MYTHES ET LÉGENDES

A pretty strange compilation. Not only is there only one complete song on this - the rare single Klaus Kohmbalad - but the CD also contains narration by Christian and Stella Vander (in French rather than Kobaïan, thank God!), explaining what the songs and extracts are about.

The latter is probably the only reason why the die-hard Magma fan would like to get ahold of this. Klaus Kohmbalad has since been made available on the much more interesting compilation Simples and why listen to extracts when you've got the whole thing? The narration is interesting and pleasant to listen to, though. For instance when Christian tells us the story of Rïah Sahïltaahk, a song about a holy Kobaïan who thought he could control the elements of nature and died because of it, or when Stella recites a few lines from the poem on the sleeve of 1001° Centigrades. Albeit it is only a small insight into the mind of Christian Vander, it is worth treasuring.

Another plus is that this is a very good compilation for prog fans who want to discover Magma. The extracts expose the listener to a lot of Magma's typical elements while being gentle to the ears of those that have not heard any Zeuhl yet. I find that my opinion of this CD fits this site's 3-star rating perfectly: Mythes Et Légendes is good, but non-essential.