OÙ EST PASSÉE LA NOCE?

Quebec's only other group to achieve monumental success ala Harmonium in the 70's was the quintet Beau Dommage, but to call them progressive rock is probably overdoing things, even if their second album Où Est Passé La Noce has two tracks (including the 20- mins+ Incident) that qualifies as "prog", which contrast rather heavily with their country- tinged folk rock. This album followed the footsteps of its self-titled predecessor, but sold even (considerably) more, with again some 4 singles taken from the album hitting the market.

The album's A-side is almost exclusively made of short songs in the country/folk rock with the odd jazz styling ala Steely Dan, and the fairly neutral French texts, by sung in the typical Quebecois-style by the lovely voice of Michele Desrosiers and the much more accented Michel Rivard. These tracks are of no great interest to progheads even if at the end of the vinyl side the short Bon Débarras (good riddance) finishes in an excellent prog movement where the classical influences take over. This seems to spark up a bit of a mood as the next (and longer) Heureusement, the song seems to grab more depth, but no real sparks flying yet.

On the flipside, the 20-mins+ Incident A Bois-Filion is relating a tragic event that created a shock some years back. The song alternates between country/folk rock and more symphonic moments, somewhat ogling (but not daring to imitate) at Harmonium, but this is faint especially that the two styles developed never melt or mingle, they just live alongside. At times we also think of a less jazzy Contraction. There are some five instrumental passages where Rivard's guitar grabs its rare chance at showing its chops, and we almost hate the cheesy string arrangements cutting it to steer the track back in its tracks.

With this second album, BD is at the apex of its success, but they will record a few more excellent-selling albums, but none will have the "prog tinge" of La Noce. Unless you're really into Québecois rock, BD's discography is of limited interest (but all albums have seen CD reissues) to progheads, and only this one should be called good but hardly essential.

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