FRANCO BATTIATO

Musically "L'Arca di Noè" is an album devoted to a POP which I classify as Synth POP although it is very close to a Lite Prog but keeping its distance from it. The use of electronic instruments such as sequencer and Fairlight make the album very interesting but a little cold (which was intentional, at least for me) and, in any case, Alberto Radius is little used (and he is brilliant in "Scalo a Grado" where he his solos are useless). I also mention "Radio Varsavia" linked to the strikes that were underway in Poland and "I want to see you Danzare", a simply brilliant song that I can't fit into a specific genre and which has become an evergreen of Battiato and of all Italian music. Also interesting are "La torre" and "New Frontiers" for their unconventional songwriting.

"L'Arca di Noè" is not a difficult album to listen to. As mentioned, it is very close to Synth POP while remaining in an experimental field. And then it's a very cold album and, at least for me, very calculated as a result: it must be easily listenable and remain imprinted in the mind. However, it remains an experimental product that has aged really well. But, in the end, not Franco Battiato's best album of the POP breakthrough.

It reminds me of THE LEGENDARY PINK DOTS with the experimental and artsy songs. Vocals of course are very different and it's almost all in Italian here but for some English bits. The other difference is that this record is very uniform in sound which I like plus Franco is the king of contrasting styles here on all but one track. Whatever Battiato did here it all works so well. He adds electronics, drums, keys, bass, vocals and guitar plus he arranged, composed and produced this record. And hold the presses! Gavin Harrison is his drummer here! What!? This is 1998 which had me searching as to when Gavin started playing on records and saw that he released his first solo album in 1997 with Mick Karn, Richard Barbieri and the legendary Dave Stewart. Man I'm learning stuff.

Back to "Gommalacca" and we get several vocalists helping out plus some extra guitar and piano. Oh and synths on three tracks as well besides Franco's input on all of the above. There's not a lot of English on here but that opener "Shock In My Town" is an exception with the title being repeated often. There's more Italian on here though as far as lyrics go. There's a surprising section where he kicks into a "Rock" mode out of the blue and that section becomes a contrast. My first top five. The other top four tracks are songs five to eight where we get this awesome section of music right in the middle. Now that closer also needs to be mentioned at 8 1/2 minutes the longest by far and a little different from the rest.

Easily 4 stars and I have such an appreciation for this man's talents.

The opener, "Campane" (bells) is a short, ethereal piece composed for soprano, violins and piano with a disquieting atmosphere. The following "Su scale" (On scales) is a piece for vocals, choir and two pianos that sounds like a whiny dirge... A disconcerting piece for two violins, "Martyre celeste", closes the first side of album.

Side two opens with a piece for soprano and piano, "Hiver", sung in French with lyrics taken from a poem by Fleur Jaeggy... "Sometimes in the twilight the monotony, but I was gentle / I complied with what I assumed was the order of the universe...". Next comes "Agnus", a piece for vocals, soprano, nine violins, two trumpets and piano. Its nice melodic lines will later find a better use in a track from the 1979 album L'era del cinghiale bianco entitled "Stranizza d'amuri". Then, a long, irritating piece for solo violin entitled "Telegrafi" (Telegraphs) ends the album.

On the whole, just a soporific experiment...

The first side of the original LP is entirely occupied by "Za", a long piece for piano solo (here played by Antonio Ballista) that in the liner notes is described as follows: "Apparently poor. Almost completely based on one chord. Deliberately percussive (the right pedal is never used), it splits and subtracts resonances, with a release technique. It needs a listening that could be defined as meta-analytical, in favour of a timeless non-spatiality". In my opinion, it's just something that might drain out your all your patience as a music listener, drop after drop...

The second side of the LP is completely filled with another long experimental track, "Café-Table-Musik", whose title derives from a phrase with which Marcel Proust had defined some of his books, i.e. coffee table books. It's a kind of clumsy collage of sounds with soprano vocals, romantic piano patterns, fragments of dialogues, reciting voices and even treacherous hints of melody. This piece is described by the composer in the liner notes as a piece of European regression, a sort of Orphic-collage; full of substitutions, manipulations, false quotes, or rather original copies where the piano scale becomes melody, the exercise of voice, feeling... Freedom from the known for the known... In my opinion, it's just another way to wear out your patience as a music listener, if any trace of patience was left after listening to the previous track...

