•
Rating: After the less than happy reception of the album "Jet Lag", PFM closes the glorious American chapter that had brought so much success to the Milanese group. Although a good album, well-played, "Jet Lag" had the feel of cold academia and was somewhat derivative of what was circulating at the time in the American jazz rock scene. However, it doesn't deserve the disappointment it still receives today; a different case instead for "Passpartù" which reveals a deep state of creative crisis in the band, where technique cannot compensate for the serious gap.
"Passpartù" represents one of the "off" moments of their career, far surpassed by "Come ti va in riva alla città". To understand the reasons behind my not-so-positive judgment, one needs to take a quick look at the musical scene of the time.
The musical engagement was lagging due to initial disengagement approaches by many youth groups who hadn't obtained satisfactory responses from political movements. In the same year, Area released "Gli dei se ne vanno, gli arrabbiati restano", their swan song, whose title reveals the failure of the social experiments of which they had been among the flag bearers. I mention Area not by chance since Premiata must certainly have had their production in mind when writing Passpartù. Artists who find in playful yet profound nonsense the last cry of rebellion against the nonsensical nature of institutions and society are coming to the fore. I particularly think of the brilliant, pure Rino Gaetano above all.
What am I trying to say? Premiata, who has often used its professionalism and virtuosity to conceal some identity shortcomings,... yes... jumps on the new bandwagon, adding a touch of Weather Report (Djivas was very close friends with Pastorius and on Jet Lag sometimes reaches similar conclusions, playing extraordinary bass lines with the newly born Stingray by Music Man) and Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Punk had yet to arrive in Italy, except for a few savvy individuals buying "Sniffin'glue" in art bookstores(...); and then, it wasn't the age for the young men of Premiata. My theory seems supported by the entry of Gianfranco Manfredi as the author of the lyrics. A bizarre and talented poet who gives a Gaetano-esque "flavour" to the tracks.
Despite the undeniable cheerfulness spread throughout the album, the discrepancy between the group and the lyricist is strong: the result is forced and even more serious is the use of the grotesque tone in "old-fashioned" moments ("Su una mosca e sui dolci") or in the pop romanticism of "Se fossi cosa", which would be a nice song if it didn't sound too much like "A Remark You Made".
The programmatic absurdity is spread across all the tracks: "Viene il santo" and "Svita la vita" are just tongue-twisters for Lanzetti's always beautiful voice, akin to Roger Chapman; "Le trame blu" wants to evoke the defeat of dreams, which however never stop. Here too, we are between the jesting of the era and "Storia di un minuto" or "Il banchetto". "Fantalità" is just plain funny.
There isn't a single track that can be defined as ugly: everything is singable, well-played (including the plagiarism of the titular instrumental) but no one seems to believe in what they are doing, including Roberto Colombo.
The audience, perhaps aware of this, will repay this ambiguity with indifference. La Premiata will fill the creative void of that period by touring with Fabrizio De André. Another half-successful attempt: warmth, involvement but the real Fabrizio is elsewhere.
Is it necessary to say that the drawings by Andrea Pazienza contained in the album are beautiful?
Tracklist and Videos
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By mrbluesky
Passpartù, with its enveloping, entirely instrumental title track, was nonetheless a turning point album and as such worthy of consideration.
Everything moves in an evocative atmosphere rich in irony, a tangle of surreal stories well illustrated by Andrea Pazienza’s drawings, which make this work a sort of real comic album.
