AMORE E NON AMORE

A bit spicier, this tale of two albums

Lucio Battisti's second album (not counting the collections package "Emozione") came out in the summer of 1971 and as the album cover conveys, it came with a shift to the spicier side of melodic Italian rock (and of more interest to proggers). His first two albums were well stocked with pleasant pop tracks of varying quality, the debut slightly stronger than "Emozione" in my view. On this venture Lucio gets decidedly wilder and more interesting, incorporating a bit of a swagger and a musical curiosity which crosses a bit into the RPI scene that was beginning to ferment across Italy. It was also the first of many striking album covers, showing a young Battisti looking sullen and hung over beneath a tree, like the morning after some wild party. The woman behind him was rumored for years to be his girlfriend and eventual wife, but in 2007 she came forth and stated that it was not her. By this time Battisti and his lyricist Mogol were already working at their own label project Numero Uno, but this one came out on Ricordi who still had claim to their tracks.

The All Music Guide calls the sound "tight and crisp, yet loose enough to allow for improvisation and pure groove. It's great, affecting rock music: the two guitars and the piano play off and with one another while the bass, drums, organ, and the occasional orchestral arrangement add a warm rhythm that moves the song along with concentrated and direct feeling."

"Dio Mio No" sounds like the party of the previous night, a crackin' opening 7 minutes of foot stomping fun. Battisti's vocal is manic and on the edge, set to a frenetic bass line and acoustic jam with just a touch of keys along the edges. Pure energy from a band line-up that features such future heavyweights as Franz Di Cioccio, Flavio Premoli, Franco Mussida, and Alberto Radius. The second track is a fairly avant instrumental, wily and not traditional in its feel, it is perhaps the earliest evidence of the experimentations to come. This is a tale of two albums. The album alternates four vocal tracks with four instrumental ones giving it added dimension and a split personality. To emphasize the effect the four instrumentals are given very long, poetic titles which appear to be simply describing moments in time, allowing the sounds to tell the rest of the story. Which they do----in particular I found the stunning "7 agosto di pomeriggio. Fra le lamiere roventi di un cimitero di automobili solo io, silenzioso eppure straordinariamente vivo" to be the most impressive Battisti composition to date. A post-psych daydream that captivates a moment like Floyd's "A Pillow of Winds" does on Meddle. The third instrumental piece combines strings, piano, and organ into a tussle between calm and tension, quite lovely. The fourth piece is a mélange of a laid back "doo do doo" vocal with building strings and organ, a perfect finale to this feast.

The tracks that separate these esoteric instrumentals are relatively basic rock tracks, but Battisti has this nervous minimalist energy that provides such a unique vibe. Hard to explain, they rock hard but not in a Jimmy Page/John Bonham way, but rather with a personal style as unique as Zappa was in the 60s. Iconic, stripped down, but with some bite, some verve. I think it could be best compared to what Lindsey Buckingham concocted with his tracks on Tusk. Think about stuff like "Not That Funny" or "That's Enough for Me."

And so "Amore e non Amore" attempts to sandwich these two distinctly different half albums together by alternating the two styles rather than separating them by side. It's not the choice I would make because I would prefer the continuity of each style independently, but Battisti was always doing things his own way. I cannot take points away for that, although some might. I believe this is Battisti's first great album and perhaps the perfect starting point for prog fans wanting to sample this related artist. Get this one along with "Anima Latina" and you will know if Lucio Battisti is for you.

In 1970 the duo Battisti/Mogol (the latter is the lyriricst) decided to put in music their theory of the opposites: the contrast between love and not love, all and nothing, light and dark.

The album is based on a permanent anthithesis between short-titled songs (love, described in unconventional way) and long-titled songs (not love, completely instrumental). The formers are more easy and rock, the latters more experimental and anomalous (more "prog" if you allow me to say).

The general mood of the record is a singer-songwriter psych-rock'n'roll (with improvisation) in the "love" parts (hammond and guitars as in the furious "Se la Mia Pelle Vuoi") while is symphonic (piano and ocrhestra) in the instrumental parts (as in the wonderful "Davanti ad un Distributore Automatico di Fiori dell'Aeroporto di Bruxelles, Anch'Io Chiuso in una Bolla di Vetro").

The musicians involved in this notable project are of highest level: the whole PFM (at the time called I QUELLI), Alberto Radius (FORMULA 3) and Dario Baldan Bembo (EQUIPE 84).

The album is unique, there would never be another one like it in Battisti's discography. As for Anima Latina (1974), this is the one containing the less known Lucio' songs. And probably is this the best way to guarantee the product 100%.

I continue my string of Lucio Battisti reviews with "Amore e Non Amore." Of the three I've heard so far, this one is the first one that I think could actually be called (at least crossover) prog with a straight face instead of merely being an influence on later prog bands. Apparently it's a concept album (unfortunately most of that is lost on me due to the language barrier), and as you might expect we get a bit of deviation here from the poppiness of Battisti's first two albums. We have here instrumental interludes, longer songs, and overall more depth to the sound compared to what he had released before this.

