MANIFESTAZIONI LIVE 2011-2023

Right from the first spin I knew this was a special recording. Claudio Milano is one of the greatest singers on the planet and while his inspiration at first seemed to come from AREA's Demetrio Stratos this man has his own style and there is no one like him. This is a double live recording of over 2 hours of music going back to 2011 and right up to 2023. I know this man's music. I am in double digits when it comes to albums that feature Claudio and to be honest I have had great difficulty with some of it, several 3 star ratings in fact but many 4 star ratings. This is my first 5 star rating for him and it's well deserved. Not perfect by any means but on each disc I have 8 songs(16 total) that are incredible and a total of 5 that leave me bewildered(haha).

The liner notes are amazing, very detailed at who is playing and singing and where each performance happened and when. Lots of pictures too. Claudio has a cool relationship with AREA's Paolo Tofani who he leaves to last in the "thankyou" section saying "And... finally, thank you Paolo Tofani for everything you have given me, this record is also yours." Paolo adds electronics, vocals and more and hey we also get the AREA drummer and bass player and all three AREA guys on that opening track. And Franco Battiato is on here! But man this is really all about Claudio and his vocal gymnastics. I do have a top three but would like to touch briefly on all of the 16 tracks that thrill me.

"Per Causa-Nostra" the opening track with the AREA boys is a top three for me. The opening bass and drums sound great as Claudio joins in. Check out the guitar after 2 minutes and later. This track is as much about the instrumental work as it is with the vocals. "Dite" is short but with depth as Claudio, bass, electronics and piano lead the way. "Che Il Piacere E' Peccato?" is another short 2 minute piece that opens in a haunting way before piano and fragile vocals take over.

"Conta Chi Tenta!" opens with pounding piano and drums as theatrical vocals join in. "Gallia #4" sounds incredible with those instrumental sounds and atmosphere. Intense before 2 minutes when Claudio steps aside briefly. "Aghe Aghe" is the longest track on disc one at almost 12 1/2 minutes and is an amazing ride. The closer of disc one is a tribute to STORMY SIX member Claudio Rocchi who had just recently passed. Spacey and beautiful, a nice change of pace although vocally this is pretty cool with those vocal arrangements.

Disc two and that second track ""Per Causa-Nostra II" has Battaito on it and is avant all the way instrumentally. Some abrasive guitar. Lots of depth 4 minutes in and deep vocals end it. "Incontro-Medley" is such a unique piece with bag pipes and dark vocal expressions. My second top three is "Cramars Marochins Pt II" as it just hits the spot with the intensity, the vocals and guitar all standing out. "Il Serpente E Il Bastone" is all about the sound, the atmosphere, just gorgeous as the vocals soar.

"Nella Torre Delle Aquile" is piano and atmosphere early with Claudio arriving around 1 1/2 minutes in. So much atmosphere early on. The eighth track is the longest on the double release at almost 20 minutes and it's almost catchy(haha). "Pan's Pot" is all about the vocals while the closer my final top three is also all about the vocals. It's called "SenseNonSex-Vocal Workshow" and it is a show of Claudio's incredible talents along with this soprano female singer Giulia Zaniboni who sings in Claudio's style and the results are outstanding.

This will sit with my all time favourite Avant albums, it's that good.