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Solo 4 parole: "Eye of the Tiger". E' il 1982 e i Survivor, combo statunitense, compongono questo brano divenuto poi celebre grazie a Rocky, serie di film interpretata da Sylvester Stallone. Alla voce c'è Dave Bickler, cantante discreto ma non particolarmente espressivo. Malgrado ciò il gruppo, grazie all'album omonimo, raggiunge una popolarità inaspettata. Tuttavia, solo 2 anni dopo, esce questo "Vital Signs": alla voce troviamo adesso il talentuoso Jimi Jamison e il suddetto album diventa il primo di una trilogia di dischi ( "When Seconds Count" del 1986 e "Too Hot To Sleep" del 1988) che definire stellare è addirittura riduttivo. Ma andiamo per ordine.
L'album si apre con "I Can't Hold Back", un brano tanto semplice nella sua struttura quanto incantevole. Senza accorgervene vi ritroverete a canticchiarlo dopo il primo ascolto. Siamo solo a un decimo dell'album e la magia è già infinita. Il secondo brano è "High On You", un brano a mio avviso leggermente inferiore del precedente ma che si assesta su livelli qualitativi eccelsi. Segue "First Night". Eccessivamente sdolcinata e zuccherina? Probabilmente si, ma provate a restare impassibili mentre l'ascoltate. Non potrete fare a meno di rimanere ammaliati dalla sua dolcezza.
Dopo la quarta traccia, "The Search Is Over", arriviamo ai miei tre brani preferiti dell'album: "Broken Promises", "Popular Girl" ed "Everlasting". La prima delle tre è una canzone che si assesta, se vogliamo, su un andamento leggermente più rockeggiante nella strofa, fino a un ritornello da cantare a squarciagola, con la faccia rivolta al cielo... Ascoltando il divino intermezzo di pianoforte intorno al minuto 2:40. Davvero magnifica. Popular Girl è un pò più scanzonata, ma comunque fantastica: le tastiere e la voce di Jamison qui regnano sovrane. "Everlasting" è, a mio avviso, la più struggente dell'intero lotto. Forse uno scalino sotto le due precedenti, ma capace di far venire la pelle d'oca con facilità.
Chiudono questo superbo lavoro "It's The Singer Not The Song" e "I See You In Everyone". Nella prima Jamison "rivendica" il ruolo del cantante in una band e soprattutto le emozioni che nessun altro strumento riesce a suscitare, mentre la seconda non aggiunge nulla di particolarmente innovativo a quanto già detto, malgrado sia tutto fuorché un brano da trascurare. Come si suol dire, la perfezione non è di questo mondo. Tuttavia credo che i Survivor ci siano andati estremamente vicini: è davvero difficile credere che 5 esseri umani abbiano potuto scrivere canzoni del genere: questo album è una pietra miliare del rock melodico e della musica in generale. Se non avete pregiudizi per quanto riguarda la musica e volete semplicemente lasciarvi andare sull'onda delle emozioni, magari nel periodo estivo durante un tramonto e con una persona speciale al vostro fianco, questo è l'album che fa per voi.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 I Can't Hold Back (03:59)
There's a story in my eyes
Turn the pages of desire
Now it's time to trade those dreams
For the rush of passion's fire
I can feel you tremble when we touch
And I feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
I've been holding back the night
I've been searching for a clue from you
I'm gonna try with all my might
To make this story line come true
Can you feel me tremble when we touch
Can you feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
This love affair can't wait
I can't hold back
I'm on the edge
I can't hold back
Your voice explodes
Inside my head
I can't hold back
I won't back down
Girl, it's too late
To turn back now
Another shooting star goes by
And in the night the silence
Speaks to you and I
And now the time has come at last
Don't let the moment run too fast
I can feel you tremble when we touch
And I feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
There's a story in my eyes
Turn the pages of desire
Now it's time to trade those dreams
For the rush of passion's fire
I can't hold back
I'm on the edge
I can't hold back
Your voice explodes
Inside my head
I can't hold back
I won't back down
Girl, it's too late
To turn back now
I can see you tremble when we touch
Ooh, and I feel the hand of fate
Reaching out to both of us
This love affair can't wait
I can't hold back
I can't hold back
I can't hold back
02 High on You (04:08)
There you stood, that'll teach her
To look so good and feel so right
Let me tell you about
The girl I met last night
It's understood, I had to reach you
I let the wheel of fortune spin
I touched your hand before
The crowd started crashin' in
Now I'm higher than a kite
I know I'm getting hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch
In the middle of the street
And I, I can't stop thinkin' about you, girl
I must be livin' in a fantasy world
I'm so high on you
Smart and coy, a little crazy
The kind of face that starts a fight
Let me tell you about
The girl I had last night
Piercin' eyes, like a raven
You seemed to share my secret sin
We were high before
The night started kickin' in
Now I'm screamin' in the night
I know I'm getting hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch
In the middle of the street
And I, I can't stop thinkin' about you, girl
I must be livin' in a fantasy world
I've searched the whole world over
To find a heart so true
Such complete intoxication
I'm high on you
There you stood, that'll teach her
To look so good and feel so right
Let me tell you about
The girl I met last night
