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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Un Drame Musical Instantané

Les Bons Contes Font les Bons Amis

Review by Gary Hill

This album (minus the bonus track) was originally released on vinyl in 1983. The music here fits along the lines of the Rock In Opposition movement. It's freeform and odd, but also compelling, most of the time. There is plenty of jazz in the mix, but a lot of other things, too. This is definitely experimental music.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2022  Volume 5. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2022.

Track by Track Review
Ne Pas Être Admiré, Être Cru
Weird free-form jazz concepts bring this into being. As it works forward it gets into some pretty crazed territory. Eventually it drops back to a mellower section that almost calls to mind soundtrack music. It's twisted toward creepy, rather unsettling elements to move forward from there. Weird spacey jazz elements join after a time. The number continues working through various sections, at times getting quite sparse in its arrangement. There is spoken voice (as if on a radio) that rises up talking in French later for a time. This gets a little creepy at times. There are some weird voices at times, including some that sound like cats. Chiming bells and other oddities (including people coughing, at times rather violently) are added to the mix at various points. At almost 16-and-a-half-minutes long, this is an epic length oddity.
L'Invitation Au Voyage

Acoustic guitar brings this in. Other elements and vocals are added to the mix, creating a world music folk arrangement. I dig the spacey elements and horn that come over the top further down the road. This has a real grounding effect after the insanity that was the opener. Yet, it still has some strangeness in the mix at points.

Sacra Matao / Et
Fast=paced rhythmic elements, nature sounds and a wailing pipe instrument are heard early on this number. The track gets some other instrumentation added further down the road as the rhythmic thing and the sound effects drop out. The music eventually drops away leaving just two people (a man and woman) talking in French.
Revolutions
The real epic of the set, this runs over 26-minutes. It comes in with a dramatic fast-paced jazz meets proggy concept. There is a rooster heard over the top as it drives forward. Like Alice, we are taken through a crazed wonderland as this evolves. It's less strange than the opener was, but only to a certain degree. It seems to end before the seven-minute mark. After some silence, though, and new and chaotic arrangement with real jazz like elements emerges. This works through a number of changes. At times, it's more melodic. At others it gets stranger. There are some inspiring moments and some that are almost frightening. There is another false ending around the halfway mark. Symphonic instrumentation bring a rather classical meets prog concept to bear after that. It gets chaotic and noisy as it builds outward from there. It eventually makes its way down to a sparser arrangement with effects and other things at play. Eventually a more driving, melodic, soundtrack like concept takes over for a time. That eventually dissolves as weird piano takes control. It eventually works out toms seriously chaotic zones from there to continue. The weirdness is oddly infections with bombast, weird voices and more coming across the soundscape.
Bonus
                 
Ne Pas Etre Admire, Etre Cru (next show)

Here we get an alternate take of the album's opener. It is about half-a-minute longer than the earlier performance.  Cool jazzy guitar starts things on this version. From there the freaky freeform stuff eventually takes over. This is unique from its predecessor in some ways, but similar in others. I think I prefer this version. It seems a little less odd somehow.

 
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