LES REGRETS D'ISIDORE D.

Before Saens acquired the "a" in their name and put out the remarkable Escaping From the Hands of God, they put out this competent and highly enjoyable neo-prog album which shows the influence of bands such as IQ and Arena. The jazzier keyboard playing which had tickled my fancy on the followup is absent, and at points the production seems a little sparse and the keyboards sound a little cheap, but for the most part Saens/Sens rise above these constraints and deliver a set of songs which are stronger than the rest of the pack, even if the band haven't quite hit on their unique sound yet. Pascal Bouquillard's lead vocals deserve a nod for the theatrical, dramatic flair they add to proceedings, reminiscent of the work of Christian Décamps in Ange; indeed, those who particularly like that aspect of Ange's work will find this a worthy homage to that style whilst those who find Décamps' vocal approach irritating may find Bouguillard's work similarly ruins the mood for them.