SI, PARTIE 1

Incredible how this stunning French progrock band succeeds to sound innovative after 40 years of progressive rock, Nemo is a genuine progressive rock band! A few years ago I got their second album entitled Présages as a promo and since then I am a fan from this band. I love their exciting and very progressive blend of rock, jazz, metal, symphonic and classic. Last year Nemo released the CD Immersion Publique - Live after three studio albums, unfortunately this was mostly overlooked on this site. So I hope that this new album will gain more attention, Nemo deserves worldwide recognition!

1. Douce Mort (14.24) : The first part starts with wonderful keyboard work (piano, strings, violin-Mellotron) and changes very flowing into Nemo their trademark: dynamic progrock featuring fiery and heavy guitarplay, sensational keyboard flights and an adventurous, powerful rhythm-section. The one moment it sounds very bombastic with organ floods and heavy guitar riffs, the other moment the atmosphere is mellow with fragile piano and and twanging guitars. The French vocals are very distinctive: varied and expressive but less theatrical than Christian Decamps from Ange.

2. Ici, maintenant (6.28) : It starts with classical piano and gradually turns into more bombastic featuring fiery electric guitar, sparkling piano play and dramatic vocals. The second part delivers a more mellow climate with piano and acoustic rhythm guitar.

3. Miroirs (6.40) : This track is based upon great interplay between guitar and keyboards, especially the spectacular synthesizer flights and heavy guitar riffs sound exciting!

4. Si (7.26) : A dreamy piece with melancholical vocals and twanging guitars, halfway a wonderful howling guitar solo. The final part sounds a bit too longwinding to me.

5. Apprentis Sorciers (19.59) : This is Nemo their 'magnum opus', the band at their best delivering a captivating and alternating 'progrock journey'. The first part contains a swinging up-tempo with powerful bass, fiery electric guitar and sparking piano and a howling guitar solo with great interplay between guitar, keyboards and rhythm-section. Then mellow organ waves and acoustic guitar culminating in a bombastic piece with wonderful violin play, exciting interplay and soli from wah-wah guitar and Fender Rhodes piano. The final part contains a compelling build-up with dreamy piano and emotional vocals and gradually swelling bombastic prog featuring fiery electric guitar, lush and varied keyboards and an excellent powerful electric guitar solo.

On the forum many progheads are often begging for recommendations. Well, visit Nemo their spendid site www.nemo- world.com and CHECK OUT THIS GREAT PROGROCK ADVENTURE!!

I purchased this SOLELY based on previous reviews on this site as well as some VERY good recent french prog (Silver Lining, Seven Reizh, Xang, Taal and Maldoror: all EXCELLENT) and Guess What? This is a blast from the getgo. Absolutely riveting edgy prog from 4 kick ass musicians. The Louveton guitars are seductively powerful, very close to Maldoror's 6 stringer, devastatingly adapt at conveying the message. Keys, bass and drums add all the prowess associated with our beloved style: these guys can play. For those of us who speak french , we really do not see the outright similarities with Ange / Mona Lisa but to the non initiated, I guess the dramatics are typically french. Yes, this is very moody, atmospheric, theatrical and very inspired progressive rock of the finest vintage. I am striving to purchase their previous material that, by all accounts indicate more of the same. I have been playing this CD on my business trips throughout Western Canada and eliciting some real strange (but positive) looks from the locals when stopping at a traffic light. That alone proves that this CD deserves all the praise in the universe. Definitely check this out and see for yourself. 5 sub captains

Very interesting release from France. These guys are experts at contrasting the mellow and heavy passages, and besides they also use mellotron. Enough said ? Not quite.The vocals are in French and add a nice flavour to their sound as he can be quite theatrical at times. I've really grown to love this record and like tszirmay said in his review i'm going to seek out their back catalogue now.

"Douce Mort" features so many tempo and mood shifts, but at almost 17 minutes in length you'd hope it would right ? It opens with different sounds coming and going including piano, drums, mellotron and guitar with no real melody until after 2 minutes. And it's a good one, with a nice heavy sound. It settles right down after 3 minutes and whispered vocals arrive a minute later that build in strength as mellotron waves wash in. This is all so good. The tempo picks right up as a full sound comes in. Vocals follow. We get some heaviness for 2 minutes.Yes ! A calm returns 8 minutes in with lots of piano for 2 more minutes. More heaviness, and it sounds amazing ! It's very catchy 14 minutes in as vocals, guitar, synths and bass lead the way to the end of the song. The bass is quite heavy. "Ici, Maintenant" opens with piano as reserved vocals come in. Heavy drums and guitar 1 1/2 minutes in as passionate vocals arrive. Great passage ! A calm after 3 minutes is broken 4 minutes in as it gets heavy with organ added this time. Ripping guitar follows. Vocals after 5 minutes are back. The final minute of the song is mellow with strummed guitar and vocal melodies. "Miroirs" opens with riffs as the organ screams. It settles when vocals come in. Lots of synths 3 minutes in and a heavy sound 4 1/2 minutes in. The vocals are almost spoken at this point although they become strong to end the song. "Si" is so fragile for the first 2 1/2 minutes as vocals tremble and keys and bass lightly play. Drums start to change that 2 1/2 minutes in. Here we go after 4 minutes as it gets heavier. Guitar solo 5 minutes in with some strong vocals a minute later with organ runs.

"Apprentis Sorciers" is the 20 minute closer, it opens with some fine bass as piano, guitar and drums create a jazzy flavoured sound. Synths open the way for a terrific guitar solo. This leads to a full sound 4 1/2 minutes in as organ arrives, and it sounds great. It calms down quickly before building to a powerful sound 7 minutes in. A catchy section follows that is again sort of jazzy before a guitar solo 9 minutes in. The song pretty much becomes silent 10 1/2 minutes in before vocals and then piano come back. Some bluesy guitar after 12 minutes. It's building again in power until 14 1/2 minutes in we're there. Nice. It settles right down again to a beautiful section with piano,guitar,light drums and then vocals 16 1/2 minutes in.Moving. It's slowly building until an incredible sound 18 minutes in including vocal melodies. The final minute is brighter with some great drumming, piano and guitar.

This was such a pleasure to listen to at the end of this long winter we've had. Prog helps when spring seems so far away. Lots of snow still just like on the album cover.

Nemo's fourth studio album Si Partie 1 is much more mature, than it's predecessors. It captivate with its compact sound and complex compositions. Despite, not being with perfect musicianship and without any mistakes in the transition moments, it contains very strong compositions full of energy and original ideas. Remarkable songwriting for the album! Si Partie 1 consists of more agressive guitar works, than its successors, which alternate with some jazz elements (of course, the typical trademark of Nemo). I think you don't have to miss this album, because all songs and compositions worth. I can't mention favourite songs, because all of them are probably equally good. Perhaps Apprentis Sorciers (the last and the longest composition) contains the best moments on the album! All of them are quite over the middle quality, because of their feeling, that exceptional thin melancholic line and that dramatical french sense of making art. Almost full 4 stars and yet little under!

A confident and competent symphonic prog concept album by Nemo, who don't flinch from incorporating aspects of other musical genres (jazz in particular) into their playing if it'll help the compositions, Si Partie 1 sits in that very theatrical tradition of French progressive rock which flows from bands such as Ange. However, whilst Ange could sometimes let the theatrical side of their music outweigh the progressive side of it, Nemo do no such thing, constantly finding new ways to incorporate the influence of bands such as King Crimson or Van der Graaf Generator into their sound. I wouldn't call it a flat-out classic but it is a masterful effort.