MUSICIENS - MAGICIENS

Musiciens - Magiciens is the debut album from french symphonic prog rock band Atoll. The album was released in 1974 and is clearly influenced by two of the great british symphonic prog bands of the time Yes and especially Genesis. In that respect Atoll don´t differ much from another French band that is also very inspired by early Genesis namely Ange.

The music is as mentioned very inspired by Genesis and sometimes especially in the bass work by Yes. The big difference here is of course that Atoll sing in French and that gives this band their own identity. The songs are of high quality even though there are really no surprises here. If you like early Genesis there should be a lot to enjoy on Musiciens - Magiciens too. That is if you can get over the French language obsticle. The song style from André Balzer is satisfying but nothing special really.

The first couple of songs seque into each other and form and epic song which is really good and it´s with this song the Yes influence is heard the most. It´s a highlight on the album. Other highlights include Le Barger which has some really nice flute and is a good soft symphonic song. My favorite here is the last song Je suis d'ailleurs though. It starts with a long building instrumental part before the singing starts and has a great percussion part near the end. After that part the song ends with a really Genesis inspired synth flood. Beautiful just beautiful I tell you.

The musicianship is good even though I don´t like the drum style much. It´s a bit too dominant in some parts.

The production is good but again I think the drums are a bit too high in the mix.

All in all Musiciens - Magiciens is an enjoyable album in the symphonic prog rock style. It´s not the best French album in this style but definitely worth listening to from time to time. If you´re curious about French symphonic prog rock I would recommend listening to Ange instead though. Musiciens - Magiciens is a 3 star album in my book.