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I Level 42 sono uno di quei gruppi che fanno in modo che il panorama musicale degli anni 80 non sia considerato una schifezza. Si tratta di quattro musicisti abilissimi (cinque se consideriamo "l'ospite fisso" Wally Badarou) con un groove magnifico e una capacità di scrivere brani molto complicati, ma allo stesso tempo orecchiabili. Molti se li ricordano per "Lessons In Love", il loro pezzo più famoso, nonché uno dei peggiori, che fece molto successo anche qui in Italia. In realtà i Level 42 vanno ben oltre una semplice canzoncina pop orecchiabile.
"Standing In The Light" è una dimostrazione lampante di quanto affermo. Fa parte del periodo d'oro dei Level 42, ovvero quello dei primi dischi, quando il gruppo era più orientato sul funky che sul pop (anche se, ci tengo a precisarlo, anche gli album successivi non sono niente male).
La formazione dell'album è la seguente: Mark King (considerato il re dello slap, ma in realtà abilissimo anche nel pizzicato) al basso e alla voce, Mike Lindup alle tastiere e alla voce, Boon Gould alla chitarra e Philip Gould (suo fratello) alla batteria. In più ci sono anche il già citato Badarou alle tastiere e uno dei percussionisti più richiesti degli anni 80, Paulinho DaCosta (già con Lee Ritenour e Carlos Santana, fra gli altri) , a dare un valido sostegno al gruppo. Adesso di questi restano solo King e Lindup, ma i Level 42 restano lo stesso un grande gruppo.
Per quanto riguarda il disco, sostanzialmente la musica suonata è pop, ma non è pop classico, bensì orientato sul funky e sulla fusion pura.
Il primo pezzo, "Micro-Kid", è il classico esempio che un brano orecchiabile e canticchiabile non è per forza brutto, anzi oltre che una ritmica coinvolgente e trascinante contiene una buona prova chitarristica di Boon Gould, nonché un solidissimo ritmo di batteria solidissimo di Philip. Lo stesso dicasi per la seguente "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)", che dal vivo sarà valorizzata da uno splendido arrangiamento fusion con un inserto strumentale non inserito nel disco in studio. L'ottima "Out Of Sight (Out Of Mind)" ricorda i Toto dei tempi d'oro, pur contenendo un bridge abbastanza stupido. Non convince totalmente la seguente "Dance On Heavy Water" (curioso notare come Mark King invece di cantare "Water" nel disco canta "Weather"), che ha un ottimo groove e una buona parte vocale ma anche un odiosissimo ritornello ("Take a chance and dance/It's a chance") ripetuto fino alla nausea. Semplicemente micidiale la linea di basso di "A Pharaoh's Dream (Of Endless Time)", uno dei pezzi in cui la presenza di King si nota di più. In effetti se non fosse per il sound tipicamente anni 80 questo pezzo potrebbe essere anche considerato quasi progressive, con i suoi stacchi strumentali e virtuosismi da brivido. Non a caso nel brano in questione è anche presente un assolo di sassofono suonato dal bravo Andrew Woolfolk (già con gli Earth, Wind And Fire).
La title track del disco, nonostante il titolo, è abbastanza cupa, ma non per questo meno bella di altri pezzi dell'album. Anzi, il giro di basso di questo brano, è talmente bello e misterioso che andrebbe considerato a mio parere, tra le linee migliori dell'intera discografia. Il disco è chiuso da tre brani semplicemente perfetti, i migliori del disco e probabilmente tra i capolavori dei Level 42. "I Want Eyes" è una dolce ballata, ma allo stesso tempo con parti un po' aggressive, con un assolo di Mike Lindup veramente splendido, oltre che, come al solito, una linea di basso di King da ricordare! A proposito di Lindup, è lui l'autore del pezzo seguente, "People", tipico esempio di british-pop misto con qualche ingrediente funky. Un pezzo bellissimo, molto coinvolgente e tranquillo, con un assolo di basso di King che ricorda molto il suo mentore Stanley Clarke. Il messaggio del pezzo è ottimistico e inquietante allo stesso tempo ("Find The Time and You'll realise/life isn't too much time and trouble"). Infine chiude il disco la stupenda "The Machine Stops" (forse la stessa "World Machine" di cui parleranno più avanti?), un brano tipicamente funky con un, ancora una volta, basso da brividi.
