The Venetian – I
Wanna Tell You A Story
2011, The Venetian
2011, The Venetian
The Venetian isn’t so much a band as a force majeure. Digging into the band’s past leads to more
questions than answers. Somewhere out
there is a singer/songwriter who delights in blending the early roots of music
and opera with the raw blend of rock and roll.
He is The Venetian, and his album is called I Wanna Tell You A Story.
I Wanna Tell You A
Story is one of the more unusual rock operas you’ll come across. Songs alternative between traditional
Italian croon-tunes sung in Italian to forthright rock and roll sung in
English. The Italian tracks are titled
as consecutively numbers Acts (“Act I”, “Act II”, etc.), while the rock and
roll tracks are more descriptively named.
The tracks in Italian are well-crafted and well-sung, but I can’t
comment on the lyrical content. The rock
and roll tracks represent a baroque-rock tragedy that follows the relationship
of a boy with his father throughout the years of his life.
Dad is a musician, the son doesn’t understand at first why
his father is gone all the time. The
Venetian takes us through the gamut of complicated emotions throughout I Wanna Tell You A Story, from the
loneliness of a child who needs his dad, to the impact it has on life
decisions, and to ultimate understanding as he, himself, becomes a
musician. In the end, the special bond
that father and son share is through music.
They are forever connected in melody and rhyme, even if they are
(meta)-physically distant in the end.
The primary rock and roll influence on the album appears to
be Queen. Particularly on tracks such as
“Goodbye” and “I Wanna Tell You The Story”.
The latter even references the classic Queen track “The Seven Seas of
Rhye”, in case you didn’t get the sonic similarities. As a vocalist, the closest match you’ll find
for The Venetian’s distinctive sound is Lawrence Gowan (Gowan, Styx).
From a songwriting experience, I Wanna Tell You A Story is very much up and down. “Goodbye” and “Dancing Angel” are
tremendously vibrant rock and roll numbers while exploring disparate timbres
and sounds. The mischievous rock waltz instrumental
“Soft Snow” is brilliant, sounding as if it were inspired by the Gypsy violin
style of Stephane Grappelli. “Lullaby”
is the closer; where all of the son’s struggles for understanding finally
resolve in a song in which he reaches out and touches the soul of his father. It’s a wonderfully uplifting moment both in
poetry and song, and draws the entire experience e together. “My Black Cat” is also a treat, bringing a
slinky, cool jazz feel to the proceedings.
I Wanna Tell You A
Story has its less than exciting moments as well, particularly the middle
of the road material such as “My Good Friend” and “Sometimes”, and the cheesy
cliché of “My Sweet Italian Pie”.
I Wanna Tell You A
Story works very well as an early concept album for a one day rock and roll
musical. The songs are generally
well-written and there is a narrative flow here that is impressive. A true work up of this production would
likely result in a couple of the songs currently here being either dropped or
seriously re-worked, but as a whole the work has great potential. The Venetian is a strong vocalist who does
very well within his comfortable range.
The songs that require falsetto don’t always go as well, but he makes a
fair effort.
Rating: 3.5 Stars
(Out of 5)
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