UMANAMENTE UOMO: IL SOGNO

After a bit of a Battisti hiatus, I return to review his fifth album, "Umanamente Uomo: Il Sogno." Like his previous album, "Il Mio Canto Libero," this one lacks some of the crossover appeal of his first three albums; however, I would guess that the average prog fan will find more to like here than on "Il Mio." However, like all Battisti albums, there's really no bad songs, and fans of his music in general who aren't necessarily looking for prog should consider this a worthy addition to their collection.

"I Giardini Di Marzo" starts the album off with some folky guitar. Battisti's vocals come in after only a moment, sounding much less bombastic than usual. These two elements are quickly joined by some equally understated strings before the sweeping chorus begins. To my ears Battisti's voice sounds a bit more strained than it has in the past, though that could be my imagination and in any event the song certainly doesn't suffer as a result. Some electric guitar and keyboards enter after this largely string led chorus, creating quite a nice texture under Battisti's voice. A great opener and to my ears sounds this one sounds quite reminiscent of the later RPI bands, though it's structure isn't as proggy.

"Innocenti Evasioni" begins with what sounds like electronic keyboards before some bass and guitar enter. As Battisti begins to sing some more interesting keyboard effects are added, which creates a very interesting sound once strings are added for the chorus. The song doesn't deviate too far from this verse-chorus pattern, though there is a very nice string- backed guitar solo that closes out the song.

"E Penso A Te" is a much more classic sounding song, with only some soft piano present in the beginning of the track as Battisti sings. The piano remains as the sole instrument for the first part of the song, which actually works astoundingly well since it allows Battisti's voice to speak for itself (no pun intended) with no distraction. I never cease to be impressed by the power and emotion Battisti can put into his voice, something I've said before and will probably say again. The song moves away from this piano accompaniment in the second half, however, adding percussion, strings and a host of other voices for a wordless chant. All this fades away in the final moments of the song to leave Battisti chanting alone, which fosters a rather haunting atmosphere in the final seconds.

"Umanamente Uomo: Il Sogno" is next, and it begins with some guitar accompanied only by whistling. The ever-present strings soon entered, along with some wordless Battisti vocals, before these strings take a shot at the melodic lead. This lush melody continues for a bit before the guitar-whistling combination comes back, and finally the strings close out the track. Because of its primarily instrumental nature, "Umanamente Uomo: Il Sogno" is a great middle point for the album, giving the listener a moment of wordless beauty before the second half of the record begins.

"Comunque Bella" follows this Entr'acte of sorts, and the song sees the organ appearing at the forefront. A wonderful chorus is the centerpiece of the song, featuring bombastic percussion and a great, sweeping melody in contrast to the minimally arranged verses. Overall it's a very laid-back song, with Battisti's vocals coming off as very relaxed, even during the chorus.

"Il Leone E La Gallina" has a much more whimsical feel to it, pairing Battisti's voice with an acoustic guitar that almost recalls tin-pan alley music at times. There are also some vocal overdubs on the track, which is rather unique given how scarcely the technique is used by Battisti (at least on the albums I've heard thus far).

"Sognando E Risognando" is the second song on the album over five minutes, and it begins with some solo percussion before Battisti's voice enters, matched by a solo acoustic guitar. After this brief introductory section, however, an electric guitar riff takes over along with some bass and Battisti turns out his rockiest performance of the album. Interestingly, a female voice is featured in a kind of "call-and-return" section with Battisti, marking the first time I can recall of another voice from Battisti's being featured instead of being merely backing. A variety of different motifs throughout the song make it by far the proggiest track on the album, one that no doubt could have fit right in on the classic RPI albums of the 70s. The song finishes off with another great guitar solo.

"Il fuoco" closes off the album on a decidedly different note. Far and away the most experimental track on any of Battisti's first five albums, "Il fuoco" makes use of distorted guitar noises layered on top of each other in a way that's almost reminiscent of (dare I say it?) Fred Frith. Hopefully that conveys just how drastically different this track is from pretty much everything else I've heard from Battisti, and while it's a great and interesting track, it does feel a bit out of place.

Overall, "Umamente Uomo: Il Sogno" is a bit of a mixed bag. While there certainly aren't any outright bad songs (there never are on Battisti albums) the album lacks the dynamism and charm that made Battisti's first two albums so appealing, and while it's a step up from the too- homogenous, utterly un-prog "Il Mio Canto Libero," it also lacks the true spirit of experimentation that made "Amore e non Amore" so good. If you're a Battisti fan then you'll no doubt enjoy this, but I'd recommend that the average prog-fan not start with this one from Battisti.

3/5