Self-Released
2006
Not the Anthrax singer nor the adult film star, Belladonna is an Italian band that falls somewhere between hard and goth rock. But these terms are really too crude to describe this band. The former implies a certain simplicity, and the latter a certain aesthetic, neither of which apply here. Whatever it’s called, I’m not normally into music like this; it’s a testament to its quality that I quite enjoy it.
Evidently, almost 48,000 other people on MySpace do, too. The band currently boasts over 200,000 profile views, a staggering number for an unsigned band. By comparison, Helmet and The Haunted have fewer profile views. MySpace is the promotional tool de jour of bands, but I’m suspicious when one pushes that angle this hard. “The most popular Italian unsigned band on Myspace!” “Belladonna in the Top 100 Artists MySpace chart!” What do these things mean?
For one, it means they have someone who sits at the computer and sends out a lot of friend requests. But to get that many “friends” in the approximately 15 months the band has been on MySpace, it would have to average over 100 requests daily. That would be physically feasible, of course, but hugely time-consuming. Thus, I’d bet that a good number of these requests are not outgoing, but incoming, meaning that many people actually like this band.
All this talk of MySpace might seem ancillary to the music. But I’m trying to figure out why a band that’s posting these kinds of numbers isn’t signed yet. After all, on the Earache Records blog, Digby Pearson said that 100,000+ profile views get labels salivating.
My guess is that the band’s sound isn’t hip at the moment. This album has a rock vibe rooted in the ’70s and ’80s. The band lists Kate Bush, Led Zeppelin, Ziggy Stardust, and Blue Oyster Cult as influences; these don’t necessarily reflect in the sound, but they do in the band’s sympathies. There’s a passion and romantic quality here that’s almost unheard of today. Key to this is Luana’s strong, expressive, and soulful voice. The goth aura here isn’t shiny and Hot Topic-esque like Lacuna Coil; it’s more like PJ Harvey or Nick Cave.
Lyrically, the band straddles a line between pop and darker matters. Take “Black Swan,” for example. It begins,
Prayer for a fallen hero
Angel with a broken wing
Am I going down?
The first chorus is
Black Swan ? A new moon is on the rise
Black Swan – I?m alive
Beyond the speed of life
Free will is on my side
Black Swan ? I ride – Back home
Typical gothspeak, right? But see the second chorus:
Black Swan ? Wings of destiny open wide
Black Swan – I?m alive
Astray from Paradise
Hell-bent on homicide
Black Swan ? I ride ? Back home
It would seem this song describes Lucifer with beautiful, sympathetic imagery. And that’s interesting for a band that could conceivably hit the pop charts someday. I hope that if/when this band gets signed, that its label doesn’t sand off its edges. I could see a label trying to turn this band into the next overproduced Lacuna Coil. That would be a shame. Here’s a band with a very analog sound – guitars, piano, drums, and that voice – writing impeccable songs that generate their own atmosphere. End to end, this album is a classy, intriguing listen. You can get it directly from the band.
“overproduced” and “Hot Topic-esque”??? What the hell is up with this rant against Lacuna? I like Belladonna but you are a loser…
You know, I actually like Lacuna Coil. They have some good songs, and Cristina Scabbia has a great voice. I just feel that starting with “Comalies,” the production became too shiny, with too many keyboards. If they stripped back all the bombast and extra layers, their songs could speak for themselves – as Belladonna has done here.
I should get an id… maybe later. You know, Lacuna has been playing together for 10 years (busting their butts throughout the process) and it is normal to see evolution in everything. There are bands that get stale and never improve. These guys have been taking risks and, even if some old school folks are disappointed, I am sure many others understand what they are after. Trust me, they would not stay with Century if they wanted to be the as commercial as some depict them to be…
Lacuna Coil in my opinion were a second-tier band with nothing much to say besides some pleasant melodies, and that they remain. Their sound may have been updated so it’s easier to sell, but it’s not like they were ever once in their past convincing or aesthetically strong and now ‘they’ve lost that magic feeling’ because the production is slicker.
That being said, they were okay live, their singer has charisma even despite the ridiculous getups. I just find it very odd that there are hardcore Lacuna Coil fans, in my mind it’s similar to there being I don’t know… super-dedicated Hammerfall fans. Which there were once, but are there such still? Besides Italians and close friends of the band who might understandably support the band more than their international audience, I don’t see how Lacuna Coil have gathered a significant following for their at-best-not-insulting musical offerings. But they were right people at a right time when beautiful-female-singer-fronted metal became big.
Anonymous above, why do you have to call someone a loser for not liking a band?