ORIZZONTI PERDUTI

After the big and unexpected success of "La Voce del Padrone", Battiato started to publish similar albums: "L'Arca di Noè" (which seemed to recycle scraps from "La Voce del Padrone") and "Orizzonti Perduti", (Lost Orizonts) which last about half an hour (even less: this one last twenty-eight and a half minutes), with melodic pop songs, with electronic sound.

In "Orizzonti Perduti" there are no strings, no guitars, only keyboards, computer programming and percussion. And the voice of Battiato. Here there is little to do with progressive. The album begins with the hit "The season of Love", ", which enjoys a beautiful melody and a perfect keyboards arrangement. This song has become a hymn in Italy, for its singability and its wonderful text:

"La stagione dell'amore viene e va I desideri non invecchiano quasi mai con l'età Se penso a come ho speso male il mio tempo Che non tornerà, non ritornerà più La stagione dell'amore viene e va All'improvviso senza accorgerti, la vivrai, ti sorprenderà Ne abbiamo avute di occasioni Perdendole, non rimpiangerle, non rimpiangerle mai Ancora un'altro entusiasmo ti farà pulsare il cuore Nuove possibilità per conoscersi E gli orizzonti perduti non ritornano mai La stagione dell'amore tornerà Con le paure e le scommesse Questa volta quanto durerà Se penso a come ho speso male il mio tempo Che non tornerà, non ritornerà più."

"The season of love comes and goes Desires don't grow old almost never with age If I think about how I spent my time badly That he will not come back, he will not come back The season of love comes and goes Suddenly without realizing it, you will experience it, it will surprise you We had occasions Losing them, do not regret them, never regret them Yet another enthusiasm will make your heart throb New possibilities for getting to know each other And the lost horizons never come back The season of love will come back With fears and bets This time how long it will last If I think about how I spent my time badly That he will not come back, he will not come back"

After that song, there is "Tramonto Occidentale" (Occidental Sunset), a good song with a very sustained rhythm, then a rather insignificant filler (Zone Depresse), then "Un'altra Vita" (Another Life), that ends side A: catchy classical melody, suitable for the strings.

Sides B il less interesting: "Mal d'Africa" isn't bad, "La Musica è Stanca" is a filler, then there are texts often autobiographical that evoke Sicily, as in the highly rhythmic electronic ballads "Gente in Progresso" and "Tibetan Bells", which add an oriental touch (also "Hare Krishna"!) to his isle. But they are not remarkable songs.

"Orizzonti Perduti" is a melodic pop album, with a great hit, some good songs and some fillers. The album is written by a somewhat gifted melodic musician.

Vote album: 6,5/7. Two Stars.