Stagioni is the nineteenth album by Italian singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini. The title means seasons, and three of the songs of the album are named after a season. It was released in 2000 by EMI, and was at the top of the Italian album chart for one week.
| Stagioni | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 February 2000 | |||
| Genre | Italian singer-songwriter | |||
| Length | 42:18 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Francesco Guccini chronology | ||||
| ||||
Overview
editStagioni ("seasons") was released on February 4, 2000, four years after Guccini's last studio album, D'amore di morte e di altre sciocchezze.[1] It consists of nine songs, three of which were named after a season: "Autunno" (autumn), "Primavera '59" (spring '59) and Inverno '60 (winter '60). "Ho ancora la forza" was written and sang together with Luciano Ligabue, another singer-songwriter from Emilia-Romagna; it received the 2000 Targa Tenco best song award.[2][3] The title track was about the death of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, a figure Guccini sang about also in his next album, Ritratti. Guccini said the first attempt at writing it was in 1968, but he stopped at half a verse; he was encouraged in finishing the song by the good reception those few lines received at one of his concerts.[1][3] "Addio" was a bitter song, attacking the "horizon full of dwarfs and dancers"; it was seen by some as akin to "L'avvelenata", one of his most famous songs.[4] In "Don Chisciotte" Guccini was the voice of Don Quixote, in a duet with Juan Carlos Biondini as Sancho Panza. The song "E un giorno..." was dedicated to his daughter, the second one after "Culodritto" (from his 1987 album Signora Bovary).[1]
Reception
editStagioni received mixed reviews by critics. Mario Luzzatto Fegiz, in his review on the Corriere della Sera, said it was "Guccini DOC, with the final and melancholic tones of a testament",[1] while an article on La Repubblica said "Guccini doesn't surrender, he still has the strength of becoming indignant".[3] The website Ondarock.com gave Stagioni a 5.5 mark, saying there was more care in the formal feature but less spontaneity than in Guccini's former albums.[5] The website rockol.it slated the album, saying it was "obvious, embarrassing, pathetic, redundant".[6]
The album was a commercial success, reaching the top spot in the Italian album chart in its release week, and remaining in the chart for 13 weeks.[7][8]
Track listing
edit- "Addio (intro)" - 0:53
- "Stagioni" - 6:08
- "Autunno" - 4:55
- "E un giorno..." - 5:25
- "Ho ancora la forza" - 3:24
- "Inverno '60" - 5:17
- "Don Chisciotte" - 6:00
- "Primavera '59" - 5:59
- "Addio" - 4:10
Personnel
edit- Vince Tempera - piano, keyboards
- Antonio Marangolo - saxophone, percussion
- Roberto Manuzzi - accordion, saxophone, keyboards
- Ares Tavolazzi - bass guitar, double bass
- Ellade Bandini - drums
- Juan Carlos Biondini - guitar, vocals (in "Don Chisciotte")
- Jimmy Villotti - guitar (in "Inverno '60")
- Henghel Gualdi - clarinet (in "Inverno '60)
References
edit- ^ a b c d Luzzatto Fegiz, Mario (3 February 2000). "Guccini: ora con un tango attacco la tv". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). p. 37. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Club Tenco - Rassegna della canzone d'autore" (in Italian). Club Tenco. Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2011. In Gli Artisti section, under Targhe Tenco, Canzone.
- ^ a b c Pellicciotti, Giacomo (3 February 2000). "Guccini il montanaro torna a cantare il Che". La Repubblica (in Italian). p. 41. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ Cantonetti, Donal. "Ritratto di un cantastorie" (in Italian). Ondarock. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ Margiotta, Emanuele. "Francesco Guccini - Ritratto di un cantastorie" (in Italian). Ondarock.it. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Stagioni - Francesco Guccini" (in Italian). Rockol.it. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "10/02/2000". Italiancharts.com. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Francesco Guccini - Stagioni (album)". Italiancharts.com. Retrieved 5 November 2011.