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Reviews

LeoNero — Monitor
(Black Widow BWR266, 1980/2025, CD / 2LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2026-03-04

Monitor Cover art

Il Balletto di Bronzo’s flamboyant keyboardist Gianni Leone recorded an album in 1981 under the pseudonym LeoNero called Monitor, his second album since leaving the band. Forty four years later, Black Widow Records has resurrected this gem of Italian New Wave and reissued it for the first time on vinyl, as well as on CD. The first six tracks (side one) were recorded with the Optical Band and the other ten are Gianni by himself. Trying to find out who is the Optical Band was a challenge, but I did discover it included Chalo Quintana (drummer for The Plugz and the punk rock band Social Distortion) and Steve Hufsteter (guitarist who also played with The Plugz). But these punksters dialed it back for this 80s electronic New Wave album. Monitor is an interesting album with a variety of musical styles ranging from pop to progressive rock without succumbing to the excesses of 80s New Wave. Curiously “Piangi con Me” sets the refrain from The Grass Roots’ 1967 hit “Live for Today” to new lyrics. I find that the instrumentals, such as “Anaconda,” are far superior to the vocal tracks. Leone’s nasal vocals can be quite annoying at times like on “Tell Me Why.” And he dials things back on the second version for a much better track. Then there is the Peter Gunn vibe on “Né Ieri Né Domani” where Leone goes crazy on his keyboards. Monitor is more of an 80s curiosity, there are lots of odd sounds and influences. Monitor is definitely an album to check out for the musically inquisitive listener.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases, 1980 recordings

Related artist(s): Gianni Leone / LeoNero

 

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