GÉNÉRATION SANS FUTUR

Before submiting my assesment of this album, I was alerted to use the five star rating sparingly. Ok then, I´ll just put four, considering that there can always be something more memorable somewhere. This album is different to later zoid productions in that there is still some input from Eckert, the guitar player to counter Zaboitzeff´s almost total control of the band´s musical output. My favourite track is Divertissement. Ever since I heard it I´ve thought that is what a chamber ensemble should sound like.

Art Zoyd are a VERY unique musical outfit. They obviously derive their music from deep inspiration. There are some aspects of their music which completely astound me:

1. They are obviously inspired by classical and modern composers. Although a great deal of this music relies on the relationship between notes and a sequence of different parts to create some sort of feeling, Art Zoyd often seems to be playing in more then one dimension - also according to timing and also this very moment. The arrangements aspect on the composition is very intricate but often a single instrument playing a single note STRIKES you in such a way you can't describe in words. And believe me, in this single paragraph I tried to express it several times, but I just can't.

2. Their sounds picking. Especially the viola and trumpet - very unique, very authentic yet strange or maybe estranged timbres. Again this might show inspiration, since all of their music sounds completely authentic, yet the brew of jazz/rock/classical sometimes yields unexpected results. This, for example, is much less recognizable in Univers Zero, which is treated their relative.

3. Something which might relate to the first point. Sometimes, when they play SLOW (not necessarily slow, but as if they are playing for now, and for what is happening inside them now), they go out of tempo, and not all of the players strike the beat at the same time - as if every aspect of the music has its own course, its own approach and time. This feature is also equivalent to other aspects of their music, especially for Gerard Hourbette. Every note he plays shows he wants exactly this timing, this attack, this volume etc. VERY impressing.

These lead me to the conclusion that both Gerard and Thierry had such a chemistry and such a common musical field, such confidence in what they think and feel that every pulse of air indicated by my ear couldn't have even the slightest change. These guys plays themselves, and they have spectacular music, although large parts of it are very estranged.

Note: This is my opinion about their 3 first albums, after maybe 50 listens to each. I still don't find their later material as successful, but it is certainly the same spirit. If you like Magma or Univers Zero, you MIGHT like them. I think that if you like Shub Niggurath you'll certainly like them.

OK, I never heard something like this. This is the only art zoyd album I own, and I listen to it scarcely.

It is hard to describe their music, there is a hint of magma's zheul, some elements of free jazz (another review pointed out the "out of tempo" moments). I don't know whether the musicians are good technicians or not, but I can tell you about atmospheres on this record : Well it sounds like the end of the world, actually more like after the end of the world, when NDE people wake up and contemplate a desolate world.The overall atmosphere is very uncomfortable and scaring.

This was quite personnal, I try to describe the music : what reminds me of Magma is the wagnerian moments, like a march, with strong rythm emphasized by the viola and some shouts... what reminds me of free jazz is the dissonance that sometimes strikes the speaker. This is a kind of Orff meets Coltrane meets Magma. The pieces go through different atmospheres, building climaxes and then going back to calm passages, very much like modern post -rock acts ( GY!BE, anyone ? ). But don't believe "cool" and slow passages are comfortable, touching and romantic. They are almost more disturbing.

As a conclusion, this is a very strange and demanding musical experience, but I strongly recommand this album for someone interested in Zheul or jazz-rock( like the Mahavishnu first two albums). Three and a half.

Third album from this Northern French group and maybe my fave (so far anyway). Recorded just before they re-record their first Oeuvre, Art Zoyd was now reaching their stride with an incredibly fast pace of album release for the kind of music and compared to their rivals (Univers Zero, Present, Henry Cow and other RIO groups were releasing an album every two years). Although there is a similarity in the subject of this album and their debut (Le Jour Où Brûleront Les Cités), unlike the debut, this third album does not appear to be a concept album, but most of it seems axed towards urban themes and the lack of perspectives and its false evasions. Again Daniel Denis (Univers Zero) participates to this album, but this time without Berckmans.

