Tutti Morimmo A Stento

Though overambitious and sometimes overbearing, Tutti Morimmo a Stento is not without brilliant passages that hint at the possibilities of the orchestral suite format that De Andr? would so successfully explore in the future. Indeed, the middle segment of the album is quite wonderful, with"Inverno," a lyrical air not unworthy of the best Italian opera tradition (arguably Reverberi's finest moment), and the satirical childlike roundabout"Girotondo" that introduces a much welcome change of pace and tone. Those two tracks, and the chilling"Ballata Degli Impiccati," are as impressive as anything De Andr? has recorded. As these make up more than a third of the record, it would be a great disservice to consider Tutti Morimmo a Stento a weak album, but it certainly pales a bit in comparison with later masterpieces such as La Buona Novella or Non al Denaro non all'Amore N? al Cielo, and it often sounds like a dry run for those works. Granted, this is a common problem with artists of such high standards and consistency as De Andr?: used to uniform excellence, one may feel a bit let down with merely partial brilliance. At any rate, on the evidence of his second LP, no one could doubt De Andr?'s multiple talents, as well as his ambition to transcend the singer/songwriter mould