Alibi filosofico is the third studio album by Pandora and it was released in 2013 on the independent label AMS/BTF Records. After the release of their previous work, Sempre e ovunque oltre il sogno (2011), guitarist Christian Dimasi left the band and wasn’t replaced, so Pandora went on as a trio with a line up featuring Corrado Grappegia (vocals, keyboards), Beppe Colombo (keyboards) and Claudio Colombo (drums, percussion, bass, guitars, keyboards, flute, cuatro, backing vocals) but during the recording sessions they were helped by many prestigious guests such as Arjen Lucassen (Minimoog, guitar), David Jackson (saxophones, flute, tin whistle), Dino Fiore (bass), Leonardo Gallizio (bass), Emoni Viruet (vocals, percussion) and others. The result of their efforts is a brilliant mix of vintage atmospheres and modern sounds. The art cover by Emoni Viruet reflects the musical content and in the rich booklet every track is described with a painting and a short story by Claudio Colombo...
The long, complex opener “Il Necromante, Khurastos e la prossima vittima” (The Necromancer, Khurastos and the next victim) is a sequel to the fantasy story of the druid Chad-Bat, protagonist of some pieces on Pandora’s previous album where he helped a king and his army to defeat their enemies. Anyway, his final enchantment consumed almost all his energies and here Chad-Bat’s adversary, the Necromancer, takes his revenge: he breaths new life in the bodies of his dying soldiers and awakes an ominous monster called Khurastos that storms upon the king’s army. The theatrical vocals interpret the Necromancer’s fury while the music evokes the battle and the bloodshed...
The epic instrumental “Né titolo né parole” (No title nor words) is also linked to Chad-Bat’s saga. According to the short story in the booklet, a female elf with a magical voice and her faithful knight called Lord Jon perceive the approaching sound of evil forces and set off to the rescue defeating the Necromancer’s army with the charming power of their music. Every now and again the atmosphere could recall the score of an old spaghetti western... By the way, this piece is dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Douglas Lord (1941-2012).
The piano driven instrumental “La risalita” (The ascent) describes a difficult escape from the treacherous waters of the Styx river where Pandora, the protagonist, is trapped after her meeting with Hades, the god of the dead and the king of the underworld. The story continues in the following “Apollo” where Pandora goes through a kind of psychedelic dream and gets lost in a labyrinth of sounds and melodies after ran into Apollo, the god of music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more... Eventually she awakes in the middle of a village where there’s a celebration going on and she begins to dance. The narrative vocals express, through the dialogue between Apollo and Pandora, some reflections about the ever changing concept of art and its capability to mislead who tries to understand it...
The colourful, jazzy “Tony il matto” (Mad Tony) is dedicated to the memory of Antonio Ligabue, an Italian painter and one of the most important Naïve artists of the 20th century, a peculiar character that emerges from superimposed layers of silence with his madness, his genius and the memories of his troubled life spent as a loner, wondering along the banks of the river Po, near the town of Guastalla, Emilia.
“Sempre con me” (Always with me) starts softly, the mood is dreamy. It’s a piece about a love stronger than time. The music and lyrics depict a man and a woman that have been together for a lifetime and keep on walking side by side, overcoming every obstacle, until they’re in front of a celestial orchestra. Their love generated other lives and more love, their image is a true celebration of happiness... The long final track, “Alibi filosofico” (Philosophical alibi), on the contrary, describes the crises of a relationship where the love between a man and a woman can’t stand up against the difficulties of life. The man is trying to find a reason to leave his partner, making up an alibi to hide his plans, searching for the right words to break free. It’s just a matter of different point of views, a philosophical topic about time passing by and the need of new goals...
An excellent album!
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