album rating: ★★★★☆
a) Genre
New wave / Synth-pop / Art pop / Canzone d'autore. L'Arca di Noe (Noah's Ark) is Franco Battiato's twelfth studio album and his most direct follow-up to the enormous commercial breakthrough of La voce del padrone (1981). The album continues in the same broadly accessible synthpop and new wave direction as its predecessor, incorporating Fairlight CMI digital sampling, sequencer programming, and lush orchestral touches alongside Battiato's characteristic lyrical eclecticism -- philosophical, esoteric, and polemical by turns. It is, at just under 28 minutes, a deliberately concise album. Rate Your Music classifies it under New Wave, Synthpop, Art Pop, and Canzone d'autore.
b) Release
Original Italian release: EMI Italiana S.p.A. (3 December 1982; catalogue 3C 064-18597 for vinyl LP), phonographic copyright P 1982 EMI Italiana S.p.A.; manufactured and made in Italy by EMI Italiana S.p.A. The original pressing was accompanied by a printed inner sleeve containing the album's lyrics. The runout etchings are dated 19 October 1982 (mastering cut by Inzadi). A subsequent pressing carries runout dates of 22 December 1982. A separate 1983 pressing exists on EMI (catalogue C 066-018597). A CD edition appeared simultaneously on EMI Italiana (catalogue 0777 74678924). A 2008 remastered CD was issued by EMI (catalogue 50999 522406 2 1). A 2017 vinyl reissue appeared on Universal (catalogue 0602567237310). A 40th Anniversary Edition was released in 2022 on Universal (catalogue 0602445489459), in coloured vinyl gatefold format with a bonus CD, remastered. Photography and art direction by Francesco Messina.
c) Production
Produced by Angelo Carrara. Carrara was the trusted Italian record executive and producer who oversaw Battiato's EMI Italiana output through this peak commercial period; his collaboration with Battiato was characterised by strong confidence in the artist's judgement and relatively light-touch executive oversight. All music and arrangements are credited to Franco Battiato. Violinist and arranger Giusto Pio -- Battiato's long-standing creative collaborator since the Patriots era -- provided violin and co-arrangements. Micro-composition (sequencing) was by Luigi Tonet. Fairlight CMI synthesis was handled by Pietro Pellegrini and Shane Dempsey. Additional musicians: Alberto Radius (guitar -- former guitarist of Formula 3 and Il Volo, after whom Studio Radius was named), Filippo Destrieri (keyboards), Paolo Donnarumma (bass), Alfredo Golino (drums), and the Madrigalisti Citta di Milano (chorus). Technical operations by Enzo 'Titti' Denna.
d) Recording
Recorded at Studio Radius, Milan, Lombardy, Italy. Studio Radius was the private recording facility of Alberto Radius, named after the guitarist and run in Milan. The album is an original studio recording, not a compilation or live recording.
e) Reception
L'Arca di Noe was an immediate and major commercial success in Italy. It reached number 1 on the Italian albums chart and sold approximately 550,000 copies in the first weeks of 1983 alone -- a remarkable figure given that it followed La voce del padrone, which had itself sold over one million copies in a single month in 1981. A critical article in La Stampa accused Battiato of including the 'culture of the new right' in the album, specifically regarding the opening song 'Radio Varsavia' (Radio Warszawa), which was linked to the Solidarity strikes then underway in Poland. Specialist critical response was mixed: ProgArchives reviewers generally consider it a step below La voce del padrone -- 'a collection of songs discarded from La voce del padrone' in one account -- while conceding that 'Voglio vederti danzare' is 'a simply brilliant song' that has become an evergreen of Italian popular music and 'Scalo a Grado' is a masterfully atmospheric piece. Rate Your Music places the album at approximately number 364 among the best albums of 1982. BestEverAlbums ranks it as the second-best album in Battiato's catalogue after La voce del padrone. The 2022 40th Anniversary Edition remaster demonstrated the album's continuing commercial vitality.
Franco Battiato
Francesco Battiato, known professionally as Franco Battiato (born 23 March 1945, Ionia -- now Giarre-Riposto -- Sicily, Italy -- died 18 May 2021, Milo, Catania, Sicily, Italy) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, visual artist, and filmmaker, widely considered one of the most original and influential figures in Italian popular music. He also worked under the pseudonym Suphan Barzani (from Arabic) as a painter. After graduating from a liceo scientifico in Acireale, he moved to Rome and then to Milan at 19, quickly obtaining his first musical contract. His early career as a pop singer gave way in 1971 to an intense engagement with experimental electronic music, producing a remarkable series of avant-garde LPs -- Fetus (1972), Pollution (1973), Sulle Corde di Aries (1973), Clic (1974), M.elle le Gladiator (1975), Feed Back (1975) -- that were nearly unknown on release but are now eagerly collected worldwide. Beginning with L'era del cinghiale bianco (1979) and Patriots (1980), he began to develop a new personal synthesis of art pop, new wave, and philosophically rich cantautore lyrics, which culminated in La voce del padrone (1981), the first Italian album to sell more than one million copies in a single month, and L'Arca di Noe (1982). He began long-lasting professional relationships with singers Alice and Giuni Russo, for whom he wrote and produced. With Alice, he represented Italy at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest with 'I treni di Tozeur'. From the mid-1980s his music returned toward a more intimate, contemplative register. His 1994 collaboration with philosopher Manlio Sgalambro produced L'imboscata (1996), containing the beloved ballad 'La cura'. In 2003 he directed his first feature film, Perduto amor, which won the Silver Ribbon for best debutant director. He received the title of 'Il Maestro' from Italian culture. He died at his home in Milo on 18 May 2021, at the age of 76.
This text was generated by Claude (Anthropic). It may contain errors or inaccuracies.