On the whole, a deliberate sonic torture for your ears, but not without a kind of perverse, self-ironic charm.

"Summer On A Solitary Beach" (4:34) is a beautiful start, with the waves of the sea and the keyboards in the background that gradually rise in volume and evoke a crowded beach, not solitary. Then comes a good rhythm, which then slows down in the refrain, which will remain the highest moment of the album. Tail with a sax solo (Pascoli). It's a Battiato classic. Small masterpiece. Vote 8.

"Bandiera Bianca" (White Flag, 5:19) is a sarcastic ballad, hymn style, with cynical text of social and musical satire (insulted Beethoven, Sinatra, Vivaldi). The quotes are endless and the language passes from the educated (Marcuse) to the jargon. The choir (Madrigalists of Milano) is goliardic, ruffian music. Good instrumental tail, with vibraphone (Scolese). Second classic, Vote 7,5.

"Gli Uccelli" (Birds, 4:43) is wonderful. After a symphonic beginning, punctuated by a simple but beautiful melody, the song starts on the acoustic background, then enter the drums (Golino) and the bass (Donnarumma), to bring it on the ground of the pop ballad with danceable rhythm. Tail at accelerated speed. The arrangement is excellent, thanks to master Giusto Pio. Another small masterpiece. Third classic. Vote 8. End of side A.

Side B starts with"Cuccurucucù" (untraslatable, 4:09), track propelled by a disco rhythm from the beginning to the end; it's perhaps the least interesting track, the most functional for radio programming. The text is an association of political, social ("The erotic gestures of squaw Skin of the Moon") and musical citations from the theater of the absurd, that have done history in Italy: "Lady Madonna, I Can Try, With a little Help From My Friends, Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, Come on Baby Let's Twist Again, Once Upon A Time You Dressed So Fine, Mary, Like Just A Woman, Like A Rolling Stone". Fourth classic. Vote 7.

After comes "Segnali Di Vita"(Signals of Life, 3:37), perhaps the least known of the album, the one that represents the typical minor piece. Yet it has an excellent classical contrasting section. Good orchestral ending. Vote 7+.

"Centro Di Gravità Permanente" (Permanent Center of Gravity, 3:55) is the masterpiece of the album, mixing text of the absurd with cultured quotations, a title that is a manifesto of thought ("I'm looking for a permanent center of gravity that will not make me change my mind about things and people"), and a relaxed but carefully arranged rhythm. Here we can listen to the electric guitars (Radius), percussion, and sounds similar to trumpet. It's the peak of the album that manages to be cultured, smart and commercial. Fifth classic. Vote 8+.

"Il Sentimento Nuevo" (The New Feeling, 4:18), vote 7+, is an electronic ballad with another strange text ("The tantric shivaism of Dionysian style.... The mythical desires of Libyan prostitues, The sense of possession that was pre-Alexandrian"); it has a very pimping pace, but with taste, and celebrates erotic love. Sixth classic. Battiato continues to associate sacred and profane, both in music and in texts, with extreme ease. The associations of words that he makes were completely unpublished. One more song would have been useful to make the album more consistent, but Battiato was required to produce records for half an hour.

And it was a great success. Young people and adults came together to sing these melodic and danceable songs with texts completely unpredictable and difficult to understand, full of quotes that almost nobody knew how to identify. The ultimate in snobbish and cultured lyrical taste combined with the utmost popular taste of music. The perfect synthesis of intelligence, pop easy to listen and good classical melodies.

Medium quality of the songs: 7,61. Vote album: 7,5/8. Three Stars.

This record includes some performances published only on 45 laps at the end of the sixities.

