Franco Battiato
Fleurs 2

Darn Franco, why are you letting us down this time?....

After the extremely refined and sublime experience of "Fleurs 1," and the (certainly less exciting) yet interesting "Fleurs 3," you come out with these reinterpretations that are undoubtedly in that style of yours that we have come to appreciate with the previous masterpieces, but they leave a bit of a bitter taste.

And yet, you didn't even start badly... "L'universo obbedisce all'amore" is truly an interesting piece, with that particular melodic line, especially supported by fellow artist Consoli, who, let's be honest, has a truly great voice... But then as the album progresses, you get lost...

"Era d'estate"... But couldn't you change the arrangement a bit? I mean, I could envision more of an arrangement like the one you used for "Amore che vieni, amore che vai" in "Fleurs 1," a bit electronic, as we extreme experimentalists like... Or not?...

"E più ti amo"... Alain Barriere certainly did not excel in the correct pronunciation of Italian, that's true; oddly enough, from this point of view, dear Franco, you improved the song... But what a pain! Sorry for the term, these arrangements are cute, but when you repeat them for three consecutive albums, they become a bit tiresome, dear Franco!... Monotonous, fake, ancient, repetitive... Although, I must say, I immediately put the track on my iPod, I want to listen to it again with more attention...

Then follow, "It's Five 'O Clock", "Sitting In The Dock Of The Bay" (Otis Redding) and "Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Simon & Garfunkel), which, apart from the fact that they have the same monotonous background and the same boring arrangement, are also sung in English that gives a slight shiver down the spine (especially the cover of Otis Redding). The cover of Paul and Art is to say the least embarrassing...

The others, except for the featuring with the brilliant Antony from Antony and the Johnsons (what a voice!), and L'Addio (written by Franco for Giuni Russo, and I must say, hats off to Mr. Battiato, truly an excellent track), aren't noteworthy, more or less what was previously written applies to the others.

The worst of all though (and tell your friend Camisasca) is "La musica muore"... It's dreadful, I don't know... That little electric guitar loop that recalls "the echo of the concerts" is a terrible find, let's admit it.

Seeing the other reviews, often enthusiastic for this album that leaves me completely indifferent, I think that for Franco, it would have been better to stop at "Fleurs 3" (maybe calling it "Fleurs 2" and closing the saga), because with this Fleurs he kind of screwed up... Says a big fan of the Sicilian...

Nothing more to add...