HARMONIUM

HARMONIUM's debut is still dominated by folk-ish songwriter-typical songs mainly presented on admittedly excellent acoustic guitar supported by bass and drums. Every now and then we have as well some piano, flute, sax and horns. Actually the line-up description here is looking more impressive than what I can confirm by listening. The compositions on here are not very intricate, nevertheless the album is a very versatile one. It's really showing the basics where this Franco-Canadian band were starting from to become one of the best ones in mellow symphonic prog. I listened as well to their two following albums, but I've to admit, none of them ever became one of my favorites. This fact might explain why I can't rate this album here as high as my co-reviewers. Probably one should be a lover of chanson and songwriter stuff to be able to really appreciate the dreamy and soaring music of this band. Unfortunately I am not and I'm missing a bit the rock element in it although I'm anything else than a "Metalhead" I would say.

Best song IMO is Aujourd'hui, je dis bonjour à la vie giving already a premonition of what to come from them on the following album. Really beautifully played filigree acoustic guitar added up with some harp. Vielles courroies is a rather melancholic emotional piece with piano, flute and guitar. The perfect sound for relaxing moments. In the song Attends-moi ("Wait for me") they've used obviously the sound of a metronom as a kind of clock, actually quite a nice idea. All songs here are really very nice and an enjoyable listen in quiet moments.

As a CONCLUSION I'd like to say that this album is a rather good debut but only a must-have one for lovers of french chanson music and fans of the band.