The album starts with the almost-sidelong La Ville, a grandiose tale of urban bizarrerie with many outstanding and brilliant moments: a haunting intro, insane wind-instrument noises, with strange whispering vocals, bass-driven pulses leading into an inferno and tormented street hells, broken down buildings, armed thievery, unnecessary violence etc.. All of this without one single written lyric or one sung phrase. The first side of the album ends in a short (throwaway?) fast-paced piece, a rare track penned by saxman Renard.

If with their debut Symphonie, Hourbette was the only composer, and with Odyssée, Zaboitzeff had written one track, by the time of this album, the composing time was almost equally shared between them two, leaving Renard and Eckert (the guitarist) a little space of their own. So the second side of Génération is mostly penned by Zaboitzeff and it is rather evident, even if both "songwriters" are making a concerted effort. The almost 10-min title track is taking its sweet time, eyeing on the sombre and almost macabre climates found on UZ's Hérésie. Divertissement depicts the leisure times that mankind use (and abuse) to display their own fortunes, or avoid thinking of lack of fortune or even forgetting their mis-fortunes. Rounding of the album is Eckert's Trois Miniatures, a reflective piece featuring classic piano and a jazzy guitar, refereed by .a neutral violin

As far as this reviewer is concerned, Génération Sans Futur is AZ's best work, a point of view not always shared by other Zoydheads, but no matter what can be said of the early AZ albums, none are easily accessible and the music's hidden resources only appear after at least a few listens.

The disk is nothing less than excellent, more a band vanguardista excellent. The sound of the AZ is well near to the sound of the Univers Zero, who likes that band can like very of the sound of that album. Bizarre and dense atmospheres predominate for a work with barely 70 well intriguing minutes. The highlights of the album are to very beautiful "Her Ville", from above of the her 17 minutes, magnificent, she by bass should have some 9 part itself we will consider all the breaks and changes of the streak, Génération Sans Futur, and two of the 4 streaks bonus Manège and Ba Benzele. A finalizes observation, Daniel Denis of the Univers Zero participates of that disk in the battery and percussion.

Highly it recommended for any fan of the progressive one without exception!

This one took me longer to get into than their first two albums. It's still growing on me though and may well become my favourite. Daniel Denis from UNIVERS ZERO is back guesting on percussion.

As usual ART ZOYD starts off their record with a long epic. "La Ville" opens with a dark, tension filled soundscape.This is great ! Violins come in to add to the suspense. It changes after 2 1/2 minutes as horns, percussion and violin take over. Guitar 4 minutes in followed by a blast of horns after 5 minutes and a heavy beat. A collage of intricate sounds follow. This is incredible. Vocals yell with dissonant horns before a calm 6 1/2 minutes in. More vocals before 8 1/2 minutes with some great bass and violin. This is fairly heavy. More dissonant horns 9 1/2 minutes in. A calm with violin a minute later as it continues at a slow pace. It kicks back in before 14 minutes as lots of violin and horns end it. "Speedy Gonzales" is an uptempo track(what else) with some amazing interplay. Everyone seems to pitch in on this one.

"Divertissement" opens with mournful violin melodies as cello comes in (or other way around). The tempo picks up after 2 minutes with lots of strings. It slows down 4 minutes in and sounds quite dark. It becomes almost waltz-like to end it. "Trois Miniatures" blew me away the first time I heard it because it sounds like Canterbury. The keys especially really give it that flavour. I like the intricate guitar as well. Some crazy violin 2 1/2 minutes in with some odd sounds. Back to the Canterbury vibe 3 1/2 minutes in. Some heavy bass follows and intricate guitar. Great track ! "Generation Sans Futur" has this heavy undercurrent to open with percussion as violin comes in. Horns 2 minutes in. It calms right down beautifully before 4 minutes, then heavy ground shaking sounds come and go. Check out the bass 5 minutes in as horns blast. The tempo then starts to pick up as piano and all kinds of intricate sounds come in. Chaotic and intense 6 1/2 minutes in. A calm 8 minutes in as violin plays.

