10 Records Worth To Die For: #263 mit Fabio Toti (Roozalepres, Whiskey Funeral)

It all started here. It was 1986, I was 11 years old. I went to a friend’s birthday party, and he put one of his uncle’s albums on the stereo. It was “The Number of the Beast” (but I only found that out later). I asked who the band was that we were listening to, and he told me the name. The next day, I went to the record shop in my town called Discovery and, since I knew nothing about the band, I asked for Iron Maiden’s latest album. I remember that “Somewhere in Time” had just been released because there was a copy in the display case. I left with that record and for the next few days, I went on endless journeys, listening to the music and losing myself in the Derek Riggs’ artwork, which was rich in detail. Little by little, I bought the entire discography… “Powerslave”, “Live After Death”, “Killers”… Until I had the whole collection.

My favourite album, by my favourite band. Since 1990, I have never found anything that has impressed me more than this work! Pure perfection. The most influential band in extreme metal. Black metal and Viking metal owe a lot to this release.

I’ve never been able to choose which of the band’s first three albums I love the most. They are all absolute masterpieces. So I’ll go for this “Live” album, one of the greatest in rock history. Twenty-eight songs in less than 54 minutes, pure rock “n” roll energy delivered by the four New Yorkers at their best! My friend Bello (Noia, Nightshock, Pistons, Murk), my bandmate Massi and I had planned to perform this entire album live, perfectly reproduced in its entirety (including pauses and spoken phrases) for a New Year’s Eve party in a famous squat in Florence. But we haven’t found the time to do it yet. Sooner or later, though, we will 😉

I love almost all of Nicke Andersson’s band’s albums, but here, in my opinion, he has reached his compositional peak. The Andersson/Dahlqvist guitar duo at their best. The Swedish band managed to make me love and explore bands that I had always listened to superficially, such as the Rolling Stones, MC5, Sonic Rendezvous, etc. If I formed Whiskey Funeral and then Roozalepres with the guys, much of the credit goes to the Hellacopters.

The only band capable of bringing metalheads and punks together, without playing either genre. Motorhead are pure rock “n” roll. Great on record, unique live. I’ve seen them live at least four times, and they’ve never disappointed me. I love how Lemmy introduced the band. ‘We’re Motorhead and we play rock “n” roll’. It’s difficult to choose my favourite album here too. I’ll choose this one, but ‘Overkill’ could have been a good choice too.

I was lucky enough to see T.O.N. live at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Eindhoven in 1997. Truly unique! Even though I was totally drunk and only remember 3 or 4 songs 😉 Then two years later they released this album. I kind of ignored it when it came out, but many years later, it would be the album that would guide me through the hardest period of my life. It was the soundtrack to my mother’s fight against cancer. A fight we all lost. But this music and Pete’s lyrics seemed tailor-made for my journey through hell. During my first trip to the States, I felt the need to go and pay my respects at the Tall Greenman’s grave.

The perfect mix of two genres I love, punk Harcore and Thrash metal. I have all their albums and consider them still one of the best live bands on the planet! My first tattoo, done by my sister on my right arm, was the logo of this band.

My absolute favourite voice! The one I never tire of hearing sing and would love to hear singing me a lullaby at night to help me fall asleep is definitely Anneke Van Giersbergen, singer of The Gathering. My choice among the albums with the band and also among the subsequent ones goes to this album, if I’m not mistaken the seventh with the Dutch band, because I think that here she reached the peak of her career.

Back when new music was discovered through tape trading, cassettes from Sweden were always my favourites. This compilation, released by the super underground label CBR (Chicken Brain Records), offered the best that death metal had to offer in those years, at least in Europe. Entombed, Dismember, Merciless, Unleashed and even the two infamous tracks by Mayhem recorded with Pelle Dead on vocals are featured here. But what I really love about this selection are the songs by some of the more underground bands, such as Chronic Decay, House of Usher and Traumatic. Since its release (1991), I never let too much time pass between listens. Pure cult!

I discovered Tori Amos in 1993 with the single ‘Cornflakes Girl’ and from there I collected her entire discography. This is my favourite album, but I always find it difficult to choose between this and the following ‘From The Choirgirl Hotel’, which for me are her two masterpieces. I’ve seen her, perorming live many times, but the concerts from the tours for these two albums are both in my personal top ten.

Allow me a bonus album. Because I would like to include something Italian in my list. This is the latest album by the artist from Genoa and, in my opinion, his best album. More than a singer-songwriter, he is a true poet. I often like to listen to him in my darkest moments, and then cheer myself up with the Ramones 😉

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