Sig V
Strani sogni

...."we are not judges/only victims/everything is already written now/already decided/the inevitable is right here before us/and it's useless to run/we are all victims/executioners"....
(Mr. V "Words")

WHO ARE THE SIG V?
This is how one can summarize this splendid debut album by the emerging Sig V, a Roman group that decides to enter the music market with a concept album that is not easy to listen to. It was the year 2003 when "Strange Dreams" saw the light. The desire to do something different, to experiment, to blend 70s music with modern sounds, and above all, to describe with sounds, noises, and melodies what a rich noir plot (worthy of George Orwell in 1984, of A Clockwork Orange and Metropolis) outlines, is a task that few undertake. Yes! Few dare to tread on such slippery ground, where it is more likely to drown in one's own creativity than to receive due merit. Sig V tries all the same because it's right never to put limits on one's imagination, on one's way of feeling. Thus, they distance themselves from the prevailing cliché on our Italian soil and venture into a path that only great bands have had the merit and courage to embark upon.
The result is not an absolute masterpiece, mind you, but a surely beautiful and interesting record, to be considered (a missed masterpiece, in short). If this is their debut, then we can expect great things from these guys, and above all, if there are people in Italy who produce complex rock music, it means that this country is not, musically, dead inside.

THE CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM.
Sig V = Mr. Who, that is, Mr. Chi = any man. In Chi, we are all, I, you who read, the common man and the VIP. The story of the album starts precisely from this Mr. Chi, seemingly a common man, who cannot, however, put a brake on his Id, his impulses. These instinctive and animal impulses lead him to desire and commit a series of crimes. Mr. V slowly becomes aware of his inner evil and despairs, trying to escape not only from the police but also from himself, from the monster that corrodes him. In the end, our ordinary man will be caught, humiliated, mocked, and killed in an inhumane way by the community-society, which, more aware than the protagonist (and therefore more guilty), delights, through generic (and protectionist) motivations, in perpetrating violence equal to those of criminals (just think of the formula "preventive war." But it's better not to digress).
In essence, we are all victims and perpetrators at the same time, but this is the lesser evil compared to the hidden violence imposed by society. Sig V conveys in this 72-minute concept album the nightmare of living in a still ruthless everyday life, just like what Pink Floyd had already done in the 70s-80s.

HOW DOES THIS ALBUM SOUND?
Musically speaking, Sig V fuses Gilmour-style solos, Pink Floydian choral and orchestral music with Marillion, from Bluvertigo to Battiato, from jazz to electronics, from progressive to psychedelia and noise. The "song form" is lost, and the album appears as a single suite without interruptions, well-played and arranged. The album is inevitably rich in sometimes brilliant, sometimes raw ideas, but the final result is truly commendable.
As soon as the play button is pressed, you are welcomed into an atmosphere of noises and expanded keyboards, a Floydian backdrop, onto which electrified rhythms are triggered. But this is not all. On these carpets, jazz-like saxophones insert themselves (sounding like Bob Ezrin) that strongly recall the Pink Floyd of "A Momentary Lapse of Reason." As the tracks progress, the music becomes harsher without ever descending into the "violent" or metal (despite the subject matter). The pieces, well interwoven and studied in every slightest effect, sometimes become more progressive, sometimes more electronic, until the superb "Words" and the splendid solos of Maurizio Loffredo, who imitates, and succeeds, Gilmour at his best.
The lyrics, in Italian and never banal, refine the work and the musical content. The album, however, presents some "tiring" moments that do not allow it to reach the peaks of the genre. In particular, I refer to too much electronics (although in some pieces, "Electrocution" above all, it is very well dosed) that recalls Bluvertigo too much (for my taste, I would have preferred something more "analog"). The good drummer Corrado D'Agostino, after all, is also a DJ, and it's evident in the album! Praise also to the excellent keyboardist Gianluca Meloni and the good bassist Cristian Buccioli.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE PHILIPPIC!!
To conclude, one might object: "but if the album is not a full masterpiece, why did you give it 5/5?" The answer is the following: "I reward, in my view, not only the execution of the project but also those who propose something different from the ordinary. Sig V proposes something that, in some ways, feels new and fresh at least here in Italy. I reward those who, not being professional musicians, place, on their first release, a record full of personality. These are the true brave ones in music; such people need to be given a blank slate."
At least one listen is a must.