J'UN OEIL

Sloche was a jazz fusion band that made a mere two albums, with both of them being highly regarded by many on the progarchives. This, combined with the Wikipedia page naming it one of the best progressive rock albums from Quebec, got me interested in what magic this band had in their music that made it so highly regarded. And even though it wasn't as good as people said, it was still an exceptionally strong album. For the personal of this album, it includes Caroll Bérard on all guitar, Réjean Yacola on most of the keyboards, Martin Murray on the rest of the keyboards and saxophone, Pierre Hébert on bass, and Gilles Chiasson on drums. I specifically enjoyed Réjean's work on keys and especially piano on the second track.  

The album opens with an electronic soundscape in my personal favorite song on the album, C'pas fin du monde. This passage of the evoked into an incredibly progressive form of funk, of course with the extra touch of jazz. Right from the start, you can tell the musicians are playfully skilled, being able to stay calm throughout some incredibly difficult structures to play. There are very few lyrics, with there being only one phrase in the entire song that they repeat for around one minute. The next song, Le karême d'Eros, is the most progressive sounding on the album. It opens with a nearly four minute classical piano performance, and as I mentioned before, I was incredibly impressed by the talent Réjean had in the beginning. When the rest of the band comes in to play, I must admit that I am not a big fan of their soft vocal style. The instrumental parts still make this song great, and the final riff of this song for the last two minutes is just incredible. Overall, side one is great, with plenty of progressive and jazzy music that will make any listener of the two happy.  

Side two opens with the title track, which itself opens with another pleasing riff alongside the keyboards. This song has some phenomenal musicianship with a perfect balance between flashy talent on each of the members respective instruments and progressive virtuosity to keep the listener engaged. It unfortunately doesn't have enough energy for me to praise the song at a high level, simply being another great addition to this album. Algébrique is the weakest song on the album, in my opinion. This song has some great instrumental bits (which I'll get to soon), but the first half is lacking, to say the least. The opening riff is cool, but the weird, funky vocals and playing just don't sit well with me. I can handle funk music, but it can get a little bland at points, this song being a good example. The second half of the song, on the other hand, is filled with instrumental excellence, with a perfect balance between clean progressive structures and avant-garde experimentation, all the while having a strong fusion sound woven into the music. Potage aux herbes douteuses is the last song on the album, with it being the most polarizing song on the album. It opens with this 80s disco sounding passage, which is also influenced by funk, as with most of the album. I am not a big fan of this beginning, but it gets better later. I do like this cool illusion the band makes by creating this sequence within the song that sounds like it's 5/4, when in reality it's 4/4. From here on out, it's just progressive and jazz music that sounds not exactly like an improvisation but sounds like something the band would invent during a jam session in the studio.  

In conclusion, J'un Oiel was generally a strong album and great debut. It incorporates funk, jazz, progressive rock, and experimental music in ways only the great Miles Davis had come close to. They built their unique sound, which stands today as one of the innovative projects from Canada, but to me, I feel it's more deserving of a 4/5 rather than a 5/5. My reasoning is that while this album does push the boundaries, it is far from the best fusion album, and for me personally, it took a while for me to actually appreciate and enjoy this album.