations with high-caliber artists (as he has always done) and on this occasion "hosts" jazz musician Chic Corea with whom he duets in "Sicily", Ralph Towner in "Two Pisces In Alto Mare" and... Massimo Troisi co-writer of the lyrics in "T'Aggia Vede' Morta".
The album opens with the title track "Che Dio Ti Benedica", not the best track of the album but it led it at that time; followed by "Questa primavera": here we find the Pino we know, light-years away from the one of today... a song entirely acoustic with lyrics in Neapolitan. "Fatte na pizza" is the classic double-sided song where there's always a double meaning in what the singer tells us. And we arrive at the trilogy of songs that elevates this album: "Mal Di Te", "Sono Un Cantante Di Blues", and "Sicily": the latter is a track that Pino took back from Chic Corea and added words and embellished with guitar solos.. Three songs that alone truly make the purchase of the CD worthwhile (they won't be the only ones). Followed by another duet, this time with Ralph Towner in "Two Pisces In Alto Mare": a totally acoustic and instrumental track that closes the first part of the album.
The second part opens with another gem: "Allora Si": also this track performed only with guitar and voice that anticipates "Nuda". Followed by the last collaboration of the album, which is "T'Aggia Vede' Morta": here the collaboration isn't with a musician, but indeed with a great Neapolitan actor as well as a great friend of Pino: Massimo Troisi who collaborates in writing the lyrics. Another outstanding track is "Un Angelo Vero": again Pino shows us that sometimes there's no need to overdo it to create a great track: he only needs his guitar... It's time for "Occhi Blu", where like the previous, the lyrics refer to his Naples and society in general. "Pace e Serenità" a track where under a piano bed Pino inserts a wonderful text.. A milestone. The album concludes with "Soleado Up And Down": similar to "Sotto 'O sole" from the early '80s, it doesn't aim to become a classic, but it's a track where Pino enjoys himself a lot with the guitar with solos and where the text is very brief...
In conclusion, an album to recommend to all music lovers, also because we have never found Pino so inspired in any subsequent album... except obviously in his live concerts, like the following "E Sona Mo'".
I hope I haven't been too biased in evaluating this record, but as I have already said, it's one of his best productions: not comparable to the trilogy 80,81,82 but certainly a well-made album.
Pino's Score: 7
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
06 Sicily (04:21)
Un posto ci sar�
per questa solitudine
perch� mi sento cos� inutile
davanti alla realt�
Un posto ci sar�
fatto di lava e sole
dove la gente sa che � ora di cambiare
Un posto ci sar�
dove puoi alzarti presto
il giorno finisce per dispetto
e haje voglia di allucc�
Che un posto ci sar�
dove si pesca ancora
e il mare porter�
una storia nuova
io son pazzo di te
'e chesta furtuna
Sicily terra e nisciuno
Un posto ci sar�
per essere felici
cantare a squarciagola
e dici tutt' chell' ca vuo' tu
Un posto ci sar�
dove si spera ancora
la gente porter�
una storia nova
io son pazzo di te
'e chesta furtuna
Sicily
terra 'e nisciuno
Loading comments slowly
