Pooh
Parsifal

There are few useful words to describe Parsifal. Inspired by the eponymous Wagner masterpiece, the Pooh exploit all their instrumental skills (Facchinetti's rich keyboard corner from a progressive group, Dodi Battaglia's distorted guitars, a more technically proficient than usual but still not brilliant D'Orazio, and Red, the new bassist, perfectly adapted to this track that takes him back to his roots as a country rocker). And so the peace anthem of the Wagnerian knight strikes everyone with refined, pure melodies and played in an imperfect way (a kind of distorted rock fused with classical music and symphonic pop at the same time) but almost by the Pooh, dressed in iron shirts and combat boots. But Parsifal is not just the namesake instrumental suite that closes the album: the record does not lack truly "evolved" love songs compared to the classic Pooh style (implemented in the album "Alessandra"), like "Io e te per altri giorni" or the fairy tale-like set "Lettera da Marienbad." And Valerio Negrini, who had foresight, had decided to talk about homosexuality already in the fantastic "Lei e lei." Another gem of the album is "L’anno, il posto, l’ora," a marvelous song with highly impactful lyrics (I have known many who, upon hearing it, thought the lyrics were by Dalla or Guccini) and very interesting music that managed to enter the soul of many seasoned fans of the Italian group as much as, if not more than, Parsifal. For Parsifal, I can only offer good words; I believe it symbolizes the evolution of the Pooh, a group that, despite criticism, managed to make their way, first with the help of Giancarlo Lucariello and an orchestra conductor of the caliber of Franco Monaldi (whose orchestra is one of the 10 reasons to buy this album) and then continually evolving, sometimes making mistakes (or greatly lowering the level) and sometimes making history. Promoted, one of the best progressive/symphonic albums in Italian history and very interesting even compared to the gems of English prog.