FLEURS

I agree with octopus-4: this album is unecessary and a bit too boring.... but not bad.

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.