Vinicio Capossela
Ballate per uomini e bestie

LA RECENSIONE

Is a single song enough to make an album a masterpiece?

Perhaps not, perhaps yes.

I didn't know the story, but it seems that in 2012 it was quite talked about and caused quite a stir.

Today the story of "La Giraffa di Imola" was told to me for the first time by Vinicio Capossela, and I was moved by the beauty and sadness of the story, by how it is told and by how it is set to music.

A wonder, I have nothing else to say, only listening can bring about a fair judgment.

Is a single song enough to make an album a masterpiece?

Perhaps not, perhaps yes.

Two probably yes.

A selfie taken with Capossela's wildly gypsy face in the foreground and the madness of the modern world in the background, made up of tweets, likes, fake news, etc., etc.

Imagine a "Moskavalza," with its techno-crazy rhythms, on a global scale, this is "Peste".

Are two songs enough to make an album a masterpiece?

Perhaps not, perhaps yes.

Three certainly yes.

The most brilliant tribute to Fabrizio De André (and in particular to his "Il Testamento") one could imagine, a song about the testament of a pig and all the hereditary legacies left to men, worthy and less worthy.

Throughout the album, real and imaginary stories of men (with animal traits) and animals (with human traits), starting with that of the proto-ox painted in the Lascaux caves by a proto-man.

A completely crazy album, not only for the "usual" crazy tracks typical of Capossela, but also and especially for how the songs (with an average length of five minutes, therefore "demanding") are grouped within it, with no concession to improving its usability.

A predominantly dazzling, percussive, rhythmic start.

An ending (for three songs in a row) wistful, lyrical, subdued.

A great album, a summation of the best Capossela has known how to do in his albums since "Il ballo di San Vito."

A masterpiece?

Definitely yes, the definitive one.