Well all I can say is that the first three albums by ART ZOYD are nothing short of incredible.

The third studio effort by Art Zoyd (the first one with pianista Patricia Dallio in the band's line-up) is an excellent sample of the gradually more aggressive approach to chamber-rock to be pursued, and then re-invented in following albums. "Génération Sans Futur" goes to more obscure places than the notably more ethereal preceding release "Musique Pour L'Odyssée": Art Zoyd's musical ideology has always been focused on exploring the sinister sides of the human mind and the universe in an avant-garde pattern, and this album finds the band delivering a special twist through its cohesive trend. 'La Ville' occupies the album's first 17- minutes, getting started with mysterious whispers, piano beats and nervous flourishes on violin, while the wind instruments relay a properly sustained climax. Right before getting at the 2 ¾ minute mark, the track's main body is set upon a solid basis of bass and violin upon which the trumpet and sax interact in delirious colors and the lead guitar displays controlled phrases. The augmenting neurosis does not take too long to manifest itself, but it indeed makes an unforgettable momentum. A new motif emerges on a less frantic note, albeit not less demented: the pulsating dissonant sounds on brass and strings and bassist Zaboitzeff's chanting state a very surreal, disturbing landscape. Before the arrival of minute 10 comes a very relaxing passage, bearing a minimalistic aura full of mysterious undertones. Actually, this passage serves as a bridge toward the track's final section, which retakes one previous motif with an enhanced pomposity, leading the track's development to a terrific grand finale in a most cerebral way. 'Speedy Gonzalez' takes its name from a cartoon mouse, a very funny character whose cocky nature and Latin lover manners helped him to overcome any trouble that came his way. Regarding the Art Zoyd piece itself (written by saxophonist Renard), this is a very gracious one, bearing a colorful playfulness that comes to show that avant-rock (even in the guise of chamber-rock) can also provide optimistic moods. Well, the album's second half gets started with the title track, whose initial ceremonious ambience set on a lyrical framework states an unequivocally evocative mood. But there must come a time when the Art Zoyd standards of neurosis and tension emerge and take hold of the whole situation, and when this moment comes for this specific track, things get really dense and disturbing, even enhanced with jazzy leanings. The environment gets dark and somber, and Daniel Dennis' participation as a guest drummer/percussionist happens to be a major asset at this. The last 90 seconds are focused on a set of syncopated deliveries on strings and woodwind that might as well resemble 73-75 King Crimson. In comparison, 'Divertissement' brings less emphasis on the disturbing and enhances the majestic, giving a protagonist role to the stringed instruments' interventions. 'Trois Miniatures' (penned by Eckert) closes down the album with a taste of modern jazz-fusion in this mini-orchestral context. Eckert's phrases are exquisite beyond words, with his partners being the perfect accomplices in the elaboration of subtle nuances through the basic harmonic scheme. There is a vital interlude that sets things on fire toward a climax, but basically the track is focused on its well-defined main body. "Génération Sans Futur" has a special importance in Art Zoyd's history, since it signifies the tendency to create an ever-robust sonic source in the rams of RIO. Being Alan Eckert's swansong in the band (besides the re-recording of the first album), this is a great way to depart and go through a different road.

This is the third album from French RIO outfit Art Zoyd, released the same year as the re- recording of the debut album. This is the first album to feature pianist Patricia Dallio, who would come and go on future albums. By the late 2000s she was the longest serving member of the group, with the main duo of violinist Gerard Hourbette and bassist Thierry Zaboitzeff having left. Daniel Denis of Univers Zero is back on percussion from the last album, but getting behind a drumkit for one song. His fellow UZ bandmate, bassoonist Michel Berckmans, did not join him this time. This is the most democratic album yet from the band, with four members getting writing credits.

