FERRO BATTUTO

One year after the turn of the century, 2001 and to be exact Mr Battiato releases Ferro Battiato his 22nd album release not counting compilations or Spanish editions which this album was released in as well.There are two notable guests on the album. The first being Natacha Atlas who contributes vocals on three tracks and the second being Jim Kerr from Simple Minds who only collaborates on track one. Primarily Electronica is the sound with a mixture of Pop, Rock and the Arabic feel which Franco Battiato has explored in the past on some of his previous releases, hence the addition of Natacha Atlas but the influence does appear on another track where she is not present and that being Il Cammino Interminabile with the Rythmn used within the composition.

Running Against the Grain which Jim Kerr and Franco Battiato share vocals is one electronic driven pop song with each artist sharing vocals in their own native language. Often I will admit on occasion Franco Battiato can border close to pop tack but I find as within this album he does not cross that line. Bist Du Bei Mir is the second track while it is interesting I find nothing outstanding and could be considered just another song but the gem of the album is track three La Quiete Dopo Un Addio with a keyboard swirl this Ballad begins and really is one beautiful song. Along comes Natacha Atlas for the next song ( Personalita Empirica) with Battiato and she sings her part in French and one nice fusion composition is the result delivered over a mid tempo rythmn. Track seven and a cover of the Hendrix song Hey Joe which has been toned right down from the original and is given The Franco Battiato stamp with assistance from Natacha Atlas on some of the vocals. Il Potere Del Carto is the finisher for the ten track album which again has Natacha doing vocals and rythmn is the key and you will notice with the driving beat.There is a hidden track on the cd after the last song. There are other songs I have not mentioned and Lontanaze d'Azzuro is one which is a ballad and a quite good one at that but the rest are primarily pop.

Being electronic and containing a fair amount of pop I approached this with reservations especially after the first time that I heard the album but time has changed my opinion of the album as it contains some wonderful songs and the gem that I mentioned is worth the price of the album alone but I find a little patch but even those songs are not bad. Do I want to play this album again straight after I have heard it and the answer is yes and that to me must generate four stars for this well done effort from Mr Franco Battiato.