Au-delà du délire (Ange, 1974)

The 9 minute title-track of Ange's album of 1974 is one of their finest moments, IMHO. The first part of the song is wrapped in a Middle Ages atmosphere and dominated by Christian Décamps' theatrical voice, the second section is a long and beautiful Jean-Michel Brézovar's guitar solo over a powerful background, maybe reminiscent of early King Crimson's work, driven by the keys, with the rythm section helping to build up an effective wall of sound.

Philippe Huart's iconic art for "Au-delà du délire".

The song is the final installment of a concept relating the incredible story of a poor peasant living in the 14th century. This man organizes a rebellion against his feudal lord, then is captured and killed, but his astral body survives and he comes back to Earth after mankind's destruction and restarts History. "Au-delà du délire" ("Beyond Delirium") is a well composed and arranged track that still charms me with its old fashioned sounds, naive lyrics and brilliant musical stunts. A trip in a far, enchanted contry.

Bourée (Jethro Tull, 1969)

For the date of its release, the influence it had and the musical impact still strong after so many years, "Bourée" has a place in the inner circle of essential prog tracks. As anyone knows, this is a Ian Anderson loose arrangement of a Johan Sebastian Bach's composition, namely a "bourrée" (a kind of dance, correctly written with a double "r") being the fifth movement of a longer suite, numbered BWV 996 in the German composer's catalogue. Anderson chose this track for the album "Stand up", improved the rythm and added folk, jazz and rock elements to the track, giving one of the first examples of his explosive style in less than 4 minutes. 

The cover for the 7" single of "Bourée", b/w "Fat Man".

The first part of Jethro Tull's "Bourée" is an observant performance of Bach's theme, with the flute replacing the original lute. The central section is an apparently free improvisation on this theme, abandoning any classical measure with a strong jazzy approach. The final part resumes J.B. Bach's sheet music with two Anderson's overdubbed flutes. The group recorded many live versions of this anthemic song (a very long and good one is in "A Little Light Music", released in 1992) and also an alternative studio version in the "Jethro Tull's Christmas Album" (2003). Of course, the original "Stand up" version features in all the band's compilations. It's an amazing track, a very strong one, with an enthralling rythm and the wild flute performance that made a legend of Mr. Ian Anderson.

Suite: Dreams (Manning, 2003)

As you certainly know, Manning is the name the multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning (of The Tangent fame) gives to the band he gathers around himself on a regular basis to produce his own records. "Suite: Dreams" is by far ma favourite Manning's track. It's a beautifully written suite in 6 movements, exploring the world of dreams. It begins with a slow, very good melody and goes on through many different changes and many different genres, as usual for this artist. I especially like the recurring main theme variations and the wide range of instruments and musical solutions involved in this song.

You'll find this suite  in "The View from My Window" album.

There's a strong presence of wind instruments, thanks to Tim Moon - also proving himself on the fiddle - and they weave original plots with Manning's guitars and keys. Guy also has a beautiful voice, sounding like some American country singers and fitting so well in his eclectic music. He  knows very well how to balance electric and acoustic instruments, old fashioned sounds and modern samples and machineries... and he knows even better how to enchant an old prog lover like myself...

750.000 anni fa... l'amore? (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, 1972)

When I first heard of this track - whose title means in English 750.000 years ago... love? - even before listening to it I was intrigued. A friend of mine told me this was about an impossible love story between a Neanderthal man and a Homo Sapiens woman. Well, it is unusual, isn't it? So I flew to my record shop (they weren't yet extinct then) and I bought the Banco's album "Darwin!". I was really impressed by this song: such a subject would sound ridiculous in every singer's mouth, but Francesco Di Giacomo is so natural, passionate and convincing that I actually saw that Neanderthal man peeing the Sapiens girl, I deeply felt his shame and his sorrow when blaming his simian body.

Francesco Di Giacomo and Vittorio Nocenzi in a 2013 shot.

And I also appreciated the wonderful melody by Vittorio Nocenzi, both powerful and sweet. Yes, this is one of my favourite italian prog songs ever and it still touches me every time I happen to listen to it, especially when Di Giacomo sings (forgive my terrible translation): If you were relly mine, I'd wear your breast of water drops, then under your feet I'd lay veils of wind and leaves. Pale body with wide hips, I'd take you in green fields and I'd dance under the moon, I'd dance with you. And when I read recently that some scientists are now convinced that Homo Sapiens has in his genetics some Neanderthal genes, well, I thought... who knows? Maybe this impossible love dream came true.

