IL GIOCO DEL SILENZIO

There's a lot to like about Il Gioco Di Silenzio, the first full-length studio album by Italian band Nichelodeon (following a live album two years earlier). On this album, the band establishes themselves as an intelligent, eclectic, dramatic unit. To my ears, the music sounds like a combination of the romantic and symphonic side of RPI, with a dash of oddness splashed in - and then two scoops of avant garde and dissonance.

To date, I haven't had much chance to delve too deeply into the lyrical content presented on this disc, although I hope to do so in the future. I must admit that I am intrigued by what is contained within, especially given the creative cover. For the time being, this review will focus on the musical side of this album.

And on the musical side - the band really does a good job here! A lot of the music is melodic, and the melodies are all very nice. Many different instruments are used here, including Clarinet, which is a big bonus for me - the playing on Fiaba (especially at the beginning) is especially beautiful. Claudio Milano handles most of the vocal duties on here, and for me this is another of the highlights on this album. The vocal melodies are very strong, and Claudio is able to bend his voice into various different sounds. The rest of the band all have great performances as well, but those are the two aspects that stood out most to me.

This album is a pretty strong listen from beginning to end, but in the middle it doesn't quite stay as strong. The best tracks are definitely those near the beginning or end. This can lead to the album seeming to drag around the middle, but it is definitely worth listening through the few songs that aren't quite as good as the best stuff to get to the end.

I definitely love the dramatic aspect of this music, which is aided in large by the great use of atmosphere and melody, and the vocals. Overall this is a really great, if imperfect, find, and one of my favorite new discoveries from 2010.