Pollution [IMPORT]

Franco Battiato

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 30, 1998)
• Original Release Date: 1972
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sony/Bmg Italy
• ASIN: B000062W2G
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #306,013 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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. New detailed liner notes. --This text refers to the 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

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!

3 of 3 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.