Alan Sorrenti is the third, eponymous album by Alan Sorrenti and was released in 1974 on the Harvest label with a line up featuring Alan Sorrenti (vocals, acoustic guitar, synth), Toni Esposito (drums, percussion), Nero Limone (bass, electric guitar), Enzo Castella (acoustic guitar, mandolin) and Mark Harris (piano, acoustic guitar, synth) while Umberto Telesco took charge of the pictures for the art cover. With this work the musical approach of the Neapolitan artist started to change and the experimentalism of his 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, “Un viso d'inverno” (A face in winter), is an ethereal, acoustic ballad where the music and lyrics conjure up a black and white landscape. Time passes slowly among the trees, a pale sun shines behind the clouds and, as by magic, melts the ice on a wintry face... The vocals here are still used as an instrument but without taking too impervious paths.
Next comes the cover of the popular traditional Neapolitan song “Dicitencello vuje”, written in 1930 by Rodolfo Falvo and Enzo Fusco, here reinterpreted by Alan Sorrenti in a very personal way. It’s a man’s desperate declaration of love towards his beloved woman, made indirectly and passionately. This track was also released as a single and was very successful although it was considered a kind of treason by many of the old fans...
Next comes the cover of the popular traditional Neapolitan song “Dicitencello vuje”, written in 1930 by Rodolfo Falvo and Enzo Fusco, here reinterpreted by Alan Sorrenti in a very personal way. It’s a man’s desperate declaration of love towards his beloved woman, made indirectly and passionately. This track was also released as a single and was very successful although it was considered a kind of treason by many of the old fans...
“Ma tu mi ascolti” (But you, are you listening to me?) is a melancholic, desperate ballad dealing with alienation and exclusion. The music and words depict the image of a homeless who seeks for help... “Now you know that I’m not strong / Now you know that I fear living... I am tired and I wish a home / The one who destroyed me now shows me the way / It was late winter when they tried to make me forget of myself / And I lost my way / I got lost...”.
“Sulla cima del mondo” (On the top of the world), is sarcastic track about vainglory, social climbing and careerism. Success might hide a huge spiritual void and infinite sadness. The lyrics depict a man on the terrace of a skyscraper from where the city below looks like a thriving anthill. He had to turn into a clown to play with the world... “But what do you want? / I don't want to feel pain any more / No, I don't want to suffer any more... You are running after the time / Because you want all in a while / And you will live crying / On the top of the world...”.
“Sulla cima del mondo” (On the top of the world), is sarcastic track about vainglory, social climbing and careerism. Success might hide a huge spiritual void and infinite sadness. The lyrics depict a man on the terrace of a skyscraper from where the city below looks like a thriving anthill. He had to turn into a clown to play with the world... “But what do you want? / I don't want to feel pain any more / No, I don't want to suffer any more... You are running after the time / Because you want all in a while / And you will live crying / On the top of the world...”.
“Poco più piano” (A little slower) is an unconventional love song, with an arrangement featuring horns and strings, an oblique pace and almost hysterical vocals. The cryptic lyrics evoke bucolic landscapes and cloudy memories as the heart of the protagonist beats slower and slower...
“Microfoni assassini” (Killer microphones) is a disquieting piece that sounds like a surreal claim for artistic freedom... “Naked and trembling / Now I’m here / In front of killing microphones / In front of you, who are looking from your cage / At my bleeding mouth...”. Well, the early seventies were hard times for concerts in Italy and Alan Sorrenti was frequently contested by a turbulent public that in some occasions throw to him stones, empty bottles, fruits...
Then the dreamy “Incrociando il sole” (Crossing the sun) ends the album with suffused atmospheres and acoustic sounds. It brings a touch hope in a gloomy day... “Everyone is dead now / Everyone is older / But we are still together in the air / Crossing the sun...”.
On the whole, this work has its good moments and it could be of some interest for prog fans, but it's not an essential one.
You can listen to the complete album HERE
“Microfoni assassini” (Killer microphones) is a disquieting piece that sounds like a surreal claim for artistic freedom... “Naked and trembling / Now I’m here / In front of killing microphones / In front of you, who are looking from your cage / At my bleeding mouth...”. Well, the early seventies were hard times for concerts in Italy and Alan Sorrenti was frequently contested by a turbulent public that in some occasions throw to him stones, empty bottles, fruits...
Then the dreamy “Incrociando il sole” (Crossing the sun) ends the album with suffused atmospheres and acoustic sounds. It brings a touch hope in a gloomy day... “Everyone is dead now / Everyone is older / But we are still together in the air / Crossing the sun...”.
On the whole, this work has its good moments and it could be of some interest for prog fans, but it's not an essential one.
You can listen to the complete album HERE
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