VOS VOISINS

As I heard about this band a few years ago, my interest only grew when I discovered the story behind their sole album. Apparently this album raised quite a commotion when it was released in 1971. Originally released as "Holocauste a Montreal" with a different LP cover imitating the front page of a local newspaper tabloid "Allo Police" with mug shot photos of the band's members, which goes well with the album's title Montreal Holocaust and the band's name "Your Neighbours". The album was pulled out of the market soon after and released with a simpler cover art and a self titled name, of course now the original album is quite a collector's item.

The album is definitely good but I wouldn't consider it essential, it fits nicely in its category as heavy progressive but also wrapped with a more symphonic sound and approach . The music is not complex but often heavily drenched with guitars and keys, nothing viruosic to be amazed by but still always pretty good. The album contains 7 tracks and falls in the category of "very short LPs clocking at only 33 minutes". It is well balanced between mellow and heavy and goes through different moments, from upbeat rockers to laid back symph tunes and pure progressive rock attempts. One thing that I'm very pleased with are the vocals handled by Perron and ringuet, very reminicent of Christian Descamps from Ange, sometimes calm and beautiful and other times rawer and theatrical, apparently full of humoristic lyrics too.

"Mon Chum" is simply a fun opener, a rocky tune with good eclectic guitars and amusing wild vocals, good start. It then goes to "Sous La Lune" which is a melodic ballade done with piano and vocals, nothing progy about it but nice overall. "L'Instrumental" is of course an instrumental where the band is showing their ability to jam, nothing too complex or mind blowing but still very entertaining including good guitar solos. "Tania" is soft and quiet at first but gets more intense half way through, it opens up with a beautiful piano intro and later on with some beautiful soulful vocals. I love how he starts singing this one, reminds me (if I dare) of Billie Holiday. "Le Monstre De La Main" is the highlight here and apparently got some radio airplay at the time. This is very Ange influenced pretty much in every aspect, disturbing atmosphere, manic vocals. Half way through the tension is built and released with delicious keyboard solo on top of a heavy sound. Yep this this one cooks!! "Ya Just De T'ca" is quite a simple rocker but also have a symphonic touch which makes the song a little more special. "Le 3/4 De L'Archevèque" is an adequate closing track, it has every thing a grand symphonic song should have. Aside from the beautiful piano there are no vocals here but there's a great melody line which the band is following. Here again they use the build and release tension half way through, and it works perfectly. The two bonus tracks added in the 2011 reissue are definitely not essential but not bad either.

In conclusion Vos Voisins's sole album is a product of its time, it's not breaking any new grounds nor is it among the best albums to come out in 71', but it is a good part of the fertile quebec scene of progressive rock. Overall it's a good album and I'm happy to say I like each and every song, there isn't a bad song or even a bad moment on it. The songs are complete and well written and there is much for progers to enjoy. This would definitely appeal to all you collectors out there interested in that heavy genre of prog.

3.5 stars.