First side. 1) E' l'amore (It is love), the first song (2:31, text by Franco Battiato, music by Giorgio Logiri and Guido Lamorgese), is a melodic song, a different version from the 45 laps (here there are the violins). 2) Fumo di una sigaretta (Smoking a cigarette), 2:43 (text by Franco Battiato, music by Giorgio Logiri and Guido Lamorgese) is another melodic song sixties style. 3) Lacrime e pioggia (Tears and rain), 3:39 (text by Vito Pallavicini, original text by Boris Bergman, music by Vangelis Papathanassiou) is an unrealesed cover of the success of the Aphrodite's Child "Rain and Tears and Candlelight". 4) Sembrava una serata come tante (It seemed like an evening like many), 3:16 (text by Franco Battiato, music by Giorgio Logiri) is a boring song. 5) Gente (People), 3:13 (text by Giovanni Bonoldi, music by Giorgio Logiri) is a trivial piece. 6) "Iloponitnatsoc", that is the contrary of Costantinople, 1:53 (text by Franco Battiato, music by Giorgio Logiri) is a fragment of Gente. The songs are just passable.

Second side. 1) Bella Ragazza (Beautiful girl), 3.10 (text by Franco Battiato, music by Giorgio Logiri and Federico Mompellio) is a beat song, in a different version respect the 45 laps. 2) Lume di Candela (Candlelight), 3:04 (text by Franco Battiato, music by Giorgio Logiri) is less than passable. 3) "Occhi d'or (Golden Eyes), 5:38 (text by Paolo Farnetti, music by Giorgio Logiri and Federico Mompellio) is terrible. 4) Hot wind - 3:07 (text by Franco Battiato, music by Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij: it is the re-elaboration of a theme from the Concerto n. 1 for piano and orchestra in B flat minor Op. 23 by Pëtr Il'ič Čajkovskij, arrangement by Franco Battiato). No words. 5) Sidewalk - 2:57 (text and music by Franco Battiato).

In this album, which is more than anything else a historical repert, we listen to Battiato melodic and beat singer (the beat in Italy was dominant until 1970). Battiato has neither the voice nor the propensity to Italian melodies similar to lyrical arias and in fact in this role of interpreter (the music is almost always of other musicians) Battiato is completely out of place, and in fact the results are terrible. Fortunately, a few years later, Battiato will go to progressive. With other results.

Rating album: 5. One star.

Fleurs (Flowers) is a retro-operation, style Where Have All the Good Old times gone? (Recalling Kinks, Bowie, Elton John etc.). Battiato wants to sing the songs of his youth, the songs that he likes, that he listened when he was growin' up. But Battiato does not have a flexible or powerful voice, so his range of choice of songs to interpret is very limited. But as we know, the artist tends not to set limits and to throw away with ease (and unconsciousness) in any musical genre, and so sometimes gets the effect of demanding too much from his voice or from his English or French (or Arabic: fortunately here absent).

Here the result. "La Canzone Dell'Amore Perduto" is too much similar to the original (written by De Andrè) but De Andrè's voice is much better. "Ruby Tuesday" (Rolling Stones) is an experiment: no drums and the operatic voice of the soprano Simone Bartolini. A little bit proggy. Interesting but I prefer the original one. I never heard before "J'Entends Siffler Le Train", a French folk song, but it's not bad and I still agree with octopus-4: Battiato sings better in French than in English. "Aria Di Neve", by Sergio Endrigo, great Italian songwriter, is... maybe the worse of the whole album. Endrigo have written a lot of wonderful songs: why just this one, Franco?

"Ed Io Fra Di Voi", success by Charles Aznavour. Good song, but... I regret the voice of Aznavour... Again Sergio Endrigo, author of another "so and so" song: "Te Lo Leggo Negli Occhi". Melodic italian song, Sanremo festival style... I cant stand it. "La Canzone Dei Vecchi Amanti" by Jacques Brel. Good song. Chansonnier of high class. Battato resists. "Era De Maggio" traditional sung by Roberto Murolo. Very simple. "Che Cosa Resta" is at the same level of Aria di Neve

"Amore Che Vieni Amore Che Vai" by De André is one of the few songs in this compilation real fit to Battiato's voice. "Medievale" is written by Battiato and take higher the quality of the album, thanks to the interpretation of Battiato and Bartolini. "Invito Al Viaggio" (Invite to journey), lyrics by Baudelaire, music by Battiato, is possibly the best song of the album. The beginning with operatic vocals, keyboard and recitative (Manlio Sgalambro) are excellent.

