Pino Daniele
Dimmi cosa succede sulla Terra

It's 1997, and after the rather good "Non calpestare i fiori del deserto," this "Dimmi cosa succede sulla Terra" is released, the sixteenth studio album by Pino Daniele. Already the title "warns" us that we are dealing with an artist who is torn between the temptation to isolate from the world and the desire to participate in it, a characteristic of many musicians of the genre loved by Pino, the blues. Here I'll try to make a brief description of the tracks on the album, in a "random" order (only because I have them like this on my computer, sorry...)

"The Desert in my head" is an arabesque rock-blues track with the participation of Noa on vocals, supported by an obsessive riff repeated almost to boredom, which in my opinion doesn't allow the track to take off.

"Se domani pioverà" is a philosophical-social track that presents various issues concerning the current state of the world and the division between the rich North and the poor South; musically, it presents a good refrain, a sustained classic-pop rhythm, and an arabesque bridge (and I won't hide that the "Arabic" Pino often doesn't appeal to me).

"Canto do mar" is a funky jazz track that brings back historical themes (the Normandy landing, the Greek and Saracen colonizations of Naples) related to the sea; musically, it features rap-like interludes of black voices and vibraphone, emphasizing the "African" and marine atmosphere of the track. Social themes are not lacking (facitem passà c'aggia parlà cu Bassolino\ je sto e casa nta cientsessantasett), whispered and almost "mumbled" by a Pino angry like in the good old seventies.

"Questo immenso" instead is a more relaxing and relaxed track, a timid love song that the lover addresses to the beloved almost to apologize for his past mistakes... Musically, it relies on electronic instrumentations in the background and a sweet piano accompanying Pino's voice and acoustic guitar. The conclusion is entrusted to the recording of some sea waves.

"Il pianeta delle parole" is just a brief thirty-second tribal intro, while "Continueremo in navigare" is an angry and bluesy song that questions a possible life in the afterlife and opposes this doubt with the certainty of the singer's personal love story, convinced he can "navigate" forever, despite everyone, with his sweet half.

"Che male c'è," the first single from the album, is an unpretentious love song containing a catchy chorus and little more. The base is purely rap, evidence of a Pino increasingly open to all novelties and influences in the musical field. Needless to say, the song was a resounding success at the time; those my age will remember it well.

More interesting perhaps is the other single from the album "Dubbi non ho": yet another love song, featuring an interesting "More than words" Extreme-like guitar and a more than sweet and "musical" refrain. It concludes again with the vibraphone (probably the faithful Mike Maineri, already at the court of Lucio Battisti, Chris Rea, Mark Knopfler, etc.). The classic evergreen of a musician.

"La mia emozione più forte" is a bland love song that gets lost in an exaggerated praise for the beloved woman; not even Pino's bluesy guitar manages to add interest to one of the less successful pieces on the album.

"Scirocco d'Africa" is another song on the same tone as the previous one; in vain, new-age oriented sounds and the duet with Giorgia attempt to save the total shipwreck in which the song lies... Better to skip the track altogether.

We slightly recover with the third and last single from the album "Amici come prima," a slow and sweet ballad about the regret of a past and now distant love. Good is Pino's acoustic guitar, which also dispenses elegant notes in quantity here, accompanied by a background orchestra and by Pino's own voice, "doubled" for the counterchant.

"Non ho paura del mostro" is a "mid-tier" track, that winks a bit at fairy tales in the lyrics (what big eyes you have\ are to better see you) and a bit at funk in the music... Certainly not a masterpiece, but it's acceptable.

We close with "Stare bene a metà," yet another bland and syrupy love track, one of those tracks that make the national Pinone hated by his early fans... Needless to say that even here a good and willing acoustic guitar performance is not enough to lift the song: when the track doesn't "work," you can be Django Reinhardt...

"Dimmi cosa succede sulla Terra" is an album that has collected a "string" of awards: "A day after its release, it debuted at number two on the FIMI chart, then reached the first position during its second week of permanence. According to data gathered by the magazine Musica e dischi, the album sold over 900,000 copies in Italy during 1997. At the 1998 Premio Italiano della Musica, the album received a nomination as Italian Album of the Year, while the song Che male c'è, contained in it, was nominated as Italian Song of the Year. In the context of the same event, Pino Daniele received the special award as Artist of the Year from the magazine Musica!. The commercial success of the entire record work also allowed Pino Daniele to win the 1997 Festivalbar." (source Wikipedia).

But as often happens, commercial success does not coincide with significant artistic value, so my judgment on this work is not "enthusiastic."