LA MORT D'ORION

Gerard Manset is one of the French poètes maudits, cultivating mystery, poetry, innovation far from the beaten tracks of French commercial, easy listening chanson. Few French musicians have this rich flavour except perhaps William Sheller. A great melodist and arranger, this man can play on words too. This first real opus is a gem. A concept album based on Science-Fiction, the story of a dying planet. A universe close to the first King Crimson's albums plus the French touch (stress on the vocals and lyrics), including an orchestra. More progressive by the attitude than by the typical prog sound as we mean today. But we are in 1970, aren't we? Very recommended. Recently reissued and remastered.

In the early 70's the French EMI/ Pathe label released a handful of wonderfully weird albums that have long been sought after by collectors and music fans alike. Personally I'd like to give a big round of applause to their A&R department whoever they were or whatever they were on as this was some seriously creative stuff. Guy Skornik's trippy 'Pour Pauwels', 'Puzzle' by Michel Berger which shamefully has yet to be reissued, avant-garde composer Igor Wakhevitch's stunning 'Hathor' and Gerard Manset's 'La Mort D'Orion' are works that should be heard at least once by anyone with a remote interest in progressive pop and art rock.

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Gerard Manset is something of a renaissance man. Raised in suburban Paris, he's a musician, painter and travel writer with a vast catalog of albums that all have something to recommend although it's 1970's 'La Mort D'Orion' (The Death of Orion) that is widely considered his masterpiece. A science fiction concept album, it's a dark journey but space rock this is not. This is orchestral pop twisted into modern classical music akin to some of Franco Battiato's output. The opening title track clocks in just shy of 25 minutes and it's a remarkable piece of music. A small string quartet leads to a spoken word piece by Manset, followed by a female operatic interlude and light East Indian raga all within a minute and a half. Astounding and Manset's voice is wonderful on 'Vivent Les Hommes' (Living Men) backed again by soprano vocals and a crescendo of strings and piano while 'Le Paradis Terrestre' (Heaven on Earth) alternates between opera and pop effortlessly.

My command of the French language is non-existent, but that has never interfered with my enjoyment of this album. It's one of a kind and should be bookended with the Serge Gainsbourg classic 'Historie de Melody Nelson' and William Sheller's dazzling 'Lux Aeterna' as the best in early 70's French music.

Gerard Manset is a singer/ songwriter from France who plays piano, and he made a name for himself in France during the seventies. This particular album "La Mort d'Orion"(Death of Orion) is like a symphony for the end of the World. A melancholic album with plenty of vocals and spoken words from Gerard, plus we have male and female guest singers. And a string quartet! This comes across as very orchestral, string driven music with plenty of french vocals. A low key affair for the most part.

And while this may be his most celebrated work, and from 1970, it would be his 1975 release "Y'a Une Route" that sold 300,000 copies that would put Manset on the map. He was horrified. He never played live, feeling it was like being in a zoo. Never gave interviews or promotional appearances. I like this guy. He was a painter and very artistic with other interests so he certainly didn't need to stay in the music business if he didn't want to. But he did, and has released something like 25 studio albums including one this year!

The site shows the self titled opening track as being 24 1/2 minutes long which is shown on some issues. My cd has that track broken down into five named songs starting with "Introduction" and ending with "Final". And the self titled track is in there at song two and almost 8 1/2 minutes. So a little different than the original vinyl releases. I was into my second spin of this one when later in it I said to myself "There is something special about this record".

No it's not exactly my style with the vocals so prominent including the reading of texts and poetry, or the orchestral stuff, but I can't deny that between Gerard's vocals and those strings I'm sold on this. Maybe not as much as I am on some of my favourite solo artists like Pascal Duffard, Franco Battiato, Alan Sorrenti, Claudio Rocchi and many more, but it's that inventiveness and uniqueness that seems to rise to the top with these artists from Italy and France. I should mention there is sitar on here as well, and flute along with drums at times. The liner notes fail to tell us the instruments and players involved, just the vocalists.

A low 4 stars for this one, but I can't deny that there's something special about this recording.