THE STRANDS OF THE FUTURE

The first time I heard "The Strands of the Future", I was blown away by the mystic, grandeur and tragic aspects of their music. Their approach is similar to Pink Floyd's while retaining a distinct french symphonic flavour, with nods to Genesis and '69/ '70 King Crimson from time to time. You'd expect this to be either a mess or one more of those unimaginative symphonic french bands. They're neither of it. Perhaps it's just a matter of personal taste, but I feel Pulsar offers here lots of evocative soundscapes that speak to me in a way few other bands (or albums, for that matter) ever did.

If upon hearing the mesmerizing "The Strands of Future" suite you're not overblown with epicness and grandiosity and feeling goosebumps down your spine, there must be something wrong with you. It's such an intense and moving track, conjuring up tension and then releasing it in so many satisfying ways! It features some lyrics in french and the emotional delivery is just mesmerizing. I'd like to highlight Gilbert Gandil's guitar playing, which here seems to lie somewhere between Fripp and Hackett.

The second side begins with "Flight", a short Baroque-themed instrumental showcasing Gandil's traditional non-lyrical vocalizations, Jacques Roman's choral mellotron and Roland Richard's flute. It's simply flawless, as it sort of reprises the title suite.

The last two songs are very similar in mood and approach: both 8 to 10 minutes slow-to-mid tempo mellotron-led tracks, and both sung in English. "Windows" presents a mysterious and nostalgic mood, while "Fool's Failure" is more cynical and quite obscure at times.

Concluding, no matter how much I'm fond of this album, it still has two major flaws: firstly, the production is a bit faulty. I mean, I doubt more than half of french native speakers would be able to discern the buried-in-the-mix lyrics of the title suite. Secondly, Gandil's English singing sounds exactly like what you'd expect from a frenchman...

Nevertheless, you ought to give this album a go, even if just for the superb title track, which alone's worth buying the entire album.