Franco Battiato
Inneres Auge

The first thought I had at the end of listening to "Inneres Auge" is that perhaps Franco Battiato today is not entirely honest with his audience.

I have great admiration for him and, since his experimental beginnings, I have appreciated his work, but after this listen I would like to ask him how much sincerity is behind this latest work, or if it’s an album completed by force for contractual obligations. "Inneres Auge" contains three unreleased tracks, a handful of lesser-known old songs, rearranged but very little different from the previous versions, a cover of "Inverno" by Fabrizio De André, and a new version of "Stage Door", previously released in demo version on the CD single "Shock In My Town".

I spoke of honesty because "Inneres Auge" is a single disguised as an album and it would have been more honest for me to have us wait a little more time, perhaps waiting for a bit more inspiration. No emotions are conveyed by the three new tracks, whether it is the disorienting opening "Title Track", with its simple protest against the "Powerful" or the extremely slow "Tibet" and "U' Cantu", the latter a lullaby in Sicilian dialect. To be saved, amid the illogical selection, is the heartfelt interpretation of "Inverno" and "Stage Door", a pleasant novelty for those who did not buy the single at the time.

To be recommended only to the maniacs of Franco Battiato, to those who, like me, want to have everything published under his name.