ORIZZONTI PERDUTI

Left behind the emphatic choirs of "La voce del padrone" and "L'arca di Noé", Franco Battiato kept on going on his personal way to pop. The new wave influences of the eighties here are stronger than ever and there's no much room for guitars or acoustic instruments. "Orizzonti perduti" (Lost horizons) is a good album of electronic pop, but nothing more.

In my opinion, the music here "seem to be tired" like the title of one of the tracks ("La musica è stanca"), but if you like the music in fashion in the early eighties (Ultravox, OMD, etc.) you could find something interesting in this album. All in all the opener "La stagione dell'amore" is a beautiful song (although I prefer by far its "acoustic" version on the live album "Last Summer Dance") and you can find here also other interesting pop tracks like "Un'altra vita", "Mal d'Africa" and "Gente in progresso". Anyway there's almost no trace of prog at all. "The season of love comes and go away. And the lost horizons never come back again"!

Recommended only for the die-hard fans of the artist.

THE SEASON OF LOVE

Strange album of Electronic POP/ Prog recorded in Alberto Radius Studio but without guitars! Yes. Because this is Franco Battiato from 1979 to today, a great avant garde POP executor but with true Prog ideas. And the songs that wrote are, in relation of major POP trend, extreme Prog (in the sense of progressive ideas). So this "Orizzonti Perduti" is a true Avant arde Sintetic POP album in true Prog field! I don't know because Battiato is so strange for music approach but "Orizzonti Perduti" is, incredible, a great album. For me a great album for 1983 standards. In fact "La Stagione Dell'Amore" is a great New Wave/ Electronic Avant Garde POP Prog Song (aaargh! for this definition) and the rest of the album is on the same road. So I think that an Electronic Proglover will find very interesting "Orizzonti Perduti".

Trying to take advantage of his pop approach of the previous albums, Franco Battiato releases another 30 minutes album which contains the summer's hit single "La Stagione degli Amori" (The Season of Loves) which opens the album. The sounds are very "plastic". The keyboards and the drones sound quite like a MIDI track played by a Commodore64. Effectively this is a totally electronic album without guitars, basses or even the violin of Giusto Pio. Who knows Battiato from his beginnings can catch echoes of the past Krautrock vein, but this is just pop.

"Tramonto Occidentale" (Western Sunset) has some interesting moments in the instrumental interlude and is surely less radio-friendly than the first track. The lyrics are hermetic as usual in this period but the meaning of the song is a bit clearer, at least it appears to have a meaning. The decadence of the western world seen in the eyes of a "blank generation youth".

"Zone Depresse" (Depressed Zones) is a description of the life in the small towns of his Sicily and has a self-biographical mood as other of his songs of this period. Musically it's nothing special. The strange interlude is referred to the sentence "I secretly watched the gymnic exercises of your college".

"Un'Altra Vita"(Another Life) borrows the rhythmic base from Laurie Anderson and would be a nice song if it remained on this mood, but unfortunately the drone drums are back with the usual rhtythm very deeply in the 80s. Not bad in any case, but you must like the 80s electronics to enjoy it as the rest of the album.

"Mal D'Africa" ..well I don't know how to translate it...it's the nostalgic feeling which affects those who have been captured by the African landscapes. Musically speaking it doesn't capture me. The choice of singing a part in English with a strong Italian accent is a bad one IMO also because I think he voluntarily accentuates it. His English is usually better. Not my pot.

"La Musica E' Stanca" (Music Is Tired) sounds like the album's epitaph. Another MIDI track good for a VIC20 on which he sings something absolutely forgettable both from the musical than from the lyrical points of view. A track to skip for me.

"Gente in Progresso" (Progressing People) belongs to the standards of his period but all the passages are almost trivial. Good to listen in background while driving (and chatting with those sit in your car).

The closer is "Campane Tibetane" (Tibetan Bells). Battiato sings with an unusual "vibrato" on his voice, imagine a non-natural Roger Chapman. The song is another typical of the age and not a too bad one, but not a reason good enough to purchase the album.

After having reached the top in terms of sales the destiny of Battiato is changing again. His successful formula is quickly becoming old and somebody is alimenting rumors about him bringing bad luck (in Italy a thing like this can be a disaster for an artist) and in few years he will see his gigs deserted until the new rebirth which will come later.

Not a suggested album.

After the big and unexpected success of "La Voce del Padrone", Battiato started to publish similar albums: "L'Arca di Noè" (which seemed to recycle scraps from "La Voce del Padrone") and "Orizzonti Perduti", (Lost Orizonts) which last about half an hour (even less: this one last twenty-eight and a half minutes), with melodic pop songs, with electronic sound.

In "Orizzonti Perduti" there are no strings, no guitars, only keyboards, computer programming and percussion. And the voice of Battiato. Here there is little to do with progressive. The album begins with the hit "The season of Love", ", which enjoys a beautiful melody and a perfect keyboards arrangement. This song has become a hymn in Italy, for its singability and its wonderful text:

"La stagione dell'amore viene e va I desideri non invecchiano quasi mai con l'età Se penso a come ho speso male il mio tempo Che non tornerà, non ritornerà più La stagione dell'amore viene e va All'improvviso senza accorgerti, la vivrai, ti sorprenderà Ne abbiamo avute di occasioni Perdendole, non rimpiangerle, non rimpiangerle mai Ancora un'altro entusiasmo ti farà pulsare il cuore Nuove possibilità per conoscersi E gli orizzonti perduti non ritornano mai La stagione dell'amore tornerà Con le paure e le scommesse Questa volta quanto durerà Se penso a come ho speso male il mio tempo Che non tornerà, non ritornerà più."

"The season of love comes and goes Desires don't grow old almost never with age If I think about how I spent my time badly That he will not come back, he will not come back The season of love comes and goes Suddenly without realizing it, you will experience it, it will surprise you We had occasions Losing them, do not regret them, never regret them Yet another enthusiasm will make your heart throb New possibilities for getting to know each other And the lost horizons never come back The season of love will come back With fears and bets This time how long it will last If I think about how I spent my time badly That he will not come back, he will not come back"

After that song, there is "Tramonto Occidentale" (Occidental Sunset), a good song with a very sustained rhythm, then a rather insignificant filler (Zone Depresse), then "Un'altra Vita" (Another Life), that ends side A: catchy classical melody, suitable for the strings.

Sides B il less interesting: "Mal d'Africa" isn't bad, "La Musica è Stanca" is a filler, then there are texts often autobiographical that evoke Sicily, as in the highly rhythmic electronic ballads "Gente in Progresso" and "Tibetan Bells", which add an oriental touch (also "Hare Krishna"!) to his isle. But they are not remarkable songs.

"Orizzonti Perduti" is a melodic pop album, with a great hit, some good songs and some fillers. The album is written by a somewhat gifted melodic musician.

Vote album: 6,5/7. Two Stars.