Le fantôme de Galashiels (Mona Lisa, 1974)

Mona Lisa surely are one of the best French bands from the Progressive rock golden era and IMHO they deserve prog fans' attention (and gratitude). This track comes from "L'escapade", the band's first album, released in 1974 and features all the best known and most loved elements of their music. The theatrical vocals (in the wake of Ange, but with more acid accents) are there, and also the tempo changes and the well performed union of acoustic and electric instruments, including some psych passages here and there. 

This is the original artwork of Mona Lisa's debut album.

If Dominique Le Guennec's lead vocals immediately attract the listener's attention, a keener listening will show a skilled and well organized group. A special mention goes to Jean-Luc Martin's bass guitar, whose plain and effective lines strongly characterize Mona Lisa's sound. And there's more than sounds in this track, as "Le fantôme de Galashiels" has a strong emotional side, lining up sombre moods and dreamy flashes in a rich and unpredictable pattern that still amazes me. 

Allons z'enfants (Mona Lisa, 1977)

This track, the 6 minute opening song from "Le Petit Violon de Monsieur Gregoire" is probably my favourite one in Mona Lisa's production. Simple as it may appear, it's full of pleasant surprises and original musical tricks. The theatrical vocal performance and the keyboard background are the first features capturing the listener's attention, but there more than this... 

Philippe Huart graced the album with this beautiful cover.

 

There's a fully melodic theme I adore, a rich and complex rythmic section, a spelndid guitar / keys dialogue, some clever tempo changes, so many variations on the martial tone, and that spendid bass line towards the end of the song! Rock and mellow were never so well together. There's a naive and young energy in this song, I think it captures the spirit of the prog golden era, the will to go beyond the usual rock music, in search of something beautiful and new.