L'ESPRIT DU CERCLE

Review #9 Eclat is a 5-member band from France formed in 1989. They released 5 studio albums so far, with 'L'Espirit du Cercle' being their latest work. Their music style balances between Symphonic Prog and Jazz Rock, which is a rather bizarre combination in my opinion. Since their early days their style changed slowly slowly, and from a Symphonic Prog band with influences of Jazz they have become more of a Jazz-Rock band with influences from Symphonic Prog...

If I have to be honest, Jazz (or Jazz-Rock if you like), was never my piece of cake, and I'm facing difficulties when it comes to the point where I have to write a review. Same thing happened here, but with one basic difference. By listening to the album over and over again, I got carried away by the excellent and virtuosic music of these really good musicians. Also, the fact that the album is an instrumental one helped me a lot.

So what exactly do we got here? Well, we have a really interesting musically hybrid that works as a "bridge" over the gap between Jazz Rock and Symphonic Prog, having as "front line" the excellent use of guitars and keyboards. Further than this, there are many excellent melodic moments here, such as the songs 'Au Fil De L'eau' and 'Medication' for example. (On 'Medication' the sound of the guitar reminds the sound of Mike Oldfield in my opinion).

The whole album consists of 9 songs, and has a running time of almost 43 minutes in total. Concluding this review I should say that I really recommend this album to the fans of Jazz or Jazz Rock, but also to those who enjoy listening to an atmospheric instrumental album, recorded by some very talented and skillful musicians. My Rating: 3 stars

The Jester