''Exit'' is the fourteenth studio album by Italian singer-songwriter

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, released in 1998 on

WEA The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of th ...

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

. After the musically experimental and lyrically introspective albums '' Mezzogiorno sulle Alpi'' (1992) and '' Charade'' (1995) Alice released ''Exit'' in 1998, her most pop-oriented and melodic studio album since the late 1980s. As

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote in their review: "''the album often suggests

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...

in a duet with Enigma''". The lead single "I Am a Taxi" was a lyrically minimalistic up-tempo dance groove with influences from

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...

and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

, and the single included further dancefloor friendly remixes. The second single release, "Open Your Eyes", was an English/Italian language duet with Skye Edwards, lead singer of British

and

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

band Morcheeba, recorded shortly after the release of their 1998 album '' Big Calm'' (#18 UK). "Open Your Eyes" was co-written by Alice, producer Francesco Messina, singer-songwriter Juri Camisasca and

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer-songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith. They were the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much ...

and was again one of the most accessible and chart-oriented tracks the singer had recorded since '' Il Sole Nella Pioggia''. The promo video showed the two singers performing the song sitting in a rowing boat on a sunny summer's day in London's Hyde Park. Third single "Dimmi Di Sì" ("Tell Me Yes") was a midtempo ballad which juxtaposed subtle club beats and ambient keyboard effects against acoustic guitars. ''Exit'' also included a second duet between Alice and Italian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Bluvertigo's Morgan, "L'immagine" ("The Images"), and the two were to duet again on both '' Personal Jukebox'' in 2000 and '' Viaggio in Italia'' in 2003. The one-minute-eighteen-second "Il cielo sopra il cielo" was an excerpt from the ambient/crossover group project Devogue's eponymous 1997 debut album, a forty-five-minute

sound collage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or Musical composition, compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as musique concrè ...

which had featured vocals by Alice on five of the thirteen titles. The acoustic track "1943", written by Alice's longtime collaborator Mino di Martino, and lyrically influenced by the works of German poet and playwright Else Lasker-Schüler, draws parallels between the horrors of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and the at the time on-going war in

The Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, and its so called

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

. When playing the song live on the following ''Exit'' tour Alice specifically urged her audiences to donate money to organisations helping refugees from the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

coming to Italy. She later also performed the song in Italian manifestations against the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. ''Exit'' closes with a cover version of French poet, composer, singer and musician

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (; 24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer. He released some forty albums over this period, composing the music and the majority of the lyrics. He released ...

's "L'Étranger" ("The Stranger"), a poem by

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...

set to music by Ferré and first released on his 1967 double album ''

Léo Ferré chante Baudelaire Léo is a proper noun in French, meaning "lion". Its etymological root lies in the Latin word Leo. Léo is used as a diminutive or variant of the names Léon, Léonard, Léonardon, Leonardo, Léonid, ''Léonor'', '' Léonore'', ''Eléonore'', ...

''. Both the "I Am A Taxi" and "Open Your Eyes" singles included the non-album track "Da Lontano". Both "Open Your Eyes" and "Dimmi Di Sì" were later included in the 2000 career retrospective '' Personal Jukebox''.

Track listing

#"Dimmi di sì" (

) – 4:13 #"Open Your Eyes" (duet with

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

of Morcheeba) (Juri Camisasca,

, Alice, Francesco Messina) – 4:08 #"Il vento soltanto" (Alice,

Osvaldo Coluccino Osvaldo Coluccino (born Domodossola, 22 April 1963) is an Italian composer and poet. Biography His music has been performed in some of the major festivals of classical and contemporary classical music, by prestigious soloistes, conductors, orc ...

) – 3:25 #"L'immagine" (duet with Morgan) (Luca Urbani, Marco "Morgan" Castoldi, Francesco Messina) – 3:43 #"Exit" (Alice, Osvaldo Coluccino) – 4:26 #"Isole" (Lorenzo Amato, Vincenzo Zitello) – 3:45 #"Il contatto" (Alice) – 3:45 #"Il cielo sopra il cielo" (Francesco Messina, Mino Di Martino) – 1:18 #"I Am a Taxi" (Francesco Messina, Alice) – 4:29 #"1943" (Mino Di Martino) – 3:33 #"Transito" (Mino Di Martino, Francesco Messina) – 4:21 #"Lo specchio" (Francesco Messina, Alice) – 1:58 #"L'Étranger" (

) – 3:07

Personnel

* Alice – lead vocals, keyboards tracks 2, 3, 5, 7 & 12 * Marco "Morgan" Castoldi – vocals & electric bass track 4 * Andrea Cernecca – cello track 13 * Osvaldo Coluccino – vocals track 5 * Simone D'Eusanio –

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

track 6, 7 & 11 * Skye Edwards – vocals track 2 * Michele Fedrigotti –

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangements track 6 * Marco Guarnerio – acoustic guitar tracks 3–5, electric guitar tracks 9 & 11, additional keyboards tracks 1, 3, 5, 6 & 11,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

track 11, synth bass tracks 1, 3, 5 & 9 * Francesco Messina – synthesizers,

samplers Sampler may refer to: * Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal * Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework * Sampler (surna ...

tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11 & 13, synth "guitar" tracks 1 & 3, beats tracks 11 & 12 * Pino Pinaxa Pischetola – rhythm constructions tracks 1–5, 7, 9 & 13 *

Bruno Romani Bruno Romani (9 January 1960 – 14 March 2025) was an Italian saxophonist, flutist and composer. Romani was the founder of ''Detonazione'' (one of the most influential Italian post-punk bands of the 1980s), author of contemporary jazz albums a ...

– flute track 13, saxophone track 6 * Mauro Spina – synth bass track 2, wave drum tracks 7 & 13 * Luca Urbani – vocals track 4 * Vincenzo Zitello –

celtic harp The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. It is known as in Irish, in Scottish Gaelic, in Breton and in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring gr ...

track 6

Production

* Francesco Messina – record producer, sounds programming * Pino Pinaxa Pischetola – computer programming + processing,

sound engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a sound recording, recording or a Concert, live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization (audio), equalization, Dynamic range ...

, Stonehenge Studio * Marco Guarnerio – computer programming + processing, sound engineer, Didde Studio * Mixed by Pino Pinaxa Pischetola, Stonehenge Studio,

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

* Antonio Baglio – Mastering at Nautilus * Polystudio – cover design * Gianfranco Casula – Mac

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

* Sheila Rock – photography (Alice, London) * Alessandro Paderni – photography, (other photos, Milan) Altre foto: Milano * Una Sas, Bologna – executive producers * Paolo Santoli, Musica Srl, Bologna – management

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1998 albums Alice (singer) albums 1990s Italian-language albums