CUEILLE LE JOUR

The mid-seventies were a great time for this band with 2 amazing albums under their belts and touring with bands like ANGE, MAGMA, MONA LISA, ATOLL etc. They actually were good friends with the guys from ATOLL and SHYLOCK.

The first track was a side long suite at over 21 minutes in length. It's called "Couleurs". The first 14 minutes really do drift along with lighter, Jazz-like sounds. This is so beautifully played. Sax, flute,bass, drums and acoustic guitar lead the way as they come and go throughout. The electric guitar is fantastic as well, just not as prominant, neither is the piano, organ and vocals but all are well done. This song is a symphonic delight to listen to. "Naissance" was a concert favourite. The sound builds slowly. Strummed guitar after a minute as drums and bass come loudly in right behind. Amazing sound. "Le Miracle De La Saint-Gaston" is a pastoral track with reserved vocals and flute with acoustic guitar. Awesome sound 1 1/2 minutes in as it gets louder with organ. I really like this track.

"Laure" starts quietly enough before becoming uptempo rather quickly. Flute and drums, and then organ and drums, and then guitar and drums. You get the picture. "Tramontane" is a cool, jazzy sounding song with percussion and bass followed by sax. Drums and organ take over. Sax is back ! Check out the drumming though. The guitar sounds great before 3 minutes. "Divertimento" opens with piano and is joined by sax. This one is mellow although the tempo does pick up 2 minutes in. "Recontro" is a bonus track with sax, organ and drums leading the way before English vocals come in. This is a previously unreleased track recorded at the same time as this album was. Excellent tune. The guitar 1 1/2 minutes in is a highlight.

Interesting that in the liner notes it says they also played with a band called METABOLISM from France, who they describe as not only being progressive, but PENTACLE-like. That's right Jim PENTACLE-like. All kidding aside I have to say that CARPE DIEM's two recordings are fantastic ! Tough to pick out which one is better really. The first one does employ a lot of spacey passages that aren't used on this one, but if I were you i'd get them both if you can. Great French band.