Claudio Baglioni: Viaggiatore sulla coda del tempo (Columbia Sony Music, 1999)

Baroque pop means dressy arrangements, highfalutin melodies, and a certain amount of pretentiousness. But in the case of this album, the expression gets some additional meanings. Talking about structures, these songs don't reach the puzzling complexity of Battisti's later efforts: no deconstruction here, just verse/chorus/bridge/coda craftmanship taken to masterwork level - the quintessence of baroque aestethics. Lyrics and rhymes are of the most convoluted kind: lines and lines of far-fetched metaphores just to say one small concept, interwoven with elaborate rhyme schemes which always privilege form above content.
The arrangements are layered and affected by a purely baroque form of horror vacui: in any other context, they'd sound overproduced, but here they just fit perfectly. Blending orchestral gusts and trip-hop architectures, Fripp-like curves and abrupt world music meddlings, their amazing sound depth's a stirring counterpoint to the impressive vocal glides propelling the songs.

21th album by pop-rock superstar Claudio Baglioni, the lp is some sort of concept work about midlife and the passing of time. It was produced by Cervello's Corrado Rustici, and the drums were played by longtime Baglioni's collaborator Gavin Harrison, later of Porcupine Tree fame.

Tracklist:

1. Hangar
2. Un mondo a forma di te
3. Si io sarò
4. Stai su
5. Caravan
6. Mal d'universo
7. Chi c'è in ascolto
8. Opere e omissioni
9. Quanto tempo ho
10. A domani
11. Cuore di aliante
12. A Clà

Download (320 kbps)

Similar albums on the blog:

Ivano Fossati: La pianta del tè (CBS, 1988)
Lucio Battisti: Anima latina (Numero Uno, 1975)