Franco Battiato – Orizzonti Perduti (1983/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 29:01 minutes | 344 MB | Genre: Pop, Electronic, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
Orizzonti perduti is Franco Battiato’s thirteenth studio album, released in December 1983 on the Italian EMI label. The album, which the author took particular care during the recording phase, reached seventh place in the charts and was the thirty-second best-selling of 1984. The album, unlike the previous ones, presents a greater use of electronics and computers for the reproduction of sounds, with the total elimination of acoustic instruments. The album is in some ways autobiographical: it is no coincidence, in fact, that the main narrative scenario is the Sicilian environment. Themes such as musical satire and the cultural decadence of the West are then touched upon.
Read more
Franco Battiato – Come Un Cammello In Una Grondaia (1991/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 31:48 minutes | 350 MB | Genre: Pop, Neo-Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © EMI Marketing
Come Un Cammello In Una Grondaia is Franco Battiato’s sixteenth album, released in 1991.
The album is divided into two parts: the first four songs are works by Battiato while the remaining four are lieder by classical music authors.
It reached tenth place in the charts and sold over 250,000 copies, making it the thirty-fourth best-selling album in Italy during the year.
On the cover there is a detail from a painting by Süphan Barzani, the pseudonym with which Battiato initially signed his paintings.
The title of the album is a quote from Al-Biruni, a Persian scientist who lived in the 11th century, who used to pronounce this phrase to indicate the inadequacy of his language in describing scientific topics.
Schmerzen is one of the five Lieder of the Wesendonck-Lieder cycle (WWV 91), composed by Richard Wagner in 1857 on a poem by Mathilde Wesendonck.
The song Plaisir d’amour (1785) by Johann Paul Aegidius Martin was proposed to Sibilla for the 1984 single Plaisir d’amour/Sex appeal to Europe, the latter composed, like the other songs performed by the singer, by Battiato-Pio . The piece is also cited by Battiato in the song Shakleton (Gommalacca, 1998).
Gestillte Sehnsucht is taken from the Op. 91 Two cantos for contralto, viola and piano (1863-1884) by Johannes Brahms.
Oh Sweet Were the Hours is taken from the Op. 108 Twenty-Five Scottish Songs (1818) by Ludwig Van Beethoven; the English text is attributed to William Smyth (1765-1849). The piece is part of Beethoven’s project to re-arrange songs from British folk heritage.
Read more
Franco Battiato – Patriots (Remastered / 40th Anniversary Edition) (1980/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 42:34 minutes | 476 MB | Genre: Pop Rock, Synth-pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
Franco Battiato’s 1980 album Patriots, his first for the major multinational company EMI, found him moving to more of a synth-based pop/rock sound, the better to create stirring anthems like the opening track, “Up Patriots to Arms.” The 30th anniversary edition of the album adds four bonus tracks, including English- and Spanish-language versions of that song. Later Battiato albums would enjoy widespread commercial success, but Patriots set the stage for that mass popularity. – William Ruhlmann
Read more
Franco Battiato – Mondi Lontanissimi (1985/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 31:21 minutes | 387 MB | Genre: Pop Rock, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
Mondi Lontanissimi (Italian: “Very Distant Worlds”) is an album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, released by EMI Italiana in 1985.
The central theme of most of the songs on the album is travelling, either on Earth or in space; for example “Via Lattea”, “No Time No Space” and “I treni di Tozeur” speak of astronauts, telescopes and spaceships. “Temporary Road” is a song about drivers who sit in their cars in traffic jams every day, a slow first part in English and a second part in Italian. “Il Re del Mondo” is an older song, inspired by René Guenon’s theories, released again in a re-arranged version,.
Also in 1985, Battiato re-recorded the songs “No Time No Space”, “Temporary Road”, “Il Re del Mondo”, “Chan-son Egocentrique” (first recorded by Alice on her 1982 album Azimut), “I treni di Tozeur” and “L’animale”, translated into English on his album Echoes of Sufi Dances and into Spanish on Ecos de Danzas Sufi.
“I treni di Tozeur” was originally performed by Battiato and his female colleague Alice in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984, gaining the 5th place in a field of 19. On Mondi lontanissimi Battiato sings this song by himself.
Read more
Franco Battiato – L’Imboscata (1996/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 39:18 minutes | 469 MB | Genre: Pop Rock, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
L’imboscata (Italian for “The ambush”) is a studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, released by Mercury Records in 1996. After some more experimental albums and meditative songs, the album marked the return of Battiato to a rock sound and to a massive commercial success, mainly pushed by the success of the single “La cura”.
