ALTRO ED ALTROVE

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Frankly, I was quite disappointed by this album when I have bought it. I had lost the contacts with Branduardi's music at the beginning of the 80s and the previous "L'infinitamente Piccolo" had the merit to renew my interest in Branduardi.

So I had a lot of expectations from this new release, but it was soon clear that this was not at the same level. First of alll there aren't the big guests like Battiato and Morricone of the previous album. Almost all the instruments are played by Branduardi, not a bad thing itself, but more ideas are good when you go to arrange a song.

The album's concept is "love over the world": a sort of travel into world to arrange traditional love poetry into ballads. The overall outcome I have found a little boring.

"Laila Laila" is a woman's name. This song is too melodic to me and the melody is quite trivial. Surely it was intended to be the album's hit single. The arrangement is rich with keyboards and strings, but I get tired very quickly. She comes from Myanmar (Burma).

"Notturno Indiano" is a bolero. Musically not bad even if nothing special. Indian is meant as Native American. Not considering the "local" music it's a discutible choice, even if I think that Angelo's idea was to demonstrate the universality of love, not of music.

"La Candela e la Falena" (The candle and the moth) is a nice song but it also contains trivial passages, specially in the chorus. The lyrics come from Afghanistan. It's a poetry of Mirza Khan Ansari, a 17th century afghan poet.

"Se Dio Vorra'" (If God wants) is an African prayer to Allah to "free" some girls from their husbands so the author can have them. Musically nothing special also this.

"Io canto la ragazza dalla pelle scura" (I sing the dark skinned girl) is about an Arabian warrior queen. A bit more interesting from a musical point of view, very in line with the Branduardi of the 70s, but still too mellow.

Now a Scottish story: "La Signora dai Capelli Neri ed il Cacciatore) (The dark hair Lady and the Hunter). This time the Celtic influence that's one of the most important influences in Branduardi's music is evident. Unfortunately the chorus doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the song. However it's the first good half-song of the album. It's also possible that's effectively a Scottish traditional song that I don't know.

"Ille Mi Par Esse Deo Videtur" is Latin from the poet Ovidio. I have studied it at school and means "He looks like a God to me". It's a dark electronic song on which Angelo sings the original poem in Latin. This is the first very good song of the album, also in terms of composing.

"L'ambasciata a Shiragi" (The Embassy to Shiragi) is about a Japanese diplomatic mission to Shirai (Korea). A mariner says goodbye to his woman (the soprano) before sailing to Shiragi. The soprano adds a far eastern touch, but the song seems more inspired to the Italian opera. I think to Puccini. Interesting "commercial" experiment.

"Giovane per Sempre" (Forever Young) is inspired to Shakespeare. It would be a typical Branduardi song if it wasn't for the electronic drum. Some passages appear recycled from other songs.

"Ch'io sia la Fascia" comes fom New Mexico and from the debut album of Branduardi with a different arrangement. This time the Native American music is more taken into account. It's a good rearranged old song.

"Lo Straniero" (The Stranger) comes from Lybian beduins. The Beduin girls are more free respect than in the rest of the Islam, so there's no scandal if they accept a man in their tent but in this case the man is from a different tribe and for this reason he has to die. Nothing northafrican here. The squsred waves and the harp make it sound like Enya.

"La Ballata Del Fiume Blu" (The Blue River's Ballad) is inspired to the death of the Chinese poet Li Po whose legend says he died trying to catch the reflex of the moon in the water. His child wife still waits. Also here the problem is that the music doesn't have anything to do with the subject. Just a mellow melodic song.

"Il Bacio" (The Kiss) is a Persian poet of the 10th century who tells his friends about a secret meeting with a lover. It's still Enya singing with the voice of Angelo Branduardi.

Finally an Irish legend of the 9th century:: the God Midir asks his former love, now wife of the Kingof Tara to follow him in a land of ethernal youthness. It's incredible how an author who has written music highly influenced by the celtic folk can write something so distant from Ireland with a subject of this kind, apart of the last few seconds.

In its complex this album is too melodic and mellow for me, so that I can rarely listen to it in its entirety, and I wasn't listening to it since long time. Probably I wouldn't have tried it again if it wasn't for this review. Something good can still be found, but this album is for me still a disappointment. I can call it "good" and one good song is not enough, so I give it two stars