Renato Zero
EroZero

THE REVIEW

"Erozero" is the sixth album by the Roman singer, dated 1979.

A huge commercial success of the time, it contains some very beautiful songs that later became classics of Italian pop music. Among these, I would especially mention "La tua idea" (a song entirely written by Zero against drugs, that praises hope and the true values of life), the well-known "Il carrozzone" (a metaphor for life with somewhat bitter tones), "Periferia" (a song that recalls and praises his humble origins and emphasizes the desire for redemption), "Arrendermi mai" (defending man against the advance of technology), and "La rete d'oro" (which sings the praises of poetry and hope). The most famous song, perhaps somewhat overrated, of the album is the celebrated "Baratto" which, in my opinion, is rather negligible. Even the remaining songs are, however, more than respectable.

Songs of the borough, popular, with a slightly melancholic aftertaste and notable charm, even in their simplicity. This album can be identified, in the opinion of the writer, as the last good record by Renato Zero. Then the Roman singer-songwriter would fall into the serious error, probably due to an excess of enthusiasm, of releasing double albums with a few good songs here and there (especially in "Tregua") resulting in tiring out his audience who, shortly thereafter, that is after the "Calore" EP, would abandon him for a long period. If he had better selected the tracks and released single albums, even "Tregua" (especially), "Artide Antartide", and "Via Tagliamento 1965/1970" would have had a better tension and could have been good albums. Moreover, these albums were released annually and therefore too close to each other.

He would regain success many years later with some mediocre songs and overall very bad albums according to a logic that escapes the writer. A great artist nonetheless in the '70s.