I ordered this CD, thinking it would satisfy the tastes of my Italian American family when I FINALLY got married a few months ago. Well, when I heard it, I was truly disappointed. . .it was just a compilation of oldie moldie Italian songs, with the standard arrangements, and no one in my family really liked it. We ended up with the Italian wedding CD by a band named Roman holiday (which I ordered via amazon.com) My goodness, it was like NIGHT and DAY. . .what lively songs, what passionate arrangements. THAT CD made my wedding, and I can't stop talking about it. Thanks. Auguri!

As someone whose entire family roots hail from the rural parts of Campania (close to Napoli) I cannot recommend this CD highly enough. For anyone who grew up in a family and/or neighborhood of Italians, this CD will fill your heart with joy, romance and nostalgia.

I was shocked to see so many reviewers attacking the opinions of the person from Milan. It is plain to see that he/she was not saying anything negative about these songs or southern Italians in general. What he/she said is correct, the language on these songs is not textbook-Italian, some of these songs are sung in the ancient dialects of the south - which is exactly why we relate to them so intensely and dearly. Some of the songs are instrumental and some of the songs contain many English lyrics. Many of the songs are not even sung by a native speaker of Italian. Another thing he/she is correct about is that the title of the CD is wrong, it should in fact be Viva L'Italia - but such a title is not representative of the music contained on this CD anyway. This music is primarily going to mean the most to the Italians who grew up in the countries outside of Italy, and the ones who hailed from the Southern regions.

A title in a southern dialect would have been more appropriate, something like: Te Pozzu Cantare or something else alla campagnola like that. Anyway, the CD has many lighthearted moments which are fun and bring a smile, but it also has romantic moments of reflection, which will cause you to look back to a time which has gone forever.

We have listened to this CD over and over and love it every time.
We love all the songs. Nobody can sing Lazy Mary like Lou Monte. And all the other vocals are classic. The instrumentals are beautiful. Katie likes to dance to some of the songs. Play this anytime you want to feel like you are in Italy. We highly recommend it.

A wonderfull Italian party album. The recording is top notch. Put yourself in a happy mood and bring back those great memories. After searching many recordings for Italian music this is THE best in my opinion.

I'm not going to take sides for either the Northern or Southern Italian reviewers comments concerning this CD selection, but I think this album offers enough diversity to make everyone happy. There are some wonderful selections that we can all relate to, even if some of us are Norwegian. We had many Italians in our family, and I can bet they would have loved to hear the nostalgic songs of the past.