Cafeine -
Nouveaux Mondes
(New Worlds) - Musea (2000)
1. Hubble
2. L'or Des Indes
3. Voler En Éclat's
4. Les Conquerants
5. Don Juan
6. Atomik
7. Alexandre
8. My Only Quest
9. Cathedrale
Great French progressive rock became something of a rarity in the
1990's with only a few bands such as Edhels and Halloween
providing material of any real worth when compared to some great
output from classic bands of the 70s such as Ange, Shylock and
Pulsar. This is Caffeine's second album following up the
promising if flawed ' La Cathedrale' released in 1994 and is
another step in the right direction. However what is undoubtedly
a good album is prevented being an excellent one through some
rather patchy moments that sit uncomfortably next to some truly
inspired tracks.
The excellent instrumental opener 'Hubble' is a case in point.
Growing from a dark spacey soundscape into a jagged, keys led
intro the track bursts into a complex and uplifting guitar led
melody of awesome clarity. In fact I would go as far to say that
it is my favourite prog track of the year so far. Technically the
band are highly proficient performers especially in the rhythm
section which easily lifts them above bog start neo-progressive
fare and also enables well written tracks such as this to
flourish with some style.
Unfortunately 'L'or Des Indes' brings the listener down to earth
with a bit of a bump. Although well structured and delivered the
song just lacks any real flare, a trait that plagues neo-prog
with such an apparent vengeance. However the introduction of
vocals is the major stumbling block here. Although vocal duties
are shared amongst a number of guest vocalists the majority of
the early work is performed by Phillipe Ladousse who is below
average at best. The introduction of some rather dodgy Yes-like
harmonies also fails to inspire and as with much mainland
European progressive output the use of the native language tends
to give the thing a worrying 'Eurovision' feel.
'Voler En Éclat's' opens with a very U2-esque guitar led melody
before descending into a rather dull verse-chorus-verse-chorus
structure coloured by the type of straightforward composition
common to some of IQ's less inspired material. However just when
you start leaning towards the Fast Forward button the band
transform the piece into a complex and brooding instrumental
conclusion driven by some exceptional guitar work.
The short pastoral
'Les Conquerants' is harmless enough but fades quickly from the
memory. 'Don Juan' opens impressively with some challenging
instrumental themes although, again the introduction of the
vocals is not welcomed nor the rather predictable structure.
Further use of vocal harmonies echoes heavily at the 'chant'
style made famous by avant-garde compatriots Magma. However as
with 'Voler' the song concludes in fantastic style with a
melancholic and brooding classic Genesis-like mellotron led
passage growing into some inspired Howesque soloing and a complex
and choppy outro.
' Atomik' alike the albums opener is an excellent instrumental
that combines some deliciously dark keyboard work with some great
guitar soloing as well as some surprisingly funky bass work. The
track develops with some very Spocks Beard -like weirdology
before blooming into a stunningly lush conclusion that builds
with great piano and synth lines all set against some complex
shifting rhythm work.
'Alexandre' is very good indeed and sees Caffeine flexing their
progressive imagination. The opening is quirky in the extreme
reminding of the Enid's earlier work and The Flower Kings but
delivered with a strong rock sensibility. Hence the blending of
bouncing horn sections with some solid riffing works surprisingly
well. Vocals this time are delivered by the excellent Cyril
Grimond whose vocals are both affecting and context rich to the
style of the band. An inspired Hacket like mid section is then
finished of with an instrumental break littered with good guitar
and key led themes.
'My Only Quest' is the second finest moment on the album and not
a million miles behind 'Hubble' at that - which is an achievement
considering the quality of the albums opener. Although a fairly
simple track in terms of structure the vocal deliver of Julie
Vander (of Magma fame) is great and the building symphonic melody
is pompous and overblown in the best possible sense of the words.
'Cathedrale' starts with an introduction that sounds remarkably
like Echolyn both musically and vocally. Unfortunately the vocals
are again not particularly pleasing and are not helped by a
fairly uninspired melody. However some very good harmonies and
further Echolyn -like styling keeps things interesting. The
introduction of Sonia Nedelec from Minimum Vital to the
microphone lilting over a delicious acoustic guitar riff is
welcomed. The track then evolves into the type of wonderful and
uplifting conclusion that only prog can deliver all Hacket style
emotions, Yes-like complexities and even in places Anglagard type
folkisms. A thunderous and symphonic sweep finishes things off
very nicely indeed.
'Nouveaux Mondes ' is a very good album tarnished by an almost
inexcusable loss of form between the second and fifth tracks -
the main culprit being the dreadful vocals delivered by Ladousse.
Beyond these black spots the remaining material is really very
good indeed.
I would suspect that Caffeine are on the verge of delivering a
very special album next time round. However one can only hope
that existing weaknesses are addressed and strange losses of
imagination are left in the rehearsal studio where they belong.
Good then, but not as addictive as their name sake.
Gareth
Long
Copyright Bathtub of Adventures 2001
If you don't
have the BoA navigation to the
left of your screen click below to reload