MEMOIRE

Well here’s a band that made a pretty dramatic shift in direction between their first and second albums! Tangerine were a French prog-folk act whose main appeal on their debut were the vocals of one Valéry Btesh, a folk voice in the classic sense who apparently departed for a solo career following that release. This album features the remaining musicians, all male and all of whom sing and play guitars in addition to other instruments. There are a couple of guest musicians scattered throughout as well.

The biggest difference in the sound though is that the music on this album is decidedly more west-coast American soft-rock influenced than their first release. That album also had some soft-rock leanings including a blatant rip-off of America’s famous pop-single “Sandman”, but here the transition is pretty much complete.

Not that I’m complaining really – I like that sound, but if you’re expecting really progressive music you’ll find that in rather short supply on this record. “Eraverita” maybe still qualifies, and perhaps the mellow French-language “la Source de Vie”. But otherwise this is guitar-driven music, albeit a lot of it acoustic, and with fairly simple arrangements and lots of vocals, most of them English.

The comparisons include America, Ambrosia, and on “Unexpected Visitor” even the seventies pop crooner Rupert Holmes. One really strange track is “The Way I Feel” with almost Jim Morrison-like vocals set to a heavy bass line and lounge-act instrumental accompaniment. Kind of fun to listen to but definitely not progressive music.

I personally find this to be an interesting though not exceptional album, not very innovative but representative of much of the mainstream soft rock music of the mid-seventies for the most part. I’m going to give it three stars with the disclaimer that this is not a very prog-like album. But it makes for a decent listen on a cool Saturday afternoon with some light snow falling outside but the smell of spring in the air. Which is exactly the context in which I’m listening to it right now. Recommended if you are in a similar setting.

peace