Mi Piace 111 di Tiziano Ferro Molto Bene (me like 111 by Tiziano Ferro)
Written: Dec 09 '06 (Updated Jul 25 '09)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Diverse album, good voice, Non Me Lo So Spiegare, Italian is fun
Cons: a couple of duds
The Bottom Line: Tiziano created a very interesting sophomore but not sophomoric album.
|
|
|
| kuuleimomi's Full Review: 111 Centoundici by Tiziano Ferro |
Two years after his debut album Rosso Relativo success Tiziano Ferro released "111" or “Centoundici” as you can hear from the first track on the album. I definitely LOVE this album. Even though it’s still pop, it’s so much more sophisticated in terms of music, vocals and lyrics. Yes, I said lyrics. Though I don’t understand any better when I listen to 111 than before, I can tell that lyrics got more complicated and more lyrical. [Just as before, http://www.tizianoferro.com and Lingvo 11 multilingual dictionary are my best friends.]
The thing that has not changed a tiny bit is Tiziano’s origin. He’s still very Italian and just as any Italian there are only three topics in his songs: love gained and lost, singing (every Italian singer sings at least one song but usually more about singer’s destiny), and absolutely pretentious nonsense that is supposed to be philosophical, but which I personally can’t stand, though accept as an Italian-must.
Before you accuse me of xenophobia here’s an example. In a song “Mia nonna” (my grandmother) he sings:
Mia nonna dice chi cerca trova
Ma chi non trova
Cerca troppo e a forza di cercare cade giu’
Il buonon e’ buono ma il meglio e’ meglio
Sfidi la sorte e guarda caso perdi tu
(My grandma says who looks finds
But who doesn’t find
Searches too much and will end up falling down
The good is good but the better is better
You challenge your fate and strangely enough you lose)
OK, there is something I have to tell you. I have two best friends who are Italian and my girlfriend is Italian. So trust me, I have more than a year of experience to tell you that this seems to be an Italian case: talking too much about nothing. Russians are no different from Italians on this behalf (and many more). I’ve met too many people thinking they can write just by inventing something completely impersonal and pretentious. Maybe I’m just not made up for understanding cosmic mind that you seem to be possessing.
In 111 Tiziano again shows diversity of styles from pop vocal to rap to jazz (or should I say “rap” and “jazz” because in no way I’d want to dishonor these styles by saying that this is exactly what Tiziano Ferro does). Basically, it’s still pop. Remember the force from my previous review? Well, now you experience it not only through Tiziano’s vocal but also through his music. He’s all in your face with songs like “Xverso” (“X” is “per” in Italian), “In bagno in aeroporto” (yes, the title reads “In bathroom in the airport”) and “Mia nonna”.
I told you that Tiziano’s unflattering nickname was “il cane” or “dog” for his singing style. Well, here you can hear more of it with songs like “Sere nere” (“Black nights”), Giugno '84 (I don’t know what happened in June '84, but it sure pains to listen to it) and “Eri come l’oro e ora sei come loro” (pun which means “You were like gold and now you’re like them).
I don’t mind Tiziano singing like a dog, especially in one of my all-time favorite songs of his – Non Me Lo So Spiegare (“I can’t explain this to myself” – no, that’s just the name of the song). It’s one of my top romantic songs ever. I know it by heart. Especially since this was the song I masochistically kept pushing rewind button for on my mp3 player while crying my eyes out on the plane from Rome. It’s very simple and simply heart-breaking, even if you don’t know or understand the words.
I think that by the second album Tiziano grew as an artist not only because he started writing better songs, but also because a listener can understand the mood of the singer without understanding the words. It’s like listening to opera: you don’t have to speak Italian to enjoy (not that I'm comparing opera to Tiziano Ferro, Heaven forbid!).
Another thing I really like about 111 is rhythm. Tiziano is a white Italian boy and he can’t rap to save his life, but he’s got rhythm, so I’m not skipping a single song, even if I don’t like the music, the lyrics or the style. What struck me with his first album is how drums are implemented in his music. On this album even in lyrical songs where drums are not put upfront you can sense the rhythm.
When you do understand though, you can interpret Tiziano any way you wish. His personal stories become your personal stories if you can relate to his metaphors. They are balancing on the edge of simply brilliant and disgustingly pretentious, but when one word touches you, you feel like the whole song is about you. I guess that is the universality of pop music…
In the end of the Italian 111 album there is some coarse Italian language to which Tiziano apparently is trying to figure out which radio station is playing his song. For as much as it’s “brutto”, it’s very funny too. After that there is more Italian: it’s like in a class of foreign language they put on tapes of phone conversations and you have to answer the questions afterwards. Whatever. I don’t know why it’s there.
All in all, 111 is a very diverse album with many lyrical, thoughtful and fun songs; in some songs he shows his romantic side and in some he plays with sexual metaphors; in some Tiziano lets his voice sound in full, but in some he reserves it.
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
kuuleimomi
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Finn (with 2 n's)
Location: Incubo
Reviews written: 178
Trusted by: 144 members
About Me:
E sarà bellissimo...
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.