Francesco de Gregori

The ironically titled Canzoni d'Amore (Love Songs) is actually one of Francesco De Gregori's most unforgiving, socially committed albums. As the hedonist 1980s of the Craxi Administration came to a close, the Italian political system began to crumble, unveiling in its wake a shameful trail of widespread corruption, financial crisis, and moral decadence. De Gregori denounces and dissects a society ravaged by indifference, bigotry, selfishness, and simple stupidity, reflected in issues such as the utter disregard for environmental concerns in the face of mounting pollution ("Adelante! Adelante!") and the contemptuous betrayal of personal principles and political ideologies ("Vecchi Amici," "La Ballata dell'Uomo Ragno").

After performing at Italy's finest venues for two years on the Work In Progress joint tour with Lucio Dalla, for his next outing, De Gregori decided to return to his humble beginnings. The Pubs and Clubs tour was exactly that, De Gregori and his band performing in the kind of small clubs where in the early '70s the singer/songwriter begun to build his reputation as one of Italy's greatest cantautori.