“I felt that the legends put a hand on my shoulder to tell me that I was on the right path”it’s Thomas Raggi who says it. And us? Our opinion.
There are records for which we could run out of superlatives. Here, it is the guests who bring crazy legitimacy to the first solo album of Thomas Raggiguitarist of Måneskin: be the judge, Beck, Chad Smith, Matt Sorum, Sergio Pizzorno, Alex Kapranos, Nic Cester, Luke Spiller, Hama Okamoto, Upsahl and even Maxim from the Prodigy. To name just a few! And… produced by Tom Morello, no less.
In fact, in Masquerade, Thomas Raggi doesn't pretend: eight tracks, seven originals and a crazy cover of “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” from Dead or Alive which goes into a spin under a totally delirious solo from Morello. The rest ? Pure rock'n'roll, without filter, without concession, rather well written, a guitar record but not only intended for guitarists! Raggi isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, he's just spinning it faster and harder than everyone else.
We find the adrenaline of Måneskin: here, it's dirtier, more direct, almost punk in the attitude. The guitarist becomes a frontman without complexes and proves that he has always been much more than a guy who throws riffs behind Damiano. With this amazing intergenerational casting, we really have the impression that all these beautiful people had a blast in the studio, as if the ghosts of Ziggy, Iggy and the MC5 had come to jam. Tom Morello says of Thomas that he is the “rock’n’roll missionary” that the new generation needs. And frankly… he might not be wrong.
Find this column on Thomas Raggi in our weekly n°216, available with free access.
Masquerade is available
Here is the tracklist:
- GETCHA!
- KEEP THE PACK
- LUCY
- CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE
- FOR NOTHING
- YOU SPIN ME ROUND (LIKE A RECORD)
- THE RITZ
- FALLAWAY