Sicuramente avrete notato che mi sono soffermato di più su Mark King e Mike Lindup, i leader del gruppo, che su gli altri. Il motivo è semplice: la parte da leone sul disco ce l'hanno loro. Non per questo i fratelli Gould sono meno importanti, anzi: Philip Gould suona in maniera a dir poco perfetta, discreto, mai invadente ma con qualche rullata capace di far saltare sulla sedia. Boon Gould, invece, in studio è sempre stato un po' freddino e in alcuni pezzi ("The Machine Stops") sparisce quasi completamente. In realtà i bootlegs del periodo dimostrano che anche Boon è un musicista eccezionale, capace di dare moltissimo.
Disco consigliatissimo ai bassisti, ma non solo. Se odiate gli anni 80, questo disco e questo gruppo vi faranno in parte cambiare idea. Da avere!
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Micro-Kid (04:44)
pushing all the buttons
trying to come to something
flying with his feet on the ground
full of dreams and visions
in a world of indecision
he ain't around to be pushed around
been a long time coming on
take a look at him now
and the days of If are gone
'cause he's showing us how
knowledge fuels the mind of the few
in a way that no - one's found
brave new answers screaming the truth
and the techno wins the crown
Chorus
micro-kid with mega-thoughts
he is real, he is here, he is fashionable
micro-kid speaks digitalk
if you hear what he says it's acceptable
generating square waves
while computing new games
finally gets the chips off his back
a smile is on his face
erasing every trace
of doubt that plagues the rest of the pack
and his brain stores memories
no alternatives could come in
he's the living remedy
times are better than they were then
knowledge fuels the mind of the few
in a way that no-one's found
brave new answers screaming the truth
and the techno wins the crown
Chorus (Rpt.)
02 The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up) (04:15)
Though I live in the edge time is on my side
All the doors to my life are open wide
Just as long as the wheels keep on turning round
I will live for the groove 'til the sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... is it a crazy notion?
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
I don't wanna go to war, I don't wanna go to war
I said I know what I want an' I don't wanna go to war
Do you follow me?
I saw a soldier standing in a bar, looked so tired, he'd come so far
He said "I need to love someone before they drop the atom bomb"
There's a girl at the back making eyes at me
And her hair long and black is a sight to see
But I get kind of scared when love's around
I just live for the groove 'til the sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... is it a false emotion?
