L'ARCHIVISTE BORDÉLIQUE

2.5 stars...

Despite being a band of the modern ages,QUADRA remain widely unknown even to the most fanatic proggers out there.The band was found in 1998 by drummer Jean-Louis Pegeuot,bassist Patrick Michel and guitarist Frederic Morala and Didier Guillemer.Influenced by the huge French rock movement of the 70's,QUADRA carried this feeling into the 00's and taped on their first and last release ''L'archiviste bordelique'' in 2001.The album features guest appearances by ANGE's brain Christian Decamps and important guitarist Jean-Pascal Boffo (this time on vocals).

The musicianship lies somewhere between keyboard/guitar-led neo progressive rock and vocal-dominated theatrical rock with even some straightforward tunes.The vocal work (mostly in French language) is very good,handled by Boffo,Decamps and Morala,with echoes of ANGE and MONA LISA traced throughout their singing.Instrumentally speaking,this work is very easy-listening without any complex parts,however there is lot of nice organ and atmospheric keyboards to be found.Guitar work ranges from emotional soloing to even somewhat metallic riffs,doubled sometimes by ambient-like keys with a questionable result.An obscure combination of sounds for an easy-going prog rock band,''L'archiviste bordelique'' by QUADRA is an almost lost release of the current past,waiting to be judged by your musical ears...What did my ears ''say''?...I didn't like the mass of straightforward rockparts,while the band leans more towards the late-70's/early-80's ANGE style than their grandiose days...and I find the sung English lyrics to be absolutely hilarious...However,this work deserves a couple of spin from time to time,depending on your mood...For neo-prog fans only!

Another fine example that the French still have a lot to add to the Prog Rock movement. In the tradition of Ange, Mona Lisa, Atoll and other classic bands Quadra shows great musicianship and a flair for coming up with creative writing catchy melodies with enough punch to keep you listening to th elast note and then wanting more. The vocals delivery is typical french prog theatrical as it comes (as defined by Christian Decamps back in the day) but Quadra is able to retain their identity throughout. Great songwriting pleasant melodies this album delivers on all fronts. A solid 4 stars performance making you wish for decimals... Hard to single out a track as I found this album to be extremely solid from A to Z...Lettre definitely stood out but so did Hotel Chelsea before it and L'Archiviste Bordelique after. Definitely worth a listen or several for that matter...4.5 Stars. A+