CLIC

This, the fourth album from Italian singer/composer Franco Battiato, continues the natural progression established by his first three albums, while pointing towards his future as well. Since discovering this artist a few months ago, I have been continually amazed at how consistently his albums just... resonate. Take any of the first four albums, give them a close listen, and I can almost guarantee you will not have heard anything like them before. As a fan of progressive rock for over 20 years, I really appreciate when I find an artist that genuinely can surprise me like Franco Battiato has.

Whereas the prior album, "Sulle Corde di Aries", was relatively easily identifiable as an electronic music album, "Clic" seems to jump all over the place -- sometimes it's purely electronic, sometimes there's an elaborate string section, sometimes it's tape experiments (e.g. the sped up crowd chanting "Block that kick! Hold That Line" on "Nel Cantiere Di Un'infanzia", reminding me of the end of Pink Floyd's "Fearless") , and sometimes it almost sounds like a relatively normal song. There's even a saxophone thrown in here now and then (e.g on "Propiedad Prohibida"), as there was on the prior album. The result of all this is that while this may be Battiato's most abstract, avant garde album to date, it might also be his most well-rounded and interesting. By not letting the listener jump to conclusions like "ah, so this is an electronic drone piece", or "ah, this is a sound effects piece", it keeps the listener guessing, yet the strange juxtapositions in style serve not to make the pieces more irritating, but rather more organic and human -- he is using his artistic instincts to make transitions and is free-associating in a way that makes sense, and which challenges the listener to take a ride on his wave of dream logic. That, I guess, is why this "Clic"s with me.

The final track, "Ethika fon Ethica", is almost entirely taken up with tape edits and sound effects, providing the listener with a preview of the style he'd explore further on his next album, "M. Elle le Gladiator". But for most prog fans, this album is usually as far off the deep end as they're willing to go. By its very experimental nature, and extreme risk taking, this falls well short of being a perfect album, but consider this a very strong 4/5.