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Stilelibero Eros Ramazzotti BMG, 2000
Tracks
Reviewed by Linda Richards
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I have to admit, I approached Stilelibero with a bucket of caution. After all, there seemed to be a lot about Eros Ramazzotti's latest album to invite the ridicule of reviewers. In the first place, there's Ramazzotti himself, the Italian pop singer with the name like an appetizer who is seldom photographed without a manly scowl marring his seriously sensitive visage. This isn't new for Ramazzotti, who has been recording internationally since the mid-80s, though these days he's doing it with considerably less hair. In the second place, the album's first single, "Fuoco nel Fuoco" (Fire in the Fire) was produced by Rick Nowels who has been racking up pop points producing the likes of Mel C. (that's Sporty Spice for those who haven't been keeping track), Madonna, Celine Dion and other purveyors of smooth-edged pop tunes. Along the same lines is the third place: pop maven Cher contributes vocals by way of a duet on "Piu Che Puoi," though if you've listened up to this point on the album -- track six -- without becoming entranced with the combination of Ramazzotti's powerful tunesmithing and quirky-but-convincing vocals, the duet will give you pause. Even if, like me, the the only Italian you understand is food words. Cher's smooth and familiar voice soars to epic heights alongside Ramazzotti's rock-guy-gone-sensitive vocal stylings. If you don't pay close attention to EuroPop and have missed Ramazzotti entirely, you won't have any reason to know that over the course of his career, he's sold in excess of 20 million records, mostly in Italy, Argentina, Mexico and Germany. Ramazzotti's discography is difficult to calculate. He often records albums in both Italian and Spanish and those albums end up with different names. For example, the Italian version -- the one under review here -- is Stilelibero. The Spanish version, released at the same time, is called Estilo Libro. Not a huge difference, but over the course of a career it makes for a pretty long list: somewhere between 12 and 20, impressive any way you slice it. What is calculable on a single listen is that Stilelibero is perfectly of the time and place: something at which Ramazzotti has proven adept. A decade from now, you'll be able to pinpoint almost the moment of this album's release: not of the 1990s, not yet of the new millennium, which is a sound we're still watching develop. Rather it perfectly captures the pop sound of this tween moment like big hair evolving to spiral at the close of the 1980s. We knew the spiral perm wasn't going to be around forever, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, and what the hell else was a girl to do? Stilelibero cuts the edge without actually being cutting edge. It's happy pop, and some of it is danceable, with a competent rock foundation and a solid Latin beat. If you like Latin pop, this is the place to be: ditch the Ricky, microwave pizza on your Enrique and run for Ramazzotti. | December 2000
Linda Richards is the editor of Blue Coupe magazine. |
If you don't pay close attention to EuroPop and have missed Ramazzotti entirely, you won't have any reason to know that over the course of his career, he's sold in excess of 20 million records, mostly in Italy, Argentina, Mexico and Italy. |
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