Pollution [Import]

Franco Battiato | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 30, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony/Bmg Italy
• ASIN: B000062W2G
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,233 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Silenzio del Rumore

2. Areknames

3. Beta

4. Plancton

5. Pollution

6. Ti Sei Mai Chiesto Quale Funzione Hai?

Editorial Reviews

Franco Battiato's wonderfully lively 1973 concept album "Pollution" is an audaciously psychedelic album drawn from the space rock dimension with good portions of electronics and keyboard layers. Drawing heavily on the VCS3 synthesizer, Battiato and company (besides himself, three backing band members play synth as well) give "Pollution" an extreme electronic edge. With comparisons to Ash Ra Tempel, Faust, and Pink Floyd, Pollution was declared "genius" by Frank Zappa. Extremely influential on the '90s Chicago post-rock mafia. Original artwork. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars psychedelic synth masterpiece foreshadowing so much of what was to come in the landscape of electronic music, October 15, 2006

By 

Aquarius Records (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pollution (Audio CD)

Although it's only a very small section inside our store, many of our most devout and curious shoppers have found gem after gem in our Italian Prog section. Franco Battiato is one of those gems for sure. One of those endlessly creative artists who completely defies categorization. Sweeping in scope and eccentric in all the right ways it's no surprise that Battiato has finally begun to get the attention he so rightly deserves, as folks like Jim O'Rourke have gone out of their way to champion these forward thinking sounds from decades ago.

Released in 1973, Pollution is a psychedelic synth masterpiece foreshadowing so much of what was to come in the landscape of electronic music. With out-of-this-world synths that make Rick Wakeman's playing seem pedestrian, and an otherworldly dimension orchestrated to perfection. Like David Axelrod getting super psychedelic and arranging a record for Ash Ra Tempel. So extravagant yet totally coherent. These sounds are so alive, so full of color, wonder and beauty. It goes without saying that as more folks discover this record it will probably be sampled to death, and we wouldn't be all that surprised if Four Tet, DJ Shadow, or Plaid hadn't already borrowed a bit here and there. Like Jean Claude Vannier's L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches, this is an early '70s psych-prog masterpiece that is an across the board AQ favorite!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Italian avant garde/prog, December 18, 2005

By 

Jeffrey J.Park (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pollution (Audio CD)

This is a very interesting recording of experimental/avant-garde/prog released by Franco Battiato in 1973 and is one of two proggish albums he made in the early 1970's (the other being Fetus, 1972). Based upon what I have read, by the time of L'Egitto Prima delle Sabbie (1978), his music had become completely avant-garde and made for "very difficult listening", which makes me want to snap these later recordings up all that much more. Given the complexity of this music, it is inconceivable that Battiato could have ever been a pop star, yet he was before 1972. He pretty much threw the pop approach out the window for this recording however, which consists largely of experimental passages on synthesizers including the VCS 2 (this is a new one for me) and the VCS 3, in addition to a tiny bit of pipe organ on Il silenzio del rumore. With regard to synthesizers, every band member with the single exception of the drummer plays one form of the VCS or the other. Furthermore, even though the VCS was used more as a sound generator than a melodic instrument, the tones employed are smooth and clean, i.e. not distorted. The pieces on the album are arranged such that tracks 1-4 form a suite of sorts that starts with a recording of classical music (it sounds like a waltz) over which Battiato provides spoken word passages in Italian (spoken word passages also close the suite). The four pieces alternate heavily rocking sections of drums/bass/guitar (sounds somewhat like YS by Il Balletto di Bronzo, 1972), with experimental passages played on synths. Plancton starts of with some spacey sounds on the VCS and then gradually, acoustic guitar is incorporated along with some gloomy vocal parts. The closing segment of Plancton is heavily influenced by Italian folk music albeit with the added twist of odd sounds generated on the VCS (notice a pattern here?). The title track Pollution provides more of the same, and at 8'48" is the longest piece on the album. The closing track is a personal favorite and just consists of heavily echoed/delayed, very sad and gothic sounding classically influenced synth lines (it almost sounds like a choir but not quite), on top of which Battiato half sings/half weeps his way through the piece (which ultimately gives way to his completely breaking down in fits of sobbing). Pretty cool stuff that is highly recommended to all fans of Italian prog and experimental rock. Sulle Corde Di Aries (1973) marks the beginning of his "more avant-garde, less prog" phase although the album is excellent.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is even better than Fetus!, November 5, 2010

By 

BENJAMIN MILER (Veneta, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pollution (Audio CD)

I first became aware of Franco Battiato back in 2001 when I acquired an LP copy of Jumbo's Vietato ai Minori di 18 Anni? (1973) on the Philips label. Strange I would find out about this famous (in Italy, at least) figure through a rather rare and obscure prog rock album (very worthy of your collection, with "Gil", which Battitato guested on, resembling what he did in '72-'73), rather than his career directly, but there you go! I decided his albums from around the same time have got to be just as interesting, and I was right! Franco Battiato had too varied a career to be categorized as one thing. He's done it all: pop, prog, electronic, classical, avant garde, you name it. He even entered the Eurovision Song Contest. But don't let that put you off if what you're looking is for more great Italian prog to add to your collection. Nothing remotely pop about this 1973 offering, Pollution. This is his second LP (Fetus was his first). To me, as excellent as Fetus is, Pollution improves on it! It's more sophisticated, for one thing, and also benefits from a better production, and everything is an improvement over his debut. It starts off with "Il Silenzio del Rumore", where you hear a Strauss waltz with some spoken Italian. Then you get treated with some heavy guitar riffs and organ. Here you might think Battiato had entered the same time of heavy prog covered by the likes of Biglietto per L'Inferno, Museo Rosenbach, Metamorfosi, and the likes, but it ends rather suddenly. "Areknames" is a fantastic piece with great vocals in Italian and very raw, in-your-face use of the VCS-3 synth (Heldon's Electronic Guerrilla has that similar use of raw, in-your-face use of the EMS synth). "Beta" is a rather spacy psychedelic/prog number with themes from "Arkenames" popping up, usually on piano this time. "Plancton" is a truly amazing acoustic number with synth, reminding me of PFM during their more mellow, acoustic moments. "Ti Sei Mai Chiesto Quale Funzione Hai?" is a rather strange number, using a classical piece and electronically modifying it. Franco Battiato himself isn't the only one credited to VCS-3, but also pianist Ruby Cacciapaglia and guitarist Mario Ellepi. I noticed some of the band were credited to a VCS-2. That is something I am completely unaware of, and while I was able to dig up info on every synth EMS made from 1969 to their 1979 demise, completely no mention of a VCS-2 was made (despite mentions of several synths that were never made commercially available but with only prototypes existing). This leads me to believe it was simply the second oscillator of the VCS-3 used to electronically treat the instruments or sound, or something custom-made.

Certainly Franco Battiato might create albums not everyone will like, but it's agreed that both Fetus and Pollution are the best place for the prog rock fan to start with. For me, Pollution is definitely the better and I really think it's a totally essential album that needs to be in your collection!