Una compilation di rarità per una band con appena due album alle spalle può sembrare un azzardo. Registrare cover, poi, non è qualcosa di cui solitamente un musicista vada particolarmente orgoglioso. Ma nel caso degli Algebra, che hanno alle spalle una storia molto lunga per quanto lenta, questa scelta ha rappresentato un’opportunità di crescita. Le canzoni di altri artisti, infatti, sono state affrontate, fin dal primo esperimento del 1994, con l’idea di destrutturarle e rifarle secondo un’identità personale. Quindi non tributi, ma reinterpretazioni spontanee in un’attitudine che, a un certo punto, è stata applicata persino alle stesse canzoni del gruppo.
Nasce così Deconstructing Classics, quasi 160 minuti di musica ripartita su due cd.
Il primo cd si apre con l’unica nuova registrazione: una cover de La cura di Franco Battiato con due grandissimi ospiti (Steve Hackett e Anthony Phillips). A seguire, tutte le cover registrate nel corso degli anni e sparpagliate all’interno di album di artisti vari.
Il Cd 2 è invece completamente inedito e presentato con un ordine cronologico a ritroso: accanto a brani finiti ma, per qualche ragione, mai pubblicati, si ritrovano improvvisazioni, performance live ed esperimenti, ed è impreziosito da un gioiellino acustico inedito dello stesso Phillips.
A rarities compilation for a band that has only released two albums may appear a little weird, we know. But Algebra has a very long story, as slow as it can be, and we thought it was time to put together all the covers we have recorded over the years that were scattered on several Various Artists albums, along with extra tracks. Doing covers is not something a musician should generally be proud of, but on the other hand it represented, for us, a way to grow, because we approached other artists’ songs, since the first one recorded in 1994, with the idea of deconstructing and redoing it in our own way. So not tributes, but spontaneous reinterpretations in our own style. Later on, we applied the same criteria to some of our own compositions. Hence the title, Deconstructing Classics.
The songs included on cd 1 have all been officially released except the first (featuring two immense artists and friends like Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett) and they represent hopefully Algebra at their best over a quarter of century.
Cd 2 (completely unreleased) is quite the opposite: next to songs properly recorded that for some reason were never released, there are improvisations, live songs, experiments et al. So the second cd (with reversed chronological order) may be less enjoyable than the first one, but we think it features some nice stuff too and we hope the listener will forgive any mistakes, out of tune guitars, small imperfections or wobbly rhythms.
CD 1 (77’30”)
01. La cura
02. Dusk
03. Song Within A Song
04. Funny Ways
05. Felona e Sorona
06. Take A Pebble
07. Old Rottenhat
08. Up To Me
09. Dear Diary
10. Qué Hacer
11. This Train Is My Life
12. Sleepers
CD 2 (76’00”)
01. Strangers In Space
02. Hallelujah Joe
03. Goodbye Baby Blue
04. God If I Saw Her Now
05. The Lobster
06. Straight
07. Ripples live rehearsal
08. Up To Me live rehearsal
09. Il crepuscolo
10. Dusk live
11. Russian Suite live
12. Open Door live
13. The Clouds Are Always Present
14. Il muro
Mario Giammetti: vocals, guitars, bass (1983/2019)
Rino Pastore: keyboards (1983/2019)
Maria Giammetti: alto and soprano sax, flute (1995/2019)
Roberto Polcino: keyboards (1996/2019)
Franco Ciani: drums and percussion (1998/2019)
Salvatore Silvestri: drums and percussion (1983/1997)