Pictures at An Exhibition (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, 1971)

A real prog monument, this live suite is a loose re-interpretation of Mussorgsky's suite in ten movements (plus a recurring Promenade), originally composed in 1874. The ELP live version is also enriched by some new movements and occasional additions by the band. Recorded live at Newcastle City Hall on March, 26th 1971, the final 12 movements of the suite were never recorded in a studio: an abridged version in 6 movements was finally released in 1993 as a bonus track for the album "In The Hot Seat".  Even if several track could be listened to as individual tracks, we can't possibly break the suite's coherence and unity. I think this is the ELP's most influential and creative piece, capturing their live strength and technical skills at their best.

Fill those blank frames with the music!

Every moment of the suite is a pearl and the band uses Mussorgsky's music as a canvas on which they draw a whole world of variations, impovistations and interpolations. So rich is the final result that the listener soon loses his orientation ad abandons himself to the band's musical waves. As in the original composition, each movement describes a painting and the recurring promenade theme represents the visitor's route through the picture gallery. And what a route this is! Catching melodies, stunning performances, tempo and mood variations, all is there.If Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer tend to fasten the rythm, Greg Lake draws some pastoral and slow sketches I especially like. Everyone's got his favs in this suite; personally I'm fond of the first Promenade, The Sage  and The Grat Gate of Kiev. This is what I call... an exhibition!

Exogenesis: Symphony Part I - II - III (Muse, 2009)

According to the critics, Muse belong to a dozen different rock and pop genres, but they certainly never hid a connction with the prog world. This very good 13 minute mini-suite is a living proof of this. I didn't believe my ears nor my eyes: how can it possibly be that in 2009 such a classic prog suite and its related album "The Resistance" sell so much worldwide? Well, there's no secret: Muse create good music, based on solid and wide melodies supported by an amazing production, meaning their sound is clear as crystal and absolutely modern.

A detail from the art illustrating "Exogenesis".

Let's explore "Exogenesis". The first part ("Overture") is an orchestral one, introducing an aerial theme and some romantic variations on which Matthew Bellamy's voice weave an almost operatic cantato opening the way to the group instruments, including a dreamy final guitar solo. The second part ("Cross-Pollination") is a piano based one, with a vocal interpretation reminiscent of Queen (well, with Muse that's not so strange, is it?). The third and last part of the suite ("Redemption") starts with a touching piano and orchestra theme growing richer and wider step by step with the addiction of the group up to a calm finale.  The lyrics, in the perfect style of the '70s, has a science fiction plot (and after all, the whole album was inspired by Orwell's 1984) about the end of our Earth and a new era for the surviving humanity. A limited edition single edition of the suite was also released for the "Record Store Day" in 2010. I really like this track, swinging between bombastic and thoughtful moments and proving that good ol' prog rock never dies.

Metaepitome (Overhead, 2005)

This is the title track of Finnish band Overhead's second album, released in 2005. It's a 19'40" suite well written and well performed by those five young musicians. Like many other similar bands, Overhead explore prog rock history and in "Metaepitome" suite you'll recognize Pink Floyd-like slide guitars, crimsonian Mellotron effects, rock flute à la Jethro Tull and so on. But you'll also find an original sound, made of nordic melancholy and a good mix of rock and folk roots. Also the vocal parts - both lead and choirs - are distinctive, with modern and classic nuances.

Here's the cover art for "Metaepitome".

Slow and fast sections, electric and acoustic instruments, complex and plain melodies, vocal and instrumental themes... all is very well arranged in the general architecture of the track. I was also impressed by some unpredictable changes, especially when the piano comes in or the first vocal theme comes back to close the suite. The lyrics are obscure and suggestive, describing a man's inner choice when facing war and death. In short, this is not a revolution in prog music, but you'll certainly appreciate Metaepitome for measure and moderation, two rare qualities in young bands: never too old or too modern, never too technical or too romantic, this suite will provide some 20 pleasant minutes to the listener. I'm enough old to value such a merit.