• Voto:
Tra le innumerevoli gemme rare della lunga e gloriosa carriera dei Dream Theater non si può non annoverare "A Change Of Seasons", una meravigliosa suite di 23 minuti e 9 secondi composta nel 1989, pubblicata nel 1995 sotto forma di EP e accompagnata da quatto deliziosi tributi live ad alcuni grandi ispiratori di Petrucci, Portnoy, LaBrie e soci: un medley dei Led Zeppelin, un "Big Medley" comprendente sezioni di "Bohemian Rhapsody" dei Queen e "In The Flesh?" dei Pink Floyd, "Perfect Strangers" dei Deep Purple e, soprattutto, "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" di tale Elton John: una marcia funebre maestosa, commovente, emozionante che si trasforma in una trascinante cavalcata a metà tra rock e pop, geniale e orecchiabile. Tutto questo non poteva certo lasciare insensibile la mia insaziabile curiosità e così, in uno dei miei consueti raptus di follia, decisi di acquistare questo "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", senza sapere se sarebbe stato l'inizio di un nuovo grande amore o se, dopo un ascolto o due, lo avrei lasciato marcire in uno scaffale come "Antichrist Superstar" di Marilena Mansoni o "Get A Grip" degli Aerosmith.
Conclusione: non è stato l'inizio di un grande amore ma neanche un bidone da sbolognare il prima possibile: un disco un po' troppo sovrabbondante (originariamente un doppio LP, e 17 canzoni sono tante, forse troppe) ma le perle ci sono: la già citata "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", che nella versione originale risulta più soffusa, più tesa e più sporca nella parte strumentale, mentre in quella cantata il buon Elton, anche se artefice di una buona performance, non regge assolutamente il confronto con Jamie LaBrie. Il meglio il nostro cantante-pianista lo dà in ballate assolutamente magnifiche, da pelle d'oca come "Candle In The Wind", omaggio a Marilyn Monroe nonché amara riflessione sui meccanismi perversi della celebrità, e soprattutto nella mia canzone preferita dell'album, in cui EJ offre davvero il meglio di se, la sognante, malinconica e dolcissima "Roy Rogers". Altro episodio da 10 e lode è sicuramente la titletrack, una pop song di fattura davvero eccelsa, praticamente perfetta in tutto: atmosfera, voce, arrangiamenti e testo, seguita da un'altra perla come l'enigmatica e onirica "This Song Has No Title"
Accanto a questi highlights troviamo altri brani di tutto rispetto: lo scanzonato esperimento reggae "Jamaica Jerk-Off", la stralunata e teatrale "Bennie And The Jets", "Grey Seal", potenziale capolavoro rovinato da un ritornello non all'altezza, "Sweet Painted Lady", bellissima nella sua atmosfera stile Mary Poppins e il duo finale, composto dall'allegra marcetta "Social Disease" e dalla breve, agrodolce e sfuggente "Harmony".
Quelle che ho citato sono, in un modo o nell'altro, tutte belle canzoni da ascoltare, canticchiare o fischiettare con una certa regolarità: per sognare, per rilassarsi, per ritrovare il buonumore o semplicemente perché fanno bene alla salute, ciononostante il buon Elton, in questo medesimo album, ci rifila anche delle sole del calibro di "All The Girls Love Alice" o gli episodi più ""rock"" come "Your Sister Can't ecc ecc..." o "Saturday Night ecc ecc..." che non stano in piedi manco con le stampelle, mentre "Dirty Little Girl", "I've Seen That Movie Too" e "The Ballad Of Danny Bailey" aggiungono un inutile supplemento di noia a un album altrimenti perfetto, facendo così abbassare il mio voto di ben due stelline (I'm sorry Elton...)
