Customer Reviews

Fetus

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Battiato was already a famous european pop musician when he took this more experimentally progressive turn. On this album, he fused folk-flavored pop with stark electronic textures inspired by Karlheinz Stockhausen. At first the juxtaposition seems strange, but with repeated listens it reveals itself to be quite appealing. Definitely a very early example of techno-pop with a distinctly european flair (this pre-dates Kraftwerk's 'Autobahn' by a couple of years).

Franco Battiatio is one of the big names of Italian pop. But this is hardly the kind of music that would be found at the Eurovision Song Contest. On Fetus, released in 1972 on the Bla-Bla label, he went for the Italian prog rock sound of the time, and added some really cool VCS-3 synthesizers. If you like Le Orme, you're sure to like this, as Battiato sounds like Aldo Tagliapietra at times, not to mention the occasional acoustic pieces only justifies the Le Orme comparisons. But unlike Le Orme, Battiato liked making all sorts of strange sounds off his synths. "Cariocinesi" is an interesting piece, especially the use of violin, giving it an almost American feel, until you hear Battiato's singing. "Meccanica" starts off sounding like PFM, but then you hear some ELP-like organs, at the end you hear a clip from the Apollo 11 moon landing with Bach being played in the background. Quite interesting music, and if you like Le Orme, Italian prog in general, or experimental electronic mixed with prog, you're sure to like this.

wow... the anti abortionists in cincinnati would love to plaster this one next to the clinics...
NOW. FOCUS ON THE CONTENTS...
this was my first, and most exciting immersion into battiato. not that others aren't good, and some are as or more satisfying, but this one... is akin to charisma (krisma), or a poppy neu! or can. definitely more kraut(ty). his other work in this period is more soundscape or minimalist. his later work is more formal and classical (at least the ones i've tasted). I would be surprised if this weren't highlighted in julian cope's forthcoming book on italian music. and the price is half what i paid a couple years ago.

This excellent 1972 album by former Italian pop star Franco Battiato presents an excellent mix of progressive rock and more experimental, avant-garde tendencies. I think that of his albums, this is the most prog oriented one and along with Pollution (1973) should prove to be very enjoyable for fans of Italian prog and experimental music in general. The original cover to this album is very shocking and was censored. The overall mood of this album is somewhat sad and very eerie.

In general the music on Fetus is comprised of a diverse mixture of progressive rock; lovely and haunting melodies complete with "churchy" sounding pipe organ; soft, acoustic textures (guitar and violin); spacey, VCS3 synthesizer heavy experimentation; some folk music; psychedelic freak outs; and found sounds. The proggy sections really take flight when the whole band kicks in, which is not too often I might add. Franco Battiato provides some good vocals (in Italian), which at times get quite plaintive, although they are conventional for the most part. As a general observation, I would have to say that all of the pieces blend together in an odd, sound collage of sorts, over which Battiato sings.

All in all, this is an excellent album of progressive/experimental/avant-garde music by Franco Battiato and should appeal to most open-minded prog rock fans. As somebody who enjoys progressive rock along with electronic music; the European avant garde; minimalism; serialism; and aleatoric music (e.g. John Cage), this album proved to be a lot of fun to listen to. Very highly recommended along with Pollution (1973) and Sulle Corde di Aries (1973). It is worth noting that Battiato went even further into the realms of the avant-garde and musique concrete starting with Clic (1974) and culminating with L'Egitto Prima delle Sabbie (1978).

2 1/2

Playfully dramatic but ultimately unfulfilled experimental electronic-pop footnote, the album will bend more willingly to those seeking short-lived weirdness over memorable musicality.