Not a bad album, because Battiato is always original, but unecessary album of covers (except the last two good songs). Vote 6,5/7. Two Stars.

In Italy this record became famous for the first song, "Povera Patria" (Poor Fatherland), which shook consciences at a time when the political life of the nation was at a turning point, in fact Battiato with this song represents the mood of the population for the crisis political, moral and economic that would bring a political revolution in Italy, with the end of the Catholic party and the end of socialist and communist parties because of corruption, which in addition to being a political and judicial problem had also become an economic problem because the public works in Italy they had suffered the consequence. Battiato in this text sings:

"Poor homeland crushed by the abuses of power Of infamous people who do not know what modesty is They believe themselves to be powerful and what they do is all right And everything belongs to them Among the rulers how many perfect and useless buffoons This country is devastated by pain But they do not give you a little regret Those bodies on the ground without more heat? It will not change will not change It will not change, maybe it will change...

But how to excuse the hyenas in stadiums and newspapers? In the mud sinks the boot of the pigs I am a little ashamed of it and it hurts me See a man as an animal It will not change will not change Yes that will change, you will see that it will change...

We can hope that the world will return to more normal quotas May he contemplate the sky and the flowers That one no longer speaks of dictatorships If we have a little more to live Meanwhile, spring is slow to arrive....."

The "boot of the pigs" is Italy (in fact it has a geographic shape similar to a boot). The following three songs are good but not at the same level of Povera Patria. "Le Sacre Sinfonie del Tempo" (The Sacred Symphonies of the Time), is more quiet. "Come un Cammello in una Grondaia" (Like a Camel in a Gutter Pipe) is fast and lively. "L'ombra della Luce" (The Shadow of the Light) is like a lullaby, but a requiem lullaby... anyway, after Povera Patria, it is the best. With this song end Side A. A good side.

Side B includes four classical lieder, sung in foreign languages: "Schmerzen" (by Richard Wagner), "Plaisir d'amour" (by Johann Paul Aegidius Martin), "Gestillte Sehnsucht" (by Johannes Brahms) and "Oh sweet were the hours" (by Ludwig Van Beethoven). These songs are not remarkable and they sound a little bit boring. Maybe the best is "Plaisir d'amour". The pronunciation of Battiato is no good. Side B not convinces and seem to me pretentious.

Overall, the album is discreet. Vote 7+. Rating: Three stars.

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.

After "L'Arca di Noè", which seemed to recycle scraps from "La Voce del Padrone", arrives "Orizzonti Perduti", with the hit "The season of Love", and finally "Mondi Lontanissimi", which of the three is the best, even if it benefits from the inclusion of some songs already released as singles: "I Treni di Tozeur" had been recorded by Battiato and Giuni Russo, while "Chan-son Egocentrique" had been engraved with Alice. In the album they are repeated in a new version, sung by Battiato alone (also "The King of the World", fished from "L'Era del Cinghiale Bianco" revived in a new version, less beautiful). And they are perhaps the peaks of the LP along with "No Time No Space", which enjoys an orchestral arrangement, directed by the faithful master Giusto Pio.

Good is also the initial, little known, "Via Lattea", with a mystical ballad rhythm. Battiato always moves, in the lyrics, between esotericism and non-sense, with lightness. The other songs are not ugly, but they are fillers, except the last one, where Battiato remembers the carnal instincts and write a track melodically remarkable: "L'animale" (The Animal), but it run away in a way too easy, without being covered in a carefully arrangement; missed masterpiece. End of the album.

"Mondi Lontanissimi" is a good melodic pop album, the best from "La Voce del Padrone" because, unlike the previous two discs, it enjoys excellent melodic songs and sometimes a more symphonic arrangement. The album is written by a somewhat gifted melodic musician, who closes, with the present record, the disengaged phase of the pop chart (started with Patriots).

Vote album: 7,5. Three Stars.