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Like many groups Ange did their own « covers » album, but given their French singing, they did an album or reprises of La Chanson Francaise. Such albums are rarely a good idea and Ange does fall into the trap. If you remember way back when Ange reprised more or less successfully Jacques Brel's Ces Gens-là on the second album Arlequins. Although a risky bet, they were bold enough to chez Brel's epic song and if they didn't ridicule themselves, a lot of Brel fans were cringing, but had to recognize it was correct. And on this album they try two more, but this does not sit well with anyone, especially given Ange's lost musical perspective of the second part of the 90's.At least the group recognized some of the most important Chanteurs, as Brel, Brassens, Nougaro, Azvavour, Dutronc and Ponareff are obviously choice for an album introducing the newbie to La Chanson Francaise, but the way to do it was simply not correct. The choices of the original songs are disputable, but valid, but the way they treat the songs to these electronic-textured sounds that already stunk at release time, but will worsen as years go by

Not only do they not honour correctly, but even Musea (their label) probably hesitated releasing it as they give not their names or logo on the album, but the FGBG catalogue number leaves no doubt to its origins (FG is Francis Grosse and BG is Bertrand Gueffier), but everyone makes mistakes, and who knows this could've worked with a different public than Ange's normal followers. I can't find one single track that resisted Ange's torture, and certainly not the two Brel tracks or Brassens'. I had hopes that Dutronc's Paris track would survive, but alas to no avail. The worst part of it is that it's quite hard to realize that you are on a Ange album. Nougaro's chosen is a great classic (Stendhal's Red & Black, so funnily adapted in the 60's), but if not as catastrophic (a real guitar oozes from the electronica and gets in some histrionics) as others on the album, it certainly does not compliment the original. The only track I was not familiar with was Bal des Lazes, here turned into an 11- mins epic, in which enough drama to make it sound a bit normal Ange-like. While this track sort of saves the album from completely diving, you'd better avoid this dud.

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