Nel complesso, un album che conservo con grande affetto, nobilitato da alcuni diamanti del pop che non smettono mai di lasciarsi ascoltare, forse non si tratta di un capolavoro imprescindibile ma sicuramente di una chicca da avere per impreziosire la propria collezione, anche perché, come già dissi in una mia vecchia recensione, fare musica pop di qualità è una delle cose più difficili del modo, forse anche più difficile che scrivere canzoni come "A Change Of Seasons"...
"And Roy Rogers is riding tonight, returning to our silver screens. Comic book characters never grow old, evergreen heroes whose stories were told. The great sequin cowboy who sing on the plans, of roundups and rustlers and home on the range, turn on the TV, shut out the lights, Roy Rodgers is riding tonight..."
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Candle in the Wind (03:51)
Goodbye Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name
CHORUS:
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind.
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in.
I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid.
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did.
Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
All the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
was that Marilyn was found in the nude
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind.
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in.
I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid.
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did.
Goodbye Norma Jeane
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
Goodbye Norma Jeane
From the young man in the 22nd row
Who sees you as something more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe
And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind.
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in.
I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid.
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did.
Your candle burned out long before
your legend ever did.
03 Bennie and the Jets (05:24)
Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather
We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
So stick around
You're gonna hear electric music
Solid walls of sound
Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet
Ooh, but they're so spaced out
Bennie and the Jets
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh, Bennie she's really keen
She's got electric boots
A mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine, oh
Bennie and the Jets
Hey kids, plug into the faithless
Maybe they're blinded
But Bennie makes them ageless
We shall survive
Let us take ourselves along
Where we fight our parents out in the streets
To find who's right and who's wrong
Oh, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet
Oh, but they're so spaced out
Bennie and the Jets
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh Bennie, she's really keen
She's got electric boots
A mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine, oh
Bennie and the Jets
Oh, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet
Oh, but they're so spaced out
Bennie and the Jets
Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh Bennie, she's really keen
She's got electric boots
A mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine, oh
Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets, Jets, Jets
Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie, Bennie and the Jets
04 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (03:15)
When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm,
I should have listened to my old man.
You know you can't hold me forever,
I didn't sign up with you.
I'm not a present for your friends to open,
This boy's too young to be singing the blues.
So goodbye yellow brick road,
Where the dogs of society howl.
You can't plant me in your penthouse,
I'm going back to my plough.
Back to the howling old owl in the woods,
Hunting the horny back toad.
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
What do you think you'll do then?
I bet that'll shoot down your plane.
It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again
Maybe you'll get a replacement,
There's plenty like me to be found.
Mongrels, who ain't got a penny,
Sniffing for tit-bits like you on the ground
So goodbye yellow brick road,
Where the dogs of society howl.
You can't plant me in your penthouse,
I'm going back to my plough.
Back to the howling old owl in the woods,
Hunting the horny back toad.
Oh I've finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
06 Grey Seal (04:02)
Why's it never light on my lawn
Why does it rain and never say good day to the new dawn
On the big screen they showed us a sun
But not as bright in life as the real one
It's never quite the same as the real one
And tell me grey seal how does it feel to be so wise
To see through eyes that only see what's real
Tell me grey seal
I never learned why meteors were formed
I only farmed in schools that were so worn and torn
If anyone can cry then so can I
I read books and draw life from the eye
All my life is drawings from the eye
And tell me grey seal how does it feel to be so wise
To see through eyes that only see what's real
Tell me grey seal
Your mission bells were wrought by ancient men
The roots were formed by twisted roots
Your roots were twisted then
I was reborn before all life could die
The Phoenix bird will leave this world to fly
If the Phoenix bird can fly then so can I
And tell me grey seal how does it feel to be so wise
To see through eyes that only see what's real
Tell me grey seal
Tell me grey seal how does it feel
Tell me grey seal how does it feel
Tell me grey seal how does it feel
14 Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (04:57)
It's getting late have you seen my mates
Ma tell me when the boys get here
It's seven o'clock and I want to rock
Want to get a belly full of beer
My old man's drunker than a barrel full of monkeys
And my old lady she don't care
My sister looks cute in her braces and boots
A handful of grease in her hair
Don't give us none of your aggravation
We had it with your discipline
Saturday night's alright for fighting
Get a little action in
Get about as oiled as a diesel train
Gonna set this dance alight
`Cause Saturday night's the night I like
Saturday night's alright alright alright
Well they're packed pretty tight in here tonight
I'm looking for a dolly who'll see me right
I may use a little muscle to get what I need
I may sink a little drink and shout out "She's with me!"