Now I'm higher than a kite
I know I'm getting hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch
In the middle of the street
And I, I can't stop thinkin' about you, girl
I must be livin' in a fantasy world
I've searched the whole world over
To find a heart so true
Such complete intoxication
I'm high on you
I'm high on you
I'm high on you
04 The Search is Over (04:12)
The Search is Over by Survivor
How can I convince you
What you see is real
Who am I to blame you
For doubting what you feel
I was always reaching
You were just a girl I knew
I took for granted
The friend I had in you
I was living for a dream
Loving for a moment
Taking on the world
That was just my style
Now I look into your eyes
I can see forever
The search is over
You were with me all the while
Can we last forever
Do we fall apart
At times its so confusing
The questions of the heart
You followed me through changes
And patiently you'd wait
'Till I came to my senses through
Some miracle of fate
I was living for a dream
Loving for a moment
Taking on the world
That was just my style
Now I look into your eyes
I can see forever
The search is over
You were with me all the while
Now the miles stretch out behind me
Loves that I have lost
Broken hearts lie, victims of the game
Then good luck, it finally struck
Like lighting from the blue
Every highway's leading me back to you
Now at last I hold you
Now all is said and done
The search has come full circle
Our destinies are one
So if you ever loved me
Show me that you give a damn
You'll know for certain
The man I really am
I was living for a dream
Loving for a moment
Taking on the world
That was just my style
Then I touched your hand
I could hear you whisper
The search is over
Love was right before my eyes
05 Broken Promises (03:56)
Summer and smoke, diamonds and dust
Go where you will, do what you must
The promise was made, your word was enough
We had dreams, visions and plans
Into the night, out of our hands
Letting our passion fulfill our demands
I remember those songs on the radio
The jasmine, the wind in your hair
Does it seem like so long ago?
*Broken promises
Is it written in stone that we wind up alone
Wo oh, broken promises
And a heart that recalls
When the promise was all that we had*
Into the dust, reckless we rode
Secret desire, talking in code
Bittersweet madness, the stories unfold
I remember those songs on the radio
The jasmine, the wind in your hair
And how it hurts to remember those
( * Repeat)
06 Popular Girl (03:39)
When she walks in the room, every eye in the place
Turns to follow her every move
She's arrived on the scene in her diamonds and jeans
World class -- she's got nothing to prove
It takes a long time to know her, whe gives it up a little at a time
*She's gettin' what she wants
She's a popular girl
Settin' those hearts on fire
Everybody wants to be
Part of her world
She's a popular girl
Such a popular girl*
She walks down the street, knocks 'em dead on their feet
With a casual nonchalance
When she's breaking your heart, she's the state of the art
With license to take what she wants
It takes a hard man to hold her, she likes to get a little out of line
( * Repeat)
She waits by the window, the world is her stage
Each smile is her mirror in the passing parade, passing parade
And in the end, all she'll be is your friend
Though passion's your lone desire, she's the one you can't touch,
You want her so much, you're burnin', your heart's on fire
It takes a hard man to hold her, the challenge is forever on my mind
( * Repeat)
07 Everlasting (03:51)
Heart and soul I come to you
Are we meeting here on cue
Just in time for a love affair
Like a fool I'd walk through fire
Just to reach my heart's desire
Baby would you be waiting there
Can we afford to wonder
If this could be the one, wo-oh
*I'm looking for a love that's everlasting
I wonder if the feeling's strong enough
Tell me are we merely lovers passing
Or an everlasting love
This could be an everlasting love*
On this first night we are one
Kindred spirits on the run
Taking hold of our destiny
In this world of chances missed
Does forever still exist
This side of the fantasy
Can we afford to wonder
If this could be the one wo-oh
( * Repeat)
09 I See You in Everyone (04:25)
Every night, a fleeting glimpse of candlelight
Chases 'cross the atmosphere -- but you're not here
and I see the shape of moonlight on the cityscape
But now the skyline wears a shroud
I hear your voice in every crowd
Listening for your footsteps in every hallway
Watching for your headlights around the bend
I can see you standing in every doorway
*Out in the street, in every glance
I see your reflection, I fall in a trance
You can't know what you have done
I see you in everyone, in everyone
In the night I see your eyes
From every direction a different disguise
Can't you see what I've become
It's making me crazy, I see you in everyone*
Day by day, I watch the memories slip away
And traces of reality come back to me
Then I see your face, somewhere in a distant place
The fantasy has gone too far --
I close my eyes and there you are
I can see you standing in every doorway
I can feel your heartbeat -- I hear your voice
And hiding in my shadow you're with me always
( * Repeat)
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Altre recensioni
Di dreamwarrior
I tre minuti che cambiano la vita... Questa è stata per i Survivor "Eye of the tyger".
Vital Signs è un disco fatto per la radio, in cui ognuno dei nove brani presenti, è una potenziale hit.