Although this ensemble first formed in the late 1960s, they only released a few psychedelic singles before recording their first, self-financed album in 1976. The music of Art Zoyd can be similar to the music of Univers Zero, but AZ preceeds them and has no drummer and incorporates vocals. Generally in the 'chamber prog' category, but this album in particular is perhaps the groups most jazzy. With each album AZ became slightly more electric and electronic. There is some electric piano here, which would be the first electric instrument AZ used since electric bass and some very sparse use of electric guitar. The following album will have organ and samples; the next one, drum machines and synths. And so on, with the acoustic instruments gradually taking a back seat.

Again starting an album with the longest song on it, this is the only song on the album to feature vocals. "La Ville" opens with whispers and piano playing bassy low notes, two at a time. Then some viola and trumpet joins in. Later the music stops and then bass, viola and piano with some "sh-sist" vocals that get repeated like a mantra. Trumpet comes in. The vocals and bass stop. You hear some guitar now. Later on the music stops again, then goes into a dramatic section with repetative piano and a repeating voice saying something that sounds like "We're in style!" or "Where is tile?!?" The person sounds like they are either boasting about how "we're in style" or is severely confused and wants to lay some tiles down, asking "where is tile?"

This epic is not over yet. Later a freer, more atonal section. Later still, some electric piano and cello with someone mumbling like a Nazi Ozzy. A great bass sound later on while the music is very dissonant. Music stops yet again, then some lovely viola, cello and trumpet. The three instruments later get more tense and urgent sounding. The music stops briefly again before going into an energenic section with fast electric piano. Viola and trumpet play some wonderful lines over top. Great cello near the end. Reprises the "sh-sist" part without the vocals. Nice false ending. This is one of Art Zoyd's better epics.

"Speedy Gonzalez" is a very jazzy and busy song for this group. You could picture a drummer in this song. The bass playing and jazzy guitar is great. Another false ending. The title track features Daniel Denis playing more jazzy than he ever did with Univers Zero. The song opens with a slowed down piano sound and military drumming. Drumming stops and cello, viola, trumpet and/or sax join in. The main melody here which gets repeated later is fantastic. More military drums and a short trumpet solo before it switches to a guitar and piano dominated section. The music stops and you hear the rumbling slowed down piano chord get repeated again. Then the great main melody gets reprised. Changes to a jazzy section with drumming. Then drums stop briefly then come back with some great guitar and a skronking sax. An overdubbed bass and tom-tom rhythm forces it's way in as the sax is still skronking away. The guitar and piano dominated section gets reprised, now with more emphasis on viola and trumpet. Ends with one last slowed down piano chord.

"Divertissement" is a piece that Zaboitzeff will later re-record for a solo album. Basically this a modern classical composition. Nice mix of cello and viola with some piano added later on. In complete contrast, "Trois Miniatures" is almost pure jazz. Laid-back easy jazz with some viola and no drums. Great jazzy guitar playing. After awhile it gets more dissonant with some viola string plucking. Later gets more chamber prog sounding and what sounds like a clavinet starts playing. Music stops and goes back to the beginning section.

This would be a great place to start with Art Zoyd. I know this album was recently re-released, but it's probably expensive. The title translates to "generation with no future", but the music generally is not too dark or bleak sounding. For fans of Univers Zero and Magma, this comes highly recommended. A great prog album from 1980, when there wasn't a lot of great prog being made. I will give this 4.5, but can't give it masterpiece status, so 4 stars it is.

I don't know what it is with me and 'Art Zoyd' - they just completely rub me up the wrong way. I'm never in the right mood for them and whenever I listen to them I get irritated quickly. I know their sound isn't random - but that's how it sounds to me.

