Unvers Zero Neglected Prog

10 lp's on PA...6 are over 4 stars...the rest well over 3...not underrated..maybe neglected by some people.

Not underrated by me, I love Unvers Zero, and Clivages was my album of that year and was the Collab Album of the Year in 2010. I have all of UZ's album and find it to me one the very most consistently good bands that had a long career. I think it's highly rated and respected by most that really know them and are into such kinds of music. It's not going to be for every taste. I turned someone onto UZed who wasn't really into the RIO thing and whose tastes were melodic rock oriented than mine. That said, of three RIO related ones, Univers Zero, Present, and Art Zoyd, Art Zoyd is my favourite (well, I have called that my favourite band in PA). There have have been considerable fans of UZ at the forum, and it is one of the most respected RIO-related bands in PA. It did well in our Battle of the Bands as I recall. Underknown perhaps, but rated highly by many. It's not going to have as much wide appeal as many others, as the music is generally not going to be accessible to many tastes.

Geekfreak recently revived this poll of mine: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=120389 which compares IQ to UZ, and UZ has the most votes currently, despite the rather esoteric nature of UZ. Rock in Opposition, unsurprisingly, is not going to be really mainstream even in prog circles, but Univers Zero is one of the most respected chamber prog acts, I believe.

EDIT: By the way, I'm a fan of Hatfield and the North as well but I can see why it wouldn't have the mainstream Prog support from the Canterbury Scene that Caravan has.

Edited by Logan - April 20 2020 at 11:17

I think you'll find plenty of people on here with an avant leaning (we've had some claim we're taking over the place). Amongst those UZ are very highly regarded. In fact Ceux De Dehors is my all-time favorite album. I ran a RIO/Avant World Cup two years ago and UZ won the whole thing edging out Henry Cow in the final. As stated in a previous post Clivages was the collaborators album of the year in 2010. 

Huge fan of UZ here. They changed my outlook on music and I wouldn't be without their albums.  

I listened to their album in the top 100 and enjoyed it a lot!

^ Ok thats hilarious

UZ are brilliant!  I remember reading about them around the time of the inaugural RIO festival in 78 but as a teenager on a limited budget, I never got to explore their early albums (I don't recall seeing any in UK record shops either...)  Those first three albums in particular (plus the 'Crawling Wind' EP) are unique.  My only regret is not getting to see them in a live setting - Michel Berckmans being the only member I have seen perform as part of the extended Henry Cow line-up for the Lindsay Cooper tribute concerts.  Daniel Denis is one of the best drummers in prog.

Guess i am a panhead then............ 

amazon.it sells Clivages for 1840 Euro, amazon.de for 1709 (OK they have used copies for about 70 Euros but still). amazon.co.uk and France don't have any. No major download site seems to have it. It's just 10 years old that album. Are they joking?