AMORE E NON AMORE

Okay i'll be honest, it was the Italian girl with the nice bum on the cover that drew me to check out this album. Hey after being forced to endure RUSH's "Hemispheres" cover and YES' "Going For The One" cover for so many years this is extrememly gratifying. Thankyou Lucio ! Now after spending some time with this record over the holidays I can say the music is as good as the cover. It doesn't hurt to have the three pre-PFM members helping out on guitar, drums and keyboards or the guitar work of Alberto Radius (IL VOLO, FOMULA 3) or EQUIPE 84's keyboardist Dario Baldan Bembo or CRYSTAL's bass player Giorgio Piazza but this really is the Lucio Battisti show. Man he has such passion and while I don't understand Italian he apparently is quite the word-smith and is put on the same level as John Lennon in Italy when it comes to lyrics.The music here is even better than I hoped it would be.

"Dio Mio No" is uptempo with strummed guitar as the vocals arrive just before a minute. Organ and drums follow. I love when he sings with passion especially just before 5 minutes.Great track ! "Beduto Sotto..." is an excellent instrumental with the intricate guitar work, drums and organ standing out. Strings come in and I really like the drums late. "Una" opens with floating organ as the sound builds. It all settles down when the reserved vocals arrive. We get backing vocals and guitar on the chorus as it becomes fuller.

"7 Agosto Di..." features some incredible sounding guitar and piano throughout this instrumental. I'm moved (gulp) after 3 minutes. So good. "Se Mia Pelle Vuoi" is a straight-up rocker really with the vocals to match. It's my least favourite. "Davanti Ad..." is a short but proggy instrumental with organ and strings standing out. "Supermarket" opens with strummed guitar as the vocals join in. Catchy stuff and a killer song. "Una Poltrona..." ends the album in style.I'm moved by this tune as Lucio sings in a higher pitch than normal.

Easily 4 stars.