Despite the nice array of instruments used I find them awfully dull and unimaginative. There's not much going on in 'Génération Sans Futur' other than some directionless violins and cellos spouting off the most unmusical tunes that would suit a Buster Keaton silent film from the 1920's quite well. It's all too emotionless and sterile. I just don't get it... Maybe it's just me?

In the same year of the re-release of the debut album the Art Zoyd are in the shops with the third studio effort an one new element. The first thing that hits the listener are the bass chords played by a grand piano, an instrument never used before by the band.

Patricia Dallio is the new entry in the lineup and the first 2:30 minutes which are the intro to the longest track of the album are a sort of welcome. Then "La Ville" develops with the usual bass, guitar and brasses on an obsessive rhythm. After 5 minutes we are immerge into the darkness with Zaboitzeff and Eckert screaming something that I don't understand. They stop and the piano takes their place. There are no trivial passages. Everything, even in the most chaotic moments, seems to have its place but it's when the rhythm stops that the darkness is totally black. Who cries what? Is it the lament of whom? The track's title doesn't say anything. So let's quit with the attempt of "interpreting" the meaning and just let us be transported in a descending spiral by the brasses to stop when the bottom is reached, when after 10 minutes the cello wakes us up in a hidden room and we start looking around. It's incredible how this compulsive, disharmonic and dark music can be relaxing at the same time. In this rhythmless phase it could remind to the De Profundis of the Estonian Arvo Part if it wasn't for the bass that adds a touch of jazz-rock to what is for me classical music. In the last two minutes the symphony becomes paroxistic with the piano contributing with just three/four notes, the rhythm given by the cello and the brasses making the rest. A pause, then the coda

The sudden end of La Ville is the starting point of "Speedy Gonzales". The track title is a sort of joke, the music is not. Yes it can remind to a fast mouse running in a cartoonwith a sombrero, but you need to use a lot of fantasy. Does it represent the "Generation with no future" hypnotized by the TV? I don't know.

Let's go to the B side where a bass piano note sounds like a gong. There are major chords, so this appears to be an "easy" track, in the sense that it contains many elements that I could define "recognizable". It's the title track. The first secion lasts for one third of the track, then the "gong" returns to introduce the same major chords but played by different instruments (apparently) so it's not the same thing as before. The bass arrives to disturb the mood and we are in the middle of a jazzy chaos with bass and drums in the base and the piano launched in a free-jazz session. The trumpet cries like it's trying to be a sort of Stella Vander. The music grows chaotically with trumpet and sax riding the waves of piano and drums. The crescendo of chaos has a sudden stop and what follows is a totally different section. Another stop. Another grand piano chord...and it's done.

"Divertissement" is a fusion of contemporary classics (cello and violin) with jazz (bass, mainly).Neither the violin accents can disturb the mood. After 2 minutes the cello takes the rhythmic role. Here' is where, I think, the Quintorigo may have taken the idea for their strings cover of Deep Purple's Higwhay Stars. But it's just a bit more than a minute, then we are back to a classical environment. It sounds like a Requiem. Like Speedy Gonzales, calling this song "Divertissment" (Funny thing) seems to be a sort of a joke.

"Trois Miniatures" (Three miniatures) is the most jazzy track of the album. The guitar is clean like it was played by Stanley Jordan or Al Di Meola, there are swing moments, but always without losing the darkness which permeates the whole album. The fact that the author of this track is not the usual Zaboitzeff is evident. The composing style is more traditional and less challenging. A very good track to approach this band.

I'm not sure if it can be considered a masterpiece, but it's surely an excellent album, enough for the 4 stars

Art Zoyd well and truly hit their stride on this album, which once again includes a visiting Daniel Denis from Univers Zero. For me, however, the standout performers are saxophonist Gilles Renared and trumpet player Jean-Pierre Soarez, who between them add a jazzy spin to the group's spooky chamber rock with performances evoking everything from classic Miles Davis to far-out free jazz experimentations. Underpinning all this are stronger compositional structures lending form and coherence to the group's work, the result being an album with all of the experimental power of its predecessors but with substance to match. An excellent refinement and polishing of their unique approach to the chamber rock concept.

