Vasco Rossi
Buoni O Cattivi

THE REVIEW

Here I am again talking about one of my favorite Italian singers, Vasco Rossi. In the two previous reviews, I expressed a positive opinion on two albums that I consider two of the best of his long career, but now I will begin to do exactly the opposite. In 2004 this "Buoni O Cattivi" was released, one of the artist's worst albums ever. Far from his golden years when he shouted "the kindergarten kids are making a mess", "liver, liver mashed upooo" even "that guy who writes in the newspaper...", today's Vasco has lost all his originality and the good ideas of his early works, becoming monotonous, boring, and empty.

Nowadays, nothing exceptional is expected from Vasco in his albums, unlike his concerts where he proves to be a great stage monster capable of holding the audience in the palm of his hand until the end of the performance; but since I discovered that Blasco makes videos on YouTube where he talks about his e-cigarettes and sings his songs in the car well...you can tell that today's Vasco has become a ridiculous character.

"Buoni O Cattivi" is the song that opens this album and, as happened with "By The Way" (one of my old RHCP reviews), it is one of those songs that, from its impact, makes you believe it opens a masterpiece, which instead does not happen. It's a good stadium song, the initial guitar riff is very cute, and both the lyrics and the energy are good: a successful song nonetheless. 5/5 "Come Stai", with lyrics totally senseless except to throw down some useless rhyming, and it's also one of Vasco's most commercial songs, so much that it even appeared in a commercial. The only decent part is the final solo. 2.5/5 "Anymore", with a sound that desperately tries to resemble a hard rock piece, but the refrain is monotonous and after only two verses it bores, although the lyrics are not to be discarded entirely. 3/5 "Hai Mai": very good lyrics, but the music is terrible, especially the chorus. 2/5

"Non Basta Niente" is the darkest of the album, yet one of the most successful and underrated, although it doesn't save the album. 4/5 "Dimenticarsi" is the song that most closely resembles the Vasco of old albums. Good, yes, but this time the lyrics leave a bit to be desired, like the music. 3/5 "Da Sola Con Te", lacking any originality, a copy and paste of other old tracks of his, which adds nothing new. But Vasco can do it, right? Sure he can. 1.5/5 "Cosa Vuoi Da Me", with a riff inspired, or better plagiarized, from "Pretty Fly" by The Offspring, the famous Californian punk band. Ridiculous lyrics, a childish refrain, along with "Gioca Con Me" from the album "Il Mondo Che Vorrei". 2/5 "E...": if with "Gabri" Vasco already showed he was good with romantic ballads, this time he surpassed himself. The track is one of the best on the album, and in its genre, it is pleasant and beautiful.

5/5 "Senorita": the worst of the album, an annoying and unbearable torture for the ears, starting with the refrain....hateful! 0.1/5 "Rock'n'Roll Show": classic "hard rock" song by Vasco that adds a bit of energy and cheer to the album. Nice indeed, especially live. 3/5 "Un Senso": and it closes with the most loved track by Vasco's fans from the 2000s. Despite the music being beautiful (apart from perhaps the start which reminds of "E...", only with the chord opening in G major instead of E minor), the lyrics aren't really anthology material, except perhaps the chorus. For the rest, it's a successful song. 4/5

This album is still a disappointment: very few songs are saved, others add nothing new, some are cute but one would expect more from Vasco.