ATLAS

When I opened the envelope and saw what was inside a huge smile crept across my face. It has been years since I last heard a Minimum Vital album, and it took no time at all for the cogs to click into place and remember what an awesome album 'La Source' was. It made a huge impression on me at the time, but that was a long time ago (Feedback #19!), what would Minimum Vital of today sound like? I deliberately didn't put it anywhere near a CD player until I had the time to devote myself to it - I didn't want to play just part of it, but to be able to concentrate. Minimum Vital used to sing totally in French, and this CD had just one song that was partly in English so it was all about getting a feel about what was going on.

Two lead singers (one male, one female), drums, guitar, mandolin, keyboards, bass this is a band that is often on the lighter side of prog rock, but there is a joy within the music. During "Louez Son Nom" there is a section of vocal nonsense, where the singers are accompanied only by a glockenspiel, which gives way to the guitar solo. This is music to get lost in, with elements of bands as diverse as Tull or Gentle Giant, yet there is a sheer beauty and pleasure within it that is rarely heard. There is only one thing that can be done when this album has finished, put it on again! I found myself playing this so much that I had to ban it from myself so that I could get on with listening to other albums. A delight from start to finish, this shows that you don't need to understand the lyrics to enjoy a great album. Available through GFT.

Originally appeared in Feedback #79, June 2004