Pooh
Rotolando Respirando

Away from the more or less successful progressive sounds of the years 1972-75 and the pretentiously psychedelic fluidity of "Poohlover," the Pooh finally reach a maturity that at times seemed lost. From here—or perhaps better from the aforementioned "Poohlover"—the four would be able to string together a series of excellent records until 1979, the year "Viva" was released.

What can I say, it's 1977 and much has already been said starting from the year. It is amusing, of course, that Negrini had "sensed" the punk atmosphere, with spikes and punk hairstyles as its flag-bearers, beginning to penetrate even into the Belpaese, and decided to write a metropolitan concept album. But the project flopped, perhaps due to the author's ineptitude, perhaps for other reasons, regardless. Thus remained a handful of songs—probably Sara nel sole, In diretta nel vento, and Rotolando Respirando—and an album largely to be (re)composed on false premises. But strangely, from here the unexpected is born.

I don't know, listening to it I constantly find myself comparing it to the Beatles; and not just for that languid "Michelle..." sung by Canzian in Che ne fai di te. No, it's that melodic and "singing" ease that most of the songs possess; certainly, one hardly ever sails in wait of unexpected melodic surprises or overwhelming soundscapes, rather there is always a constant search for catchy yet extremely pleasant melodies. In short, "pop" in the best sense of the word (and here's another nod to the masters of the genre).
The production is finally polished, despite the four having to endure grueling additional rearrangement sessions due to errors in the original recordings. But the guitar features an inspired and ever languid Battaglia (Ancora tra un anno) and behind the drums, D'Orazio becoming increasingly confident... in short, the band plays well, now in tune after years of wandering. And if we wanted to go into specifics, Rotolando Respirando and Dammi solo un minuto are two excellent compositions well-set in their time, even to the most disparate versions (Gemelli Diversi would remake the first in 1998). But they should be reevaluated, especially the first, an intense tour de force for the guitarist's acrobatics which support the best track on the album.

The atmosphere is generally relaxed, and the piano parts, which support the majority of the songs, are balanced by Battaglia's mastery, avoiding self-serving virtuosity; and obviously remarkable is the use of voices, especially in the title track and in Che ne fai di te, coloring the songs with a romance that is never cloying (Il suo tempo e noi), and counterbalancing that black on the cover which still hinted a bit at the sharpness of the initial project.

A great album, which for better or worse has marked the image of the Pooh even in the years to come.