*. Alan Sorrenti .* (Remaster)

Album: Alan Sorrenti (1974)(Remaster 2005)
Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic/Folk)  /  Italy

On his third eponymous album Alan Sorrenti's musical approach started to change and the experimentalisms of the previous two works begun to give way to simpler forms. The arrangements are good but not so bold and challenging as in the past while a melancholic vein is always present in the lyrics and in the melodies. The opener is a diluted ballad "Un viso d'inverno" (A face in winter), where time passes slowly while a pale sun behind the clouds tries to melt the ice. Vocals here are still used as an instrument but without taking impervious paths. "Now you know that I'm not strong / Now you know that I fear to live... I am tired and I wish a home / The one who destroyed me now shows me the way / It was late in winter when they tried to make me forget of myself / And I lost my way / I got lost" he sings in another sad diluted acoustic ballad, "Ma tu mi ascolti" (But you, are you listening to me?). On another track "Sulla cima del mondo" (On the top of the world), while the music turns to a faint honky tonk, he sings "But what do want? / I don't want to feel pain anymore / No, I don't want to suffer anymore... You are running after the time / Because you want all in a while / And you will live crying / On the top of the world". It seems almost a plan for the future: give up with experimental music and turn commercial! On the unquiet "Microfoni assassini" (Killer microphones) he sings "Naked and trembing / Now I'm here / In front of killing microphones / In front of you that are looking from your cage / At my blooding mouth...". Well, 1974 was a difficult year for concerts in Italy and Alan Sorrenti was frequently contested by a turbulent public that in some occasion throw to him stones, empty bottles, fruits... On this album you can also two love songs, "Poco più piano", featuring horns and strings, and the cover of the popular traditional Neapolitan song "Dicitencello vuje", written in 1930 and reinterpreted by Alan Sorrenti in a personal way. This song was very successful as a single but it was considered as a kind of treason by old fans. Anyway, on the final track, the dreamy "Incrociando il sole" (Crossing the sun), an hint of hope seems peering out... "Everyone is dead now / Everyone is older / But we are still together in the air / Crossing the sun...". 
Review by "Windhawk" (Prog Archives).

RATING:  7.75 / 10

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