Renato Zero
Zerofobia

THE REVIEW

"Attention, we warn the passengers to have a tart on board, please fasten your chastity belts and refrain from smoking, thank you".

After a very long apprenticeship (the debut concert was in 1964, the first recordings in 1965, then theater, cinema, musical, up to three albums of little or medium success), in 1977 Renato Zero reaps the rewards of such a long wait.

'Zerofobia' arrives like a bolt from the blue in the landscape of mainstream singer-songwriting, which at that time was either about love or protest. The genius of Renato Zero lies in having overlapped the two genres, adding a third, that of transgression and sexual ambiguity, which was undoubtedly a novelty at the time. To make the mixture even more explosive, there was the fact that Zero, heavily made-up and swaying more than ever, colored some of his songs with a strong traditionalist and ultra-Catholic value. In short, everything and the opposite of everything. This is why this 'Zerofobia', which I personally consider one of the most successful and enjoyable albums in the realm of Italian music (the live show, however, is one hundred times better) represents the artistic summation of the singer from Montagnola.

The album opens with "Mi vendo", (okay, we all know it...), which on a disco arrangement (after all, we are in 1977) tells a story that seems written for 2006: a showman who sells grit and happiness to those who lack it. It is followed by the intense "Vivo" and then moves on to "Sgualdrina", an odd cover of "Dreamer" by Supertramp (the title speaks for itself). From here on, much of the album revolves around the figure of this woman with whom Renato evidently had an open account. She is always the protagonist of "Tragico samba", which drags between psychotropics, sexual violence, and recurring abortions. The misogynistic journey continues with "L'ambulanza" and with the amazing "Morire qui", an unmerciful rock chronicle of a love at its terminal stage ("How strange I also exist under your same roof/What we are now is a bed already undone/With no future, with no dignity/With poison in the heart, in the pettiness").

"La trappola" is another immediate impact rock (from the next Zerolandia we will move to a much more melodic and sugary pop), while "Regina" confirms that this is a concept album dedicated to a woman of dubious virtue ("Dirty, thief, you steal and go away/When a man does not know your vices/When a man next to you is never a man/never"). The closure is entrusted to two masterpieces (personal opinion): "Manichini", that is, human beings as puppets, but unaware of being so ("Who moves your strings is God or Satan/Who moves your strings is male or female/Who prays you, who hates you, who will wait for you/Someone, or something, will surely move the strings"); and "Il cielo", a sensational anti-abortion strike that from that moment becomes the symbol song of Zero. I'll put the full lyrics because it really deserves it. And I'll close in glory.

"How many times have I looked at the sky/But my destiny is blind and does not know it/And there is no mercy for those who do not pray and will convince themselves/That the sky is not just a dark stain.

How many times would I have taken flight/but the wings have already burned/My vanity and the presence of those who have already gone/Stealing my freedom, the sky.

How many loves conquer the sky/Golden pearls in the immensity/Some will fall, some will overcome time/As long as there are enough stars in the sky.

How much violence under this sky/Another child is born and you don’t want him/The spermatozoa the only strength everything you have/But what a man you are, if you do not have the sky."