RETROSPECTIONS - VOLUME II

As with the first album in this series, this album is based on unpublished music written by Jean-Pierre Louveton between 1992 and 2005, although this does also include songs from his first three albums which have been rearranged and re-recorded by the musicians playing live with him, as these would form part of the set list.

Released in 2016, this doesn't feel like a put-together compilation, but rather that this was an album which was conceived as an entity in its own right. Some of the songs feature just JPL, whereas others are by a full band, and we move from hard rock through progressive to areas that are more acoustic, but always with passion and forethought.

Drummer on the album, is Ludovic Moro who of course played with JPL in Wolfspring while Nemo's keyboard player Guillaume Fontaine is also very much in evidence, both musicians who have played with JPL for a large number of years, and this comes through very much in the music. It would be possible for this release to be seen as a 'stop gap' between 'MMXIV' and 'Le Livre Blanc', as it follows on from the 2008 album, but that would be incredibly unfair as this is a dynamic and enjoyable album in its own right, and flows and rocks, and in no way sounds like a collection of material from times past.

I have always enjoyed JPL, both solo and with his various bands, and this is yet another incredibly strong addition to his canon