"Dio Mio No" begins the album, and it's the longest Battisti song I've heard yet, clocking in at a good two minutes over anything on his previous releases. Despite that, it's actually one of the less proggish songs on the album, with the same rhythm guitar part pretty much repeating throughout. However, we get some great vintage organ and a few great guitar solos on top of that, and as always Battisti's vocals sound great. Another thing that I've been noticing about Battisti's work that is also apparent here is that the bass work is always excellent and interesting to listen to.

"Seduto sotto un platano con una margherita in bocca guardando il flume nero macchiato dalla schiuma bianca dei detersivi" (whew, that's a long title) is next, and this one combines a sort of "Eastern European Folk" sound with some psychedelic textures for a really great instrumental. It's around this point that one can really see the step forward Battisti has taken musically, as this 3 minute instrumental is light-years ahead of anything on his first two albums. Great song.

"Una" comes next, and with it return the vocals. "Una" is a fairly depressing sounding track, a fact which comes even across the language barrier due in no small part to the incredible emotion Battisti can vocalize with. I hope I don't sound like a broken record when I say that, but it really is astounding. The instrumentation is great as well, recalling hints of some slower Beatles' songs. There's no virtuosic breaks or anything like that, but the arrangement is stellar and there's not a note out of place the whole song.

"7 agosto di pomeriggio. Fra le lamiere roventi di un cimitero di automobili solo io, silenzioso eppure straordinariamente vivo" is another instrumental. It begins with a guitar part that, to my ears, sounds incredibly similar to the Beatles' "Dear Prudence." It quickly develops away from that, however, into another beautifully arranged, at times slightly avant-sounding classical style interlude. Maybe the most drastic departure yet from his self titled release and "Emozioni," especially due to the hints of dissonance that are briefly but powerfully used to great effect.

"Se la Mia Pelle Vuoi" again brings back vocals and has a very "vintage rock-and-roll" sound. I know that's not very specific but hopefully you understand what I'm saying. It's a pretty standard number, and there's a brief but great guitar solo in the middle, but there's not too much else to say about this one. It's a nice change of pace from "7 agosto..." though.

Following the pattern of the album, "Davanti ad un distributore automatico di fiori dell'aeroporto di Bruxelles, anch'io chiuso in una bolla di vetro" is another instrumental track. This track features some very nice interplay between the orchestral sounds we've come to expect from Battisti and that seemingly omnipresent vintage organ. Overall the track has a great ambience and the aforementioned juxtaposition works quite well.

"Supermarket" follows, and it's one of the more simply arranged songs, featuring only an acoustic guitar, some minimalistic percussion and Battisti's vocals. However, it also features a fantastic vocal melody so it certainly doesn't feel like anything is lacking. To me it sounds like one of the happier songs on the album, but I have no way of knowing if the lyrics reflect that.

"Una poltrona, un bicchiere di cognac, un televisore, 35 morti ai confini di Israele e Giordania" closes off the album with another instrumental (though there are some wordless vocals). This one isn't as complex as some of the others on the album, instead opting to follow pretty much the same pattern throughout but continually add things on to build up the intensity. It's a fitting close to the album.

Overall, "Amore e Non Amore" is not nearly as immediately enjoyable as Battisti's first two albums, but after several listens I have to admit that it's certainly better put together. For me, the real treats here are the instrumentals: they're all totally different from one another, and totally different Battisti did previous to this album. "7 agosto..." is probably the standout here, but as will all the Battisti albums I've reviewed thus far I didn't have any problem listening through all the way, especially since the album comes in at only 35 minutes.

4/5

Okay i'll be honest, it was the Italian girl with the nice bum on the cover that drew me to check out this album. Hey after being forced to endure RUSH's "Hemispheres" cover and YES' "Going For The One" cover for so many years this is extrememly gratifying. Thankyou Lucio ! Now after spending some time with this record over the holidays I can say the music is as good as the cover. It doesn't hurt to have the three pre-PFM members helping out on guitar, drums and keyboards or the guitar work of Alberto Radius (IL VOLO, FOMULA 3) or EQUIPE 84's keyboardist Dario Baldan Bembo or CRYSTAL's bass player Giorgio Piazza but this really is the Lucio Battisti show. Man he has such passion and while I don't understand Italian he apparently is quite the word-smith and is put on the same level as John Lennon in Italy when it comes to lyrics.The music here is even better than I hoped it would be.

"Dio Mio No" is uptempo with strummed guitar as the vocals arrive just before a minute. Organ and drums follow. I love when he sings with passion especially just before 5 minutes.Great track ! "Beduto Sotto..." is an excellent instrumental with the intricate guitar work, drums and organ standing out. Strings come in and I really like the drums late. "Una" opens with floating organ as the sound builds. It all settles down when the reserved vocals arrive. We get backing vocals and guitar on the chorus as it becomes fuller.

"7 Agosto Di..." features some incredible sounding guitar and piano throughout this instrumental. I'm moved (gulp) after 3 minutes. So good. "Se Mia Pelle Vuoi" is a straight-up rocker really with the vocals to match. It's my least favourite. "Davanti Ad..." is a short but proggy instrumental with organ and strings standing out. "Supermarket" opens with strummed guitar as the vocals join in. Catchy stuff and a killer song. "Una Poltrona..." ends the album in style.I'm moved by this tune as Lucio sings in a higher pitch than normal.

Easily 4 stars.