Roberto Vecchioni
Il lanciatore di coltelli

Good evening, Debaserians. I have followed your reviews with interest and, noticing a few missing pieces, now scarce, in Vecchioni's work, I thought of an initiative: to review, or rather, write a couple of impressions about the albums of what I consider his second peak of inspiration, obviously after the years from "Il re non si diverte" to "Bei tempi". These are followed by a quartet of albums that disappointed me a bit ("Ippopotami", especially "Per amore mio" and "Milady", and finally "Blumùn"). This last one, better than the others, marks the beginning of a new, albeit brief, moment. That is the one I am about to focus on, discussing the albums "El Bandolero stanco", which like "Blumùn" acts as a bridge between the mediocrity of past albums and the splendor of the upcoming ones, and indeed the upcoming ones, namely "Il cielo capovolto", "Sogna, ragazzo sogna", and "Il lanciatore di coltelli".

All of this will be done trying to be as unboring and original as possible, just for a change, let's start in reverse, from the most recent: "Il lanciatore di coltelli". To be brief: a beautiful album. From the first listens, a particular anomaly is especially noticeable: there aren't those evident fillers that often "diluted" albums that featured 4 or 5 beautiful songs. The album might not present the utmost poetry or sophistication, the tracks are not all essential or 'important', but at least there are no tracks conceived in a few minutes and without any value, tracks which we often find in the Professor's albums, maybe right before or after a track that we really liked. This, among other things, has always made it difficult to make true and proper cuts in his discography, as well as to clearly divide "good" albums from less successful ones.

Here the level is consistent, the album is full, easy to listen to, it cannot bore but doesn't spare reflections, more or less important or profound. The title track is unfolded into two different tracks, but despite this, it is difficult to pinpoint a true and proper red thread linking the songs. One theory could be that of the theme of continuity, the passing down of beautiful things, those that we want to remain, that we want to communicate and express, bring to others and develop through someone who knows more than us.

Thus the thrower learns the art from his father, who in turn learned it from his grandfather. Thus Gustav seeks Life, in Venice, and dies alone, on a beach, just to feel the beloved Tadzio close. The continuity is evident in 'Figlio, figlio, figlio', where a father Vecchioni confronts an adolescent son, and delicately talks about a difficult relationship between two very different worlds, which however wants to be sincere. The track perhaps has a 'cousin', not so much in 'Figlia', as the title would suggest, as in 'Quest'uomo', which I will talk about in "Il Bandolero stanco". The continuity skips a generation in 'Shalom', where '...my grandfather was my grandfather my father...'. Other considerations, certainly more accurate and interesting, could still be made, there is always a lot to discover behind many of the Professor's songs and not always alone do we have the keys or the experience to see things clearly. I would gladly read comments on your considerations about it.

To conclude, the album is beautiful and finds its climax in "La Bellezza". It is an album that is not difficult to listen to, can accompany a melancholy moment well and can still be sung with a friend, laughing. I would like to invite you to reassess some works, like this one and others I will talk about, and perhaps compare them with those considered 'Classics', which may sometimes be more pretentious and less effective, see "Robinson..." or "Samarcanda", where the truly unforgettable pieces are a couple for each. In this album, a nice atmosphere is felt, even if it is less popular than others. In short, for me, the score would be an 8 out of 10, but since I was a bit moved listening to it again on the train, with "Ma che razza di Dio c'è nel Cielo?!", let's make it an eight and a half.

I hope I have not bored you, I tried to include as few technical details as possible. The review may or may not be liked, but the album is indeed beautiful. Listen to it!
Until next time.