Tiziano Ferro / Nessuno è solo / July 29, 2006
03. Ed ero contentissimo / 04. Stop! Dimentica
08. La paura che…
As far as hip hop goes, Tiziano Ferro is one of the few exceptions in my life. It’s not that I go out of my way not to listen to hip hop music, but it only makes sense that since radio stations are already permeated with enough rap and R&B to last two lifetimes that I don’t even turn it on anymore. As far as Top 40 is considered, there is no soft side to hip hop; it’s all cuss words and “lifestyle” endorsement. In fact, there is not one inch of hip hop in my bones. Just 1/2 an inch, which is where Ferro comes in.
Catchy hip pop is his forte and flavoring it with his incredibly sultry, deep Italian does it no harm. The songs are catchy and even if you don’t speak a lick of Italian, you will be singing along in no time. On the flip side, for every good song he sings, there are always two or three really bad ones, usually drippy R&B ballads that have less flavor than salt free rice cakes. His new album is no exception. I’d say roughly 1/2 of the album is feel-good, radio-friendly songs, not excluding the single “Stop! Dimentica,” which samples Linda Perry’s “Fade To Grey,” better popularized by Ms. Kelly Osbourne in “One Word.” Except that it’s a lot better and while Osbourne’s version is like the chorus repeating itself ad nauseum, Ferro’s packs a melodic sucker punch.
In the end however, it’s this song alone that attempts to carry the disc through, but fails because it’s the rare synth pop gem on the entire disc. Songs like “E Raffaella è mia” and “Baciano le donne” constitute the other two great tracks on the album, which leaves the rest of the CD to fill up its minutes with ballads nothing like the sexy “Alucinado” and some pop…or something. I don’t know. I cheated and started skipping ahead every time I heard opening strains of acoustic guitar and piano. I suppose that’s only because I’m just not into it and if you are one of those people who like those types of songs, than by George, this CD was packaged for you. But for the likes of me who are looking for something a bit impressionable this summer…I’ll stick to blasting “Stop!” on the highway.
As a final note, as usual, there’s both a Spanish and Italian version. I reviewed the Italian version just because I prefer listening to him singing in his native language.
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