BANLIEUES

I'm not a fan of Folk-prog (especially the folk part), but i have exceptions. This album is one of those. It's excellent to sit and listen to, while giving your mind a rest. The lyrics are the most important factor of this album, being these poems turned into song lyrics (literally). The songs really stick up to their genre (and i've got to add, Legende being the best of all, an EXCELLENT song.). Another underrated album that deserves way more acknowledge in it's genre, and the world of prog itself. Don't really love the simplicity of Chateau and Amalia tho...

To tie up this review, will leave a bit of history about this band, from the words of '69stepe' on youtube;

Early 1970s, Montbéliard region. Alex Abouladzé writes luminous and visionary poems, while Maurice Boguet composes songs on his guitar, which he does not yet play in public. During a meeting he played his creations to the poet, who was seduced and offered to set his own texts to music. This is the beginning of the Troisième Rive adventure, group whose backbone is made up of Maurice Boguet and Paul Bernard (singer and airy guitarist, who composes some of the music and whose inspired solos literally make the pieces take off). The name of the group itself comes from the work of Alex Abouladzé, in which the "third shore" is a recurring theme. The marriage of music and texts then creates a universe rich in captivating harmonies and poetic brilliance, which unfortunately will not have much resonance outside the region. The group, based in Besançon, gradually expanded, with the arrival of bassist Jacques-Edmond Gouré. Then the pianist Daniel Martin, the drummer Jacques Martin and finally the guitarist Jean- Christian Spenlé will join. Following the suicide of Alex Abouladzé in 1978, Troisième Rive continued to exist for a few years then disappeared, an ephemeral meteor whose light persisted in many memories. Hence the need to create this page, as a trace accessible to all... .... NB: Troisième Rive recorded an album, "Banlieues", in 1978, which is not very representative of the concerts that they gave. The only other recordings available are therefore "live" recordings, mainly made by an enthusiast Marc Sergent, known as "Marcou" often in difficult conditions. Thanks to him, the memory of numerous concerts has been saved, and the recordings offered here come from his archives..... We wanted, through this page, to ensure that Troisième Rive comes out of the shadows a little and of oblivion.