Måneskin's new album 'Rush!' is already making waves ahead of its official release, having received a largely positive review from what is considered by many to be the bible of music journalism ― Rolling Stone magazine.
The third album by Italian rockers Damiano David, Victoria De Angelis, Thomas Raggi and Ethan Torchio, is set to be released on January 20.
The record features 17 tracks, and is the band’s first album to be sung predominantly in English.
It will be preceded on January 13 by the release of the single 'Gossip' ― a collaboration with the legendary Tom Morello, guitarist of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.
The author of the Rolling Stone Italia article, experienced music journalist David Browne, compares the band to the rock stars of yesteryear ― full of excess, flashiness and libertinism.
“Remember when rockers were flamboyant, excessive, exaggerated libertines? Neither do we, but Måneskin are here to refresh our memories. On their third album ‘Rush!’ the former Eurovision winners and would-be saviours of rock from Rome do everything they can to live up to the exclamation mark contained in the album’s title,” Browne writes.
He continues:
"Judging by the lyrics, Måneskin's life sounds like one bacchanal after another, filled with weed, beer, coke and hot chicks, while singer Damiano David is, in his own words, ‘a lion tamer who behaves indecently and makes love to danger’.”
The journalist also calls ‘Rush!’ the band’s most ambitious album to date, with the group combining punk rock shake-ups of stadium choruses with irresistibly catchy pop hooks on tracks such as 'Baby Said' or 'Gossip'.
The cover art of Måneskin's forthcoming 'RUSH!', out January 20. (Photo: ANSA)
"It gets even better when Måneskin revitalise the lost art of the ironic, half-spoken new wave song, like in the funny and mocking 'Kool Kids' and in 'Bla Bla Bla' where David sings: 'You said I'm ugly and my band sucks, but one of my songs just passed a billion streams, so kiss my cu-cu-cu-cu-cu-cu',” Browne continues.
As well as calling Damiano a rock star, Browne also praises guitarist Thomas Raggi and points out that Måneskin are the only major rock band capable of influencing contemporary popular culture today.
He concludes his review by stating:
“Surely, the best moments are the exaggerated ones, while the sincerest ones are the weakest... ‘If Not for You' is just another power ballad and 'The Gift of Life' is warmed-over grunge.”