ALESSANDRA

Whenever you classify a band in the "Prog Related" label, disappointment is just round the corner. Most bands in this group paid just a couple of visits to the prog world, preferably in the 1970s when the sound was challenging and (let's admit it) fashionable. This also happened for Pooh, a band whose members has always had a considerable technical training (axeman Dodi Battaglia, in particular) and a certain taste for epic rock which would turn up for their whole carreer. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that Pooh are fundamentally a POP band, whose main focus has always been love and its several features. Their 1972 "Alessandra" is by no means a prog album, but it is an exceptionally good pop one, filled with some of the most compelling love songs I've ever listened to. Therefore, the best way to enjoy it is to forget complex arrangements, virtuosism and soli, and just focus on the beauty of the melodies the band can create. It is true that no instruments or voices really prevail, but this is the basis for the band's most cohesive team work, an album which sounds incredibly more mature than its predecessor (Opera Prima). The band is able to write lushious, moving adult oriented melodies ("La nostra età è difficile", "Signora", "Cosa si può dire di te", "Quando una lei se ne va"), with a good use of chord shifts and helped by intelligent orchestral interventions. Three out of four members of the band sing, often harmonizing, offering a polished, fully enjoyable vocal performance (to be honest, some falsetto background vocals haven't aged that good...). Songs like "Noi due nel mondo e nell'anima" and the romantic title track are real jems, well structured, deeply felt. Last, but not least, Valerio Negrini's lyrics are really interesting. Even if the album is entirely composed of love songs, love is seen under several standpoints, from teenage love to betrayal, from an unexpected pregnancy to the difficulties of coming of age, without sounding dull or trite. Therefore, this love-song album is there for full enjoyment, assumed you are ready to give up any prog expectations. I did, and these notes will never leave their intimate place in my heart.