Franco Battiato's 1973 album 'Pollution' revisited on its 50th anniversary

On the 50th anniversary of Franco Battiato's second album 'Pollution', the work is recognized as a pioneering ecological concept album. Released in 1973 on the independent Milanese label Bla Bla, the album blends Strauss, electronic music, and experimental rock to explore environmental degradation and humanity's role within the ecosystem. Key tracks include the suite 'Pollution' and 'Beta', which uses the Phoenician word for 'house' to suggest interconnectedness. The album also features '31 dicembre 1999 – ore 9', referencing Italo Svevo's 'La coscienza di Zeno'. Battiato's lyrics pose existential questions like 'Ti sei mai chiesto quale funzione hai?' and employ scientific language to reflect on ecological catastrophe. The article contextualizes the album within the rise of environmental movements in the 1970s, including Greenpeace (1971), the Green Party (1973), and the Chipko movement in India (1973). Battiato, born in Ionia in 1945 and died in Milo in 2021, is described as an intellectual who used music to address social issues.