Disco de Paola and Chiara: “Blu”

Paola & Chiara have been recorded 6 albums since 1997 - so it makes about 1 album every year, and as this new album shows, that's far too much. I've been watching them since their first international album ("TeleVision") and I couldn't agree more that they have both great potential, astonishing voices and a huge gift for videos. But every album since "TeleVision" is divided into 2 parts: one with great, catchy songs with interesting lyrics (if you understand Italian, most of it) and the second with songs that should never, ever be a part of the album. It feels like the sisters wanted to record an album so hard, that they didn't care about it at some point. And it really, really shows on "Blu" - songs like "Amare Di Piu", "Sexy", "Disco DJ" or astonishing "Aqua" are pearls of the album, while the rest is, well, not. But, on the other hand, it's only a matter of taste.

You have to admit though, that the album is perfectly compact, which is tremendously good in the era of artists, who can't decide what to record, so they record everything, creating a huge mess on the album. The sisters also continued the tradition of using well known samples (on "Mai, Mai, Mai" it was Madonna's "Justify My Love", now "Naturale" theme seems to be taken from Kelis' "Flashback") which is not very good itself, although results are nice.

All in all, "Blu" is a promising fresh chillouted mixture of pop and light r'n'b, which shows that they still have that thing. They simply know how to record an album, and I personally praise them for that. It's still not a top-shelf position, but Paola & Chiara are sure on a good way.

I recommend.

Album points received/max = 55/55 = A+

11 trax: 5x11 = 55.

55/5 = 11, 11 stars = 1 letter grade.

55 stars, A+, perfetta, perfection!..

Breakdown:

@ Mare di Piu *****5

Blu *****5

Senza Confine *****5

Disco DJ *****5

Facciamolo *****5

Diana *****5

Naturale *****5

Sexy *****5

Angolo di Paradiso *****5

Come Eravamo *****5

Aqua *****5

End thoughts: It is nearly impossible to get a perfect score on my reviews, as not one track can miss the mark in anyway! Honestly this is the best album P&C have laced, yet it nearly went unnoticed in Italia at the time as P&C were not popular due to their last album crossing the line with the Italian majority. Yet this CD is so beautiful, so heavenly, its what made me find & fall in love with these Italian sisters. It is so perfect,.. u will not be disappointed!

Over the past several months, I've been discovering and collecting the wonderful music put out by these two sisters. I must admit, I don't care much for the earlier alternative sound (with a few exceptions - the song 'Ci Chiamano Bambine' is just awesome), but starting with 'Television', the poppy, catchy Italian tunes are irresistable - and their voices spectacular. So now I've finally come to this album. What we find here for the most part is a very slick production that, as has been described elsewhere, leans toward 80's electropop. While I'm impressed with the technical production of the album, the songs themselves leave much to be desired. My two major complaints:

1) Vocally, this album is much more subdued that all of their others. These women can sing, and what a thrill when they belt it out (think 'Festival').

2) Gone are the strong choruses and catchy tunes that make their songs stick in your brain. Even worse, there is little differentiation between songs: similar tempos, sounds, melodies, etc. I've listened to the whole album a few times now, hoping that some of the songs will pull me in eventually. It hasn't happened yet, and the whole album just tends to come out as a homogenous lump of nicely produced electropop.

All that being said, the first two songs do tend to stand out a bit more than the rest. In the end, though, I was hoping for more, and find myself disappointed. I'm not giving up on it quite yet, though.

I got this CD while in Italy. I didn't know who are Paola and Chiara but saw it is on display and listened to it in a big musica store in Milan. I really loved the songs and I bought it. After getting back I listened to it dozens of times and I am still not tired of it. There are many very good upbeat and catchy songs in this album. It is somewhat different then some of their earlier albums except for Television which is also great and similar in the types of music. If you like euro pop, catchy songs this is your CD.