The third album from the band that does chamber music mixed with jazz and progressive rock elements is more of a return to their first album. Overall it has a more tense atmosphere to it which tends to make the tracks drag a lot less. The album is all instrumental except for the strange vocal noises that come along from time to time and there is not much percussion at all in the album. This is still the era of Art Zoyd before the move to more focus on electronic music and soundtracks. It sounds a lot more dynamic as a result of using traditional classical, jazz and rock instruments. It is a very organic sounding album because of the use of mostly non-electronic instruments. And, it is also very much Rock in Opposition, so expect a lot of dissonance and non-traditional song structure.

The huge 16 minute opus that opens the album is quite a colorful array of sounds and moods, again utilizing a more brisk and tense sound. The track moves through several movements by changing rhythm, structure, mood and melodies. It is a long piece, but it moves along at a good clip. But after that, the 2nd track (which seems to be overlooked a lot because it is so short at around 2 and a half minutes) is one of the most up-beat classically inspired songs by the band. Throughout the piece there is always one instruments playing at a crazy speed of either 8th or 16th notes and if you listen closely, you'll hear how almost every instrument gets a turn at the fast passages.

Next, the very tense and frantic title track continues the pace set by the first track, but with a much better sense of direction. Where the first long track was almost soundtrack-ish sounding, this one is more of it's own beast. The atmosphere changes through the piece, but it tends to remain tense throughout. During the 2nd half of the piece, you actually get treated to a section that actually has drums and percussion, though not in any typical sense. It works well to continue to build the tension and it is used a lot like the rest of the instruments, not so much to establish a beat, but to further the overall feeling of the track. The 4th track is "Divertissement" which is very much like a neo-classical song that focuses on the string section, so it has that string quartet feeling. It is more of a relaxed feel at first, but they rhythm picks up later making it fit in with the rest of the album. "Trois Miniatures" is three miniature pieces put together and leans more towards the jazz side of the band utilizing jazz elements.

Normally, this would be the end of the original album, but there is an edition with 4 bonus tracks. These tracks start off with the song "Sangria" which was the bands attempt at a psychedelic single that was released before the first album was released. It sounds very out of place here because of the more traditional rock sound of 60s psychedelic music. Though it is interesting to hear their take on traditional rock, it is really nothing special and it is very short. Next is a 12 minute piece called "Manege" which is a very fun piece and worth the search for the bonus track edition. Throughout this piece, we go from the expected neo-classical sound to a brassy section that sounds almost like a mariachi style and even ending with a hoedown Art Zoyd style. This one is less dark especially in the 2nd half than the style of most of the original album, but it still fits well on the album. "Ba Benzele" starts out as a spooky sounding song using tribal instruments and then out of nowhere, you get traditional sounding percussion beating out a tribal rhythm (!) and the other instruments play a more traditional sounding instrumental rock song which is a huge surprise. This sounds like nothing that Art Zoyd has done before and with the string section, it sounds more like a cross between the Love Unlimited Orchestra and Art of Noise, which, by the way, is not a terrible thing, it just sounds like a completely different band. The vocals are quite funny especially when the yodeling starts. Totally unexpected! But at 8 minutes, it does get stale before it ends. The bonus tracks end with "Golf Drouot" which should not have appeared on any album, it should have remained a lost track....let's leave it at that.

Though two of the four bonus tracks are somewhat interesting with "Manege" the only one worth being reclaimed from lost track status, the bonus tracks distract from the rest of the album. The tenseness is a welcome change from the more dreary sounds of the 2nd album, and that overall sound stays interesting throughout the album. As far as RIO, this is definitely and excellent addition to your collection and lovers of the genre should listen to this. It is excellent neo-classical music at it's best and the best part is that, as far as the original album is concerned, it stays focused and moves ahead at a quick pace. 4 stars.