Anima Latina ［CD+7inch］＜限定盤/Yellow Vinyl＞

Anima Latina is the most ambitious album of Lucio Battisti's career. Inspired by a trip to South America Battisti and Mogol undertook in early 1974, with this record they clearly intended to challenge every aspect of the mainstream Italian pop of which they were considered the very epitome. Anima Latina combines '70s progressive rock with Latin American music and some of the most cerebral Mogol lyrics to date. The album is largely made up of long, multi-part compositions dominated by percussion, background vocals, and a horn section; extended instrumental passages; no choruses; intricate rhythm patterns; and Battisti's voice purposefully hidden in the mix, singing enigmatic and sometimes rather scant texts. Despite its demanding nature, Anima Latina had an excellent critical and commercial reception and went on to become Battisti's longest charting album. Curiously, while many consider it Battisti's masterpiece, none of its individual selections have achieved the classic status of the singer's most beloved songs, and rarely appear on his greatest-hits compilations. ~ Mariano Prunes