A couple of the sound that I really like
Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike
I'm a juvenile product of the working class
Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass
Don't give us none of your aggravation
We had it with your discipline
Saturday night's alright for fighting
Get a little action in
Get about as oiled as a diesel train
Gonna set this dance alight
`Cause Saturday night's the night I like
Saturday night's alright alright alright
Saturday (X9) Nights alright (X4)
15 Roy Rogers (04:09)
Sometimes you dream
sometimes it seems
theres nothing there at all
you just seem older than yesterday
and your waiting for tomorrow to call
You draw to the curtains
and one thigs for certain
your cozy in your little room
The carpets all paid for god bless the tv
lets go shoot a hole in the moon
(bridge)
And Roy Rogers is riding to-nite
returning to our silver screen
Comic book characters never grow old
evergreen heroes whos stories are told
of a great sequined cowboy
who sings of the plains
of round-ups and rustlers and home on the range
Turn on the tv
shut out the lights
Roy Rogers is riding tonite
9o'clock mornings 5 o'clock evenings
Id liven the pace if I could
oh I'd rather have ham in my sandwhich than cheese
but complain' wouldnt do any good
Lay back in my armchair
close eyes and think clear
I can hear hoofbeats ahead
Roy and Trigger have just hit the hilltop
while the wife and the kids are in bed
(bridge)
16 Social Disease (03:44)
My bulldog is barking in the backyard
Enough to raise a dead man from his grave
And I can't concentrate on what I'm doing
Disturbance going to crucify my days
And the days they get longer and longer
And the nighttime is a time of little use
For I just get ugly and older
I get juiced on Mateus and just hang loose
And I get bombed for breakfast in the morning
I get bombed for dinner time and tea
I dress in rags, smell a lot, and have a real good time
I'm a genuine example of a social disease
My landlady lives in a caravan
Well that is when she isn't in my arms
And it seems I pay the rent in human kindness
But my liquor also helps to grease her palms
And the ladies are all getting wrinkles
And they're falling apart at the seams
Well I just get high on tequila
And see visions of vineyards in my dreams
17 Harmony (02:46)
Hello, baby, hello!
Haven't seen your face for a while
Have you quit doing time for me-- or are you still
the same spoiled child?
Hello, I said hello!
Is the only place you thought to go?
Am I the only man you ever had or am I just the last surviving
friend that you know?
Harmony and me, we're pretty good company
Looking for an island in our boat upon the sea
Harmony, gee I really love you and I want to love you forever
and dream of never never never leavin' Harmony.
Hello, Baby, Hello!
Open up your heart and let you feelings flow
You're not lucky knowing me.
Keeping the speed real slow.
In any case I'm settin my own pace by stealing the show.
Say hello hello
Whoa
Harmony and me, we're pretty good company
Looking for an island in our boat upon the sea
Harmony, gee, I really love you and I want to love you forever
and dream of never never never leavin' Harmony.
Never leaving Harmony
Harmony, Harmony, Harmony, Harmony
Harmony, Harmony, Harmony
AAAHHH!
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Altre recensioni
Di RingoStarfish
Il talento di questo bizzarro ometto genuinamente british sta nell’esser prima di tutto un grande interprete, duttile ad ogni tipo di materiale.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road è la perfetta introduzione al genio e alla mediocrità del caro sir, simbolo di quegli anni di romanzeschi eccessi e di creatività incontrollata.
