Re matto

Re matto
EP by
Marco Mengoni
Released17 February 2010
Recorded2010
GenrePop rock
Length24:16
LanguageItalian
LabelSony BMG
Producer
  • Stefano Calabrese
  • Stella Fabiani
  • Marco Mengoni
  • Gianluca Vaccaro
Marco Mengoni chronology
Dove si vola
(2009) 		Re matto
(2010) 		Re matto live
(2010)
Singles from Re matto
  1. "Credimi ancora"
    Released: 17 February 2010
  2. "Stanco (Deeper Inside)"
    Released: 7 May 2010
  3. "In un giorno qualunque"
    Released: 1 October 2010

Re matto (English: "Mad king"; Italian: [ˈre mˈmatto]) is the second studio EP[1][2] by Italian singer Marco Mengoni. In Italy the album sold more than 82.000 copies[3] and received double platinum certification from the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.[4]

The first single taken from the album was "Credimi ancora". The song ranked 3rd in the 60th Sanremo Music Festival[5] and debuted at number 3 on the Italian Singles Chart.[6]

The other singles from the album were "Stanco (Deeper Inside)", released in May 2011,[7] and the ballad "In un giorno qualunque", released on 1 October 2010.[8]

Background

In October 2010, Mengoni explained the reason why he decided to title his album Re matto (in English, "Crazy king"):[9]

King because, when you participate in a talent show they put you on a pedestal, even if when you go back home you realize that you didn't change and that you don't have a crown on your head. Crazy is the word that I hope will follow me for my whole life: crazy people are the most free existing beings.

The album was recorded in early 2010, immediately after the release of the first album by Mengoni, "Dove si vola". It was produced by Stefano Calabrese, Stella Fabiani, Marco Mengoni and Gianluca Vaccaro for "Cantieri Musicali".[10]

Composition and themes

The album features songs with different musical styles: "Credimi ancora" is a symphonic rock song,[11] while "Questa notte" and "In un giorno qualunque" are typical Italian-style pop ballads. Other tracks are influenced by dance music, such as "Fino a ieri", while the second single, "Stanco (Deeper Inside)" has been described by critics as a pop-house song.[12] Moreover, the Italian critic Mario Luzzatto Fegiz wrote that in "Re matto" Mengoni sometimes calls to mind David Bowie and Lou Reed.[13]

During an interview with the Italian radio programme "Deejay chiama Italia", Mengoni said that he chose to record an album with different types of songs in order to allow himself to follow different expressive styles in the future.[14] During the same interview, he stated that the song "Questa Notte" was influenced by Paolo Nutini's music.[14]

Release and promotion

Marco Mengoni during a concert in San Benedetto del Tronto

The digital version of the album was released on 17 February 2010, two days before the physical version. To promote the album, Mengoni participated in the 60th Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Credimi ancora".[15] Moreover, Mengoni appeared in several Italian TV programmes, including "Domenica In",[16] "Domenica 5"[17] and "Porta a Porta".[18]

From February 2010 to March 2010 Mengoni promoted his album through an in-store tour,[19] while the "Re matto tour", the singer's first tour, officially started on 3 May 2010 in Milan[20] and ended in September 2010 with a concert in the same town, at the PalaSharp arena during the "Festa dell'Unità".[21] The "Re matto tour" consisted of 56 concerts throughout Italy.[22]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Musica e dischi[23]

The album received mixed reviews. Jason Birchmeier gave the album a negative review, claiming that "there's little substance on this 24-minute EP and too much of the material is half-baked".

Guido Marco gave it 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote on the Italian music magazine Musica e dischi that "the mix of vocal neurotic flashes on a pop rock musical texture, with an absolutely simple and incisive lexicon, makes of Mengoni something more than a promise".[23]

Italian popular critic Mario Luzzatto Fegiz wrote on the newspaper Il Corriere della Sera that Mengoni is not always at the same level as in "Credimi Ancora", but he has charisma and a great gift in giving renditions of his song.[13]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 1 on the Italian Albums Chart, holding down the number one spot for four weeks.[24] In April 2010 it was certified Platinum[25] and in January 2011 the copies sold by Re matto were more than 82.000.[3]

Track list

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Credimi ancora"
  • Marco Mengoni
  • Stella Fabiani
  • Piero Calabrese
  • Massimo Calabrese
3:27
2."Questa notte"
  • Mengoni
  • Stefano Calabrese
  • P. Calabrese
  • M. Calabrese
3:21
3."Stanco (Deeper Inside)"
  • Mengoni
  • Fabiani
  • P. Calabrese
  • M. Calabrese
  • S. Calabrese
4:04
4."In un giorno qualunque"
  • Mengoni
  • P. Calabrese
3:42
5."Fino a ieri"
  • Mengoni
  • Antongiulio Frulio
  • Ernesto Leveque
  • M. Calabrese
  • P. Calabrese
3:22
6."In viaggio verso me"
  • Mengoni
  • M. Calabrese
  • P. Calabrese
2:45
7."La guerra"
  • Mengoni
  • M. Calabrese
  • P. Calabrese
3:26
iTunes bonus tracks[26]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Tears in Heaven" (Eric Clapton Cover - live)Eric Clapton4:45
9."Stanco (Deeper Inside)" (Mistify Noise Remix)
  • Mengoni
  • Fabiani
  • P. Calabrese
  • M. Calabrese
  • S. Calabrese
4:27

