Ti sei mai chiesto quale funzione hai? Were You Ever Asked What Function You Have?

Ti sei mai chiesto quale funzione hai? © 1972 Franco Battiato

"Pollution from 1972 is the captivating follow-up to Fetus. Like its predecessor, the album features Baroque textures, motorik rhythms, weird tape effects and Battiato's perfectly oblique vocals. Upon hearing Pollution, Frank Zappa joyfully proclaimed it 'genius.' . . . Pollution touches on themes of environmental catastrophe. Futurist allusions seep in through eccentric lyrics (at times sung backwards) about hydraulics, magnetic fields, etc., yet listeners don't need to speak the artist's language to grasp his melancholy vision. With Pollution, Battiato solidifies not only his cult figure status, but also many of his forward-thinking ideas on rock 'n' roll." - Superior Viaduct review After the release of Fetus, Battiato began touring. Al.Sa., the Milan publicity firm that collaborated with Battiato on his first two albums and that was instrumental in creating a Battiato persona that intrigued the Italian public, dubbed the tour "Battiato Pollution." The concerts, or “happenings” as they were conceived, were not simply presentations of the music from Fetus. Rather they were spectacles, with Battiato the avant-garde artist breaking down the old order in his outrageous costumes and with symbolic acts like breaking a large cross at some point during the show. The cross was meant to symbolize traditional culture, and is pictured on the back side of the Pollution album cover. The music on Pollution was developed and recorded concurrently with the Battiato Pollution tour. Again on this second album, the lyrics were written by Sergio Albergoni and Gianni Sassi (credited to Frankenstein), the principals of Al.Sa.

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