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
So I'm-a-taking you out but I'm-a-faking
I'm married to the beat
To the music I gave the heart I could have given you-hoo
Still there's something 'bout the way that you move
And the way the people stare, it's the shock of the new
I want my friends to see me standing next to you
The sun goes down
Time is on my side
I don't care what they say, I'll enjoy the ride
But I get kind of scared when I turn around
So I'll stay with the groove 'til the sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
Ooh watch her dance
There must be one like her in every club in every town
But I don't mind if that's the way she wants to be
There something 'bout her that reminds me of me
She's my soulmate - we'll be together 'til the sun goes down
The sun goes down
Living it up ... living it up ... I can feel it
Living it up ... I got forward motion
03 Out of Sight Out of Mind (05:12)
I remember your goodbye
and the late December sky
seems so long ago
you were standing on the quay
and you blew a kiss to me
I was sad to go
the ship began to pull away
then I heard a stranger say
it's sad to see true lovers part
'cause sometimes lovers feel a change of heart
out of sight and out of mind
well the stranger's words came true
and the prophecy went through
I knew it would change my world
'cause when I called your home
a whispered conversation
I overheard
I asked you what was going on
you said that I'd been gone too long
and the rain that fell in West Berlin
was nothing like the rain that fell within
out of sight and out of mind
oh, Regine
here am I
so far away
out of sight, out of mind
love has gone
but I will shine
day after day
I will take what love I find
so I made some other plans
took my life in these two hands
and I know I won't turn around
though I often see your face
when I'm in a crowded place
it doesn't get me down
I met a girl with smiling eyes
full of love and worldly wise
she told me she knows what to do
to help me put the memories of you
out of sight and out of mind
Chorus
04 Dance on Heavy Weather (04:27)
take a chance - and dance
it's a chance - dance
all across the world there's people high on confrontation
and they try to solve their problems burning up the nation
turn the whole world upside down and leave it in confusion
but still we get no answers using yesterday's solutions
we are the ones, keep sight of it
don't have to make a fight of it
dance on heavy weather
learn to live with modern times
you can take the pressure
it's all a state of mind - so we can
dance on heavy weather
raise the heartbeat of the young
if we move together
don't you know that we are the ones
take a chance - and dance
it's a chance - dance
you can try to hide behind a mask of contemplation
say you want to live your life in private isolation
from the east you can't ignore the storm of disillusion
and so it falls on all our shoulders to find a new solution
you've got to make a start of it
you've got to feel a part of it
dance on heavy weather
learn to live with modern times
you can take the pressure
it's all a state of mind - so we can
dance on heavy weather
raise the heartbeat of the young
if we move together
let the soul - take control - we are the ones
take a chance - and dance
it's a chance - dance
hear the sound of the heartbeat of the young
though the rhythm is so unfamiliar
just be sure to be there now the time has come
hear the music that brings us together
dance on heavy weather
hear the sound of the heartbeat of the young
we can take the pressure
we may have a solution, we are the ones
dance on heavy weather
hear the sound of the heartbeat of the young
if we move together
we may have a solution, we are the ones
06 Standing in the Light (03:43)
a summer's day in sixty-eight
sunlight through a window falls across the page
a young boy tries to concentrate
his mind would rather fly beyond the classroom cage
he can take the teacher's voice
turn it into music from another place
all the other kids don't have that choice
hanging on to every word the teacher says
day and night - we will be touched
standing in the light - don't shadow the genius
so out of school he walks alone
soon his thoughts are flowing like a golden stream
an empty house he calls his own
this place becomes a temple to a silent dream
sometimes he will clap and sing
then deep in meditation he will learn to be
and only birds upon the wing
with upward fascination claim to be so free
day and night - we will be touched
standing in the light - don't shadow the genius
your smile, your freedom
comes to you from within
still a child with a reason
you're afraid but it's time to begin
blow the wind of change
though the words are strange - to hear
say what's on your mind
now is not the time - for fear
a summer's day in eight-one
sunlight through a window falls across the page
a young man's fight has just begun
and rising up inside him is a burning rage
they called his dream a fantasy
a song that every child has sung since time began
but just as long as he believes
standing in the light he'll make them understand
07 I Want Eyes (05:00)
it's late I know but I can't sleep
peace of mind is hard to keep
I saw it on the news today
a thousand lives just blown away
I want eyes
I want eyes
another page in history
but the why is still a mystery
won't you come so we can talk this through
do you need me now like I need you
I want eyes
I want eyes
on the beach lies a boy
thrown away like a toy
in the field lies a man
left behind, he was calling, calling
no one saw him die
sitting there you're telling me
that everything is meant to be
but when I say I can't go on
I know I'm not the only one
I just can't live on planet hope
and watch the world go up in smoke
I don't know how to face the facts
when I see a child respond to impact
I want eyes
I want eyes
I want eyes
I want eyes
so I wake every night
with the same dream in mind
in a field there's a man
left behind, he was calling, calling
no one saw me cry
call
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