GREEN – Life

Life, the debut release of Italy’s Green, is a journey about love, life, and some other warm fuzzies. In lead singer/guitarist Fabrizio Pieraccini words, “We’re very spiritual, so there’s a lot of hope in our music.” There’s also a lot of pomposity.

The CD starts with a Boston-ish instrumental called “The Wind of Love.” What the hell does that mean? “This is for those who have worn a pair of wings, but never had the guts to fly,” a voice offers in explanation. Starting a CD with an instrumental is just being all highfalutin and uppity. Enough already.

When they are not trying to pass the doobie of love, they do get to some excellent rocks songs. The second song, “Mr. Kite,” again has a sort of Boston rock-feel to it, with keyboards and some sharp riffing by Pieraccini. Apparently, all Mr. Kite needs is the wind of love on his search to find something worth living for. The song, during the tempo change at the end, really rocks the house. This is Green at their strongest, and Pieraccini has some Sammy Hagar in him at his higher range, although his voice is smooth as silk most of the time.

One thing you’ll find throughout the CD is that vocalist Pieraccini has a strong accent, and it sometimes makes the lyrics hard to understand. Like at the beginning of the song, “I Gotta Run,” the opening lines are hard to decipher as he says he’s going to be late for “weeeooore,” which is obviously “work.” That’s nit picking though; the guy can sing, and you’ll enjoy his talents.

While the beginning of the CD is more up-tempo, you’ll start hitting some strange, slower instrumentals later in the disk. “The Work” and “Escape” are two of them, back to back. You’ll hear some breathing, cars driving, and an annoying acoustic guitar piece that is accompanied by more breathing. In other words, hit skip.

Those songs lead up to “Cycling in the Rain,” which again employs the use of some weird breathing sounds at the beginning. This song is about escaping work, going up to the mountains and experiencing the beauty of nature … with your bike. This song embodies the Green sound — skillful writing, ultra melodic, and as they say, spiritual lyrics. “I’m at peace with myself when I’m cycling in the rain,” says it all.

“I Still Love …” has a great start to it. Wicked guitars and a nice Hagar-like yell. This is as hard as Green gets, and they do it well. The guitars are by far the best part of this song, and Pieraccini really gets his licks in here. Ahem …

Sadly, they end the CD the way they start it, with “The Wind of Love” reprise. Sure, from an artistic view, it brings the journey of the entire CD full-circle, but it doesn’t make it any less narcissistic.

Green has attempted a concept album of sorts, and it works most of the time. It gets a little boring, and writing about escaping work and finding peace with yourself gets old when it’s the same idea song after song. But, they are not writing about killing kittens, getting drunk and fighting, or being mad at their dad, so they’ve got that going for them. If you listen to it out of order and skip the four instrumentals, you’ll enjoy the ride. Grazie.