STRESS!

3.5 stars. Yeah a little disappointed with this one overall. Especially with 5 MAGMA members playing on Widemann's debut solo album including himself. This just simply isn't a Zeuhl recording although there's one track that did have that Zeuhl styled bass. This is very much a keyboard album though with three of the guys playing synths. I just feel that while there are three tracks I really enjoy there are three that do the opposite including the opener and closer and for me that's significant enough not to give the fourth star. Just my tastes but I was hoping for better. Nine tracks over 38 minutes released in 1977.

My problem with the opener "Beleze" are those moog sounds that ping madly ruining my enjoyment of this one. Other synths help out and there's so much going on especially around 1 1/2 minutes. "Herbes Sol" is so much better and a top three for me. Spacey synths here slowly pulse as piano joins in after a minute and soon other synths lead the way. A warm sound here in contrast to the opener. "Stress!" is another top three and electric piano and synths create a beautiful melody as synths wash in.

"Le Camp Do Drap D'or" like the opener fails in my opinion because of the upfront moog that I find annoying here. I like the bass though along with the drum work. Still I want to skip it along with the opener. "Demi-Final" is experimental and quite short under 1 1/2 minutes. Interesting I suppose. "Quaternaire" is uptempo with piano to start as moog and synths join in. This is the song with some Zeuhlish bass lines after 1 1/2 minutes. Catchy too.

"Spirale" is my final top three. Beautiful electric piano to start and I like the male vocal melodies. Such a nice touch here. Drums and a fuller sound kick in at 2 minutes. Love the drumming around 4 minutes too right to the end. My favourite. "Fete Au Septiemeplan Sacrifice" is pretty intense with the bass and synths early on. It settles around 3 minutes to a spacey sound. "Final" is pretty much piano only throughout the 5 minutes and it seems to be divided into two parts but a rather anti-climactic finish to this album in my opinion.