Read more
Franco Battiato – L’Arca Di Noè (1982/2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 28:06 minutes | 587 MB | Genre: Pop Rock, Synth-pop, Progressive Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
L’arca di Noè (Italian, ‘Noah’s Ark’) is an album by the Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato. It was released in 1982 by EMI Italiana. During the first weeks of 1983 Battiato sold about 550,000 copies of L’arca di Noè. An article in the Italian newspaper La Stampa accused Battiato of enclosing in the LP the “culture of the new right”, referring in particular to the first song of the album, “Radio Varsavia”.
Read more
Franco Battiato – La Voce Del Padrone (1981/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 31:20 minutes | 645 MB | Genre: Pop Rock, Synth-pop, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
The turning-point of Franco Battiato’s career: from uncompromising experimentation and progressive electronica to catchy melodies and refrains. The transition had already begun with L’era del cinghiale bianco, but “La voce del padrone” made it complete: its seven refinate synth-pop, with a bit of Krautrock influence, anthems catapulted the album to the top of the hit parade and made it the best-selling Italian album ever. Meticulously produced, with a nice summer vibe throughout its runtime and playful lyrics and instrumentals brings La Voca Del Padrone a lot of life and sets it apart from others from the region to set alongside with other great New Wave classics.
Read more
Franco Battiato – Gommalacca (1998/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 44:20 minutes | 542 MB | Genre: Pop Rock, New Wave
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
Gommalacca (Italian for “Shellac”) is a studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, issued in 1998. The album was described as “vigorous and inspired […] with hard and distorted sounds and bold samples set in lavish arrangements.”
Read more
Franco Battiato – Fleurs (1999/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 41:52 minutes | 480 MB | Genre: Pop, Neo-Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
Fleurs, also graphically rendered as Fleur(s) and FLEURs, is a studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, issued in 1999. Except for two new songs, the album consists of cover versions of Italian and international classics, mainly from the 1960s. The album was described as “delicate, elegant and enjoyable.”
Read more
Franco Battiato – Fisiognomica (1988/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 31:12 minutes | 359 MB | Genre: Pop Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
Fisiognomica is an album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, released by EMI Music Italian in 1988. The cover features a photo of Battiato as an adolescent, when still living in Sicily. “L’Oceano di Silenzio” is an operatic song containing German text from Fleur Jaeggy’s Wasserstatuen. “Veni l’autunnu” (“The Autumn Comes” in Sicilian) contains text both in Arabic and Sicilian, and is devoted to Battiato’s homeland (which is also the inspiration of “Secondo imbrunire”, meaning “Second Dusk”). Arabic lyrics are also contained in “Zai Saman”. The title track is inspired to physiognomy theories. “Nomadi” was written by Battiato’s friend and 1970s collaborator Juri Camisasca, after his retirement in a Benedictine monastery. It was originally sung by Alice in her album Park Hotel (1986).
Read more
Franco Battiato – Anthology – Le Nostre Anime (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 03:12:07 minutes | 2,12 GB | Genre: Pop Rock, Synth-pop, Progressive Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
“Le nostre anime” is the title of a new Anthology collection of the multi-platinum selling artist Franco Battiato from 1972 until 2015. This is not a simple Best Of, as all tracks have been re-mixed and re-mastered to create new versions of every track. There are 2 brand new studio songs, 1 orchestra new song and a great duet with MIKA. Franco Battiato is a huge star in Italy – a creative genius with an output that spans full length Classical pieces as well as pop, rock and electronica albums., Battiato has been at the forefront of Italian music since the early 1970s. Loved by the critics, Battiato has been variously compared to diverse artists including Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno, Phillip Glass, Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Scott Walker and Jim O’Rourke.
Read more
Franco Battiato – Last Summer Dance (2003) [2x SACD Set]
PS3 Rip | SACD ISO | DST64 2.0 & 5.1 > 1-bit/2.8224 MHz | 97:27 minutes | Scans included | 6,15 GB
or FLAC(converted with foobar2000 to tracks) 24bit/88,2 kHz | Full Scans included | 2 GB
Francesco “Franco” Battiato is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. He is and has been for decades one of the most popular pop singer-songwriters in Italy. His unique sound, song-crafting and especially his lyrics, often containing philosophical, religious, and culturally exotic references, as well as tackling or painting universal themes about the human condition – unusual subjects for pop songs – earned him a unique spot on Italy’s music scene, and the nickname of “Il Maestro” (“The Master” or “The Teacher”).
Read more
Franco Battiato – L’Era Del Cinghiale Bianco (40th Anniversary Remastered Edition) (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:08:11 minutes | 1,30 GB | Genre: Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music Italia srL.
This album marks the return of Battiato to pop, after a period in which he substantially produced experimental music (1972–1978). The title song’s theme, the “white boar”, is inspired to an ancient Celtic myth.
Read more