Charts and certifications

Chart (2010) Peak
position 		Certification Sales
Italian Albums Chart[24][27] 1 2× Platinum[4] 82.000+[3]
European Top 100 Albums[28] 29 – –

Year-end charts

Year Chart Position
2010 Italian Albums Chart[29] 9

Personnel

  • Marco Mengoni – vocals, backing vocals
  • Fabio Gurian – strings
  • Piero Calabrese – keyboards, computer programming
  • Massimo Calabrese – bass
  • Stefano Calabrese – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Alessandro Canini – drums
  • Roberto Procaccini – piano, keyboards, computer programming
  • Peter Cornacchia – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, classical guitar
  • Marco Rinalduzzi – acoustic guitar, twelve-string guitar
  • Davide Colomba – backing vocals
  • Giovanni Pallotti – bass
  • Chris Cags – radio speaker
  • Andrea Secchi – intro radio editing concept

References

  1. ^ Emanuela Longo (February 18, 2010). "Re Matto, l'atteso Ep di Marco Mengoni" (in Italian). www.newnotizie.it. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
  2. ^ "Biografia" (in Italian). www.marcomengoni.it. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c "Mengoni, 'Re matto live' e' disco di platino" (in Italian). ANSA. January 19, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Italian album certifications – Mengoni Marco" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 30 July 2013. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Mengoni Marco" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
  5. ^ "Marco Mengoni". MTV. Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  6. ^ "MARCO MENGONI - CREDIMI ANCORA (SONG)". italiancharts.com. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  7. ^ "Marco Mengoni: in uscita Stanco (Deeper Insider), il nuovo singolo" (in Italian). www.newnotizie.it. May 7, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  8. ^ "Marco Mengoni: "In un giorno qualunque" sarà il nuovo singolo!" (in Italian). www.marcomengoni.it. September 18, 2010. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  9. ^ Andrea Laffranchi (November 9, 2010). "Mengoni, un altro trionfo "Sono il matto del pop E' questa la mia libertà"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  10. ^ "Re Matto - Marco Mengoni - Credits". All Music Guide. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Jason Birchmeier. "Re Matto - Marco Mengoni - Review". All Music Guide. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  12. ^ Gianni Valentino (February 26, 2010). "Marco Mengoni, il talento di 'X Factor'" (in Italian). la Repubblica. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  13. ^ a b Marizo Luzzatto Fegiz (March 7, 2010). "Il carisma e le doti vocali di Marco Mengoni" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  14. ^ a b Amo la musica Black (in Italian). Radio DeeJay. February 25, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  15. ^ Gianni Micaletto (December 19, 2009). "Novita' e ritorni piace il cast del Festival Il sindaco: Complimenti, e' di alto livello Ok da Varnero e Morgia ma Valle e' critico" (in Italian). La Stampa. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  16. ^ "Marco ospite oggi a Domenica In" (in Italian). www.marcomengoni.it. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  17. ^ "Marco a Domenica 5" (in Italian). www.marcomengoni.it. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  18. ^ "Marco a Porta a Porta" (in Italian). www.marcomengoni.it. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  19. ^ Francesco Marchetti (February 25, 2010). "Vuoi conoscere Marco Mengoni?" (in Italian). www.wuz.it. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  20. ^ "Marco Mengoni presenta il Re Matto Tour, al via stasera da Milano" (in Italian). Sorrisi & Canzoni TV. May 3, 2010. Archived from the original on December 31, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  21. ^ Luigi Bolognini (September 11, 2011). "Mengoni, da X Factor alla Festa Democratica". la Repubblica. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  22. ^ MusicVideos: Marco Mengoni racconta 'Re matto live' - video (in Italian). www.rockol.it. October 25, 2010. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  23. ^ a b Guido Marco (March 2010). "Marco Mengoni - Re matto ***1/2" (in Italian). Musica e dischi. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  24. ^ a b "Marco Mengoni - Re Matto (ALBUM)". italiancharts.com. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  25. ^ Luca Benedetti (April 28, 2010). "Quel fenomeno di Mengoni" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  26. ^ "Re matto (Deluxe Edition) - Marco Mengoni". iTunes. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  27. ^ "Classifica settimanale dal 15/02/2010 al 21/02/2010" (in Italian). FIMI. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  28. ^ "Search Results For: "marco mengoni"". Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2011. - See "The Visualizer".
  29. ^ "Classifiche annuali dei dischi più venduti e dei singoli più scaricati nel 2010" (in Italian). FIMI. January 17, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.