LE MARIAGE DU CIEL ET DE L'ENFER

When I first listened to this album, I thought it was good but tiring at times and with a poor connection between the songs. Around the fourth time was when I started getting into the music really. What is really amazing about this album is that it's like watching a movie. It's like a story being told by the music and the effects. Art Zoyd is a band I had never heard before PA's collaborator Joren, suggested this cd to me. It's the only album I've listened by AZ so far and as the other reviewers have said, the music was composed for a Roland Petit's ballet. As I've read on the internet, AZ often create music for ballet and films so to an AZ fan this is not something new.

This album consists of 9 tracks and can be divided in groups of songs. This is a result of both their title and musical connection. I'm going to review every "group" separately.

"Sortie 134" (tracks 1,9). "Sortie 134 - part 1" is the opening track. The first odd sounds start coming out of the speakers, something like the sound of seals, and then the music starts. Other sounds like children laughs appear while after 2 minutes the first brilliant part of the album appears. An amazing idea based on the piano and accompanied by violin, cello and trumpet among other instruments and sounds such as strange percussion. Another great idea comes right after that, and may remind you a bit of Magma. The track ends with the children laughs (which you hear also in the beginning of the second track). "Sortie 134 - part 2" is the last track of the album. It is a more ambient/electronic track with very interesting vocals. The children laughs appear again to close the album.

"Cryogenese" (track 2,8). "Cryogenese - Rêve Artificiel" starts off with the children laughs. The music comes in and after a while everything stops to let room for a repeating sound to start. It's some kind of percussion that stays until the end of the track. "Cryogenèse - Les Portes du Futur" has many has also a repeating sound that is similar to the one on the second track.

"IO" (tracks 3,4,5). All three tracks are small tracks based on one idea each with effects being added here and there. The most interesting of those is "IO 3" which is based on a very nice idea. However I would really like to hear those three songs while watching the show really cause I don't think they can stand so well alone. Didier Pietton does a really nice job playing soprano saxophone in all three tracks.

"Mouvance" (tracks 6,7). Both are two piano based tracks. The first one is soft and magical while the second one is heavier with organ and wind instruments appearing here and there.

Overall it's very strange music and many times it's more like a mixture of sounds. Anyway, I would really like to be able to watch the visual performance in order to understand the music better. If you aren't used to such music (like me), it may seem to strange in the beginning. However, I managed, after many listens, to be able to enjoy this album but it's surely an album you have to be in the right mood in order to be listened.