EMILE JACOTEY

After my fave Cimetière and the much-acclaimed Délire, Ange went forward another step and fell into the Over-Ambitious ravine and took a dive in the sea of Failed Concepts. Based on an old booger sprawling his souvenirs over the album, the storyline simply fails to raise one hair of interest in my voluminous mop over my head. The main character keeps appearing unannounced throughout the album and usually interrupting the flow of music. Not that the music is that great compared to previous albums anyway, but EJ also features Délire's main flaw: ever-present vocals, although they're not quite as invasive. Actually it's hard to believe it is Christian Descamps that's singing (well almost anyway), because the singing is more subdued and recorded quite differently, mixed lower and the shorter tracks (or at least the absence of longer ones) make this album very different from Délire.

Despite a weak concept and a different manner to deliver them, Christian's lyrics remain strong enough to warrant a careful listen for odd jokes, joyous banter and ribaldry. Throughout the album there isn't much space given for instrumental forays, if you'll except the album-long Les Noces, where the band plays around first a furious keyboard theme then a marital jig that tends to overstay its welcome despite mellotrons washes. The track I like best on this album is the proggiest (imho) Ego Et Deus, but I find that even this track would have a herd time finding a spot on Délire or Cimetière. Aurelia also has its charms as well. t's not that this album is that weak, but it pales in comparison with what came before and some of what would come after it (Mandrins and Guet Apens).