LA VOCE DEL PADRONE

On La Voce del Padrone Franco Battiato adapts to changing musical times by applying his vocal gymnastics not to traditional progressive rock of the sort deployed on his earlier albums, but instead adopts a New Wave sound which provides a compelling base for his vocals whilst at the same time offering slightly more twists and turns than more straightforward synthpop releases from the era would offer.

Perhaps the best example of this is Cuccurucucù, which combines a wide range of emotional moods and sections into a four-minute multilingual mini-epic that's crammed with musical surprises and shifts. Prog purists may pine for his early classics, but I think there's more here than immediately meets the ear if you pay close attention.