Reality and Fantasy is the second studio album by Italian jazz singer Raphael Gualazzi, composed, produced and arranged by Gualazzi himself,[2] it was released in Italy on 16 February 2011 on Sugar Music.
The first single from the album, "Follia d'amore", was the winner of the 61st Sanremo Music Festival in the newcomer artists' section and also won the Critics' "Mia Martini" Award for newcomers.[3] It was chosen by a specific jury among the participants at the Sanremo Festival to be the Italian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany.[4][5] It was the first Italian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in 14 years since 1997. The song, performed in both Italian and English with the translated title "Madness of Love", came in second place.[6]
Other singles from the album were "A Three Second Breath",[7] "Calda estate (dove sei)",[8] "Love Goes Down Slow"[9] and "Zuccherino dolce".[10]
The album features guest artists such as Italian trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso, Ferdinando Arnò, who co-produced the lead single "Follia d'amore", Vince Mendoza, James F. Reynolds, Pete Glenister and French DJ Gilles Peterson.[11][12]
As of June 2012, the album had sold more than 100,000 copies and it was certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.[13] In October 2011, a special edition of the album was released in Italy, including bonus tracks and an additional DVD featuring the "Live Documentary", recorded on 24 June 2011 during Gualazzi's concert at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.[14]
A new edition of the album was released in France by Blue Note Records in September 2012.[13][15]
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