SÈVE QUI PEUT

In fact, this is one of the most symphonic albums of Ange ever and still it's one of the most neglected ones as well. The band sound better than on any other of their previous albums. All music on "Sève Qui Peut" has been written by Francis Decamps, while Christian Decamps has limited himself to writing the lyrics, which in my eyes is a wise choice. "Sève Qui Peut" is a concept album celebrating the 200 years anniversary of the French revolution. The story is told from the critical point of view of an ancient oak tree, who was still young when the turbulent events of the French revolution took place. Ofcourse, if you want to appreciate the well- written lyrics, you have to be able to speak and read French. The line up is still mainly the one we know from the great albums of the old days. The guitar parts are divided between Jean-Michel Brézovar with his more simple bluesy approach and Robert Defer, who is able to display greater technical skills. This results in a solid sound. The keyboards play a very dominant role on this album and it's clear that Francis Decamps has learned a lot since the early days of Ange. You could almost consider "Sève Qui Peut" as a solo project by Francis. The album hasn't that nostalgic atmosphere, that characterized albums like "Au delà du délire" or the aggressiveness of "Guet-apens", but with brilliant symphonic songs like "Aimer/Haïr", "L'or, l'argent et la lumière" and the more quiet, but beautiful "Briser la Glace" it's somewhat of a neglected masterpiece to me. After Ange had released a number of non-progressive albums, who actually were not so bad at all (they just didn't satisfy the needs of progrock-fans), no-one really bothered listening to this album anymore. Often without listening it was dismissed as uninteresting. I think, that "Sève Qui Peut" is one of the most important albums Ange ever produced and I think lovers of the French progressive rock scene do well in checking it out ! I think this is one of those albums that deserve five stars

Erik de Beer.