CONCERT 1971, BRUXELLES - THÉÂTRE 140

I believe this is the earliest live record that MAGMA has officially released. An archival release from 1996, but the concert is from November 12, 1971. And it features the same seven piece lineup from their second album "1001 Centigrades". I like the setup here with the songs, as the opening three numbers are from their debut, then the next three are from "1001 Centigrades" which is the whole album by the way. Then they end it with two previously unreleased tracks. A double cd worth 83 1/2 minutes. The sound quality is passable, but far from being the best.

The music on MAGMA's first two albums is so different from what would follow. This is before the females were part of the band, before Jannik Top was part of the band. And it was very much an experimental jazz style with three horn players as part of their lineup. There is no chanting or rhythm here. This is like proto-zeuhl. And I find it tough going. I prefer their first two studio album to this live one. Perhaps the sound quality is affecting me more than I thought. Christian doesn't help the way he starts off the album screaming in that high pitched voice. Annoying. The bass also doesn't rise to the Top if you know what I mean.

I had a hard time with this, this past week. And I "get" Micky giving this 2 stars although he says personally it's a 4 star record for himself. I can't go higher than 3 stars, or lower for that matter. It's a nice document from their beginnings though. And it's always nice to hear future ZAO members Cahen and Seffer doing their thing. Love those two.

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