Ange- Emile Jacotey

I apologize if some of my French translations are inaccurate. I did them myself, and I'm by no means fluent in the language. Please correct me on any mistakes!

One of the best known of France's symphonic prog bands, Ange got its start with the brothers Décamps, Francis (keyboards) and Christian (vocals). The group was heavily influenced by contemporaries King Crimson and Genesis, and in turn went on to influence many popular British bands. Ange's signature is prog with the twist of the medieval epic. Chrisitan Décamps vocal style in known for being highly dramatic and pulled out. Emile Jacotey was released in 1975, album #4 for the group. Other members included Jean-Michel Brezovar (guitar), Daniel Haas (bass), and Guénolé Biger (drums).

This album has a concept of mirroring the old storytellers throughout France. Emile Jacotey is a fictionalized one, and an 86 year old man provided narration in between some of the tracks. Song #1 is called "Bêle, bêle petite chèvre" (Bray, bray, Little Goat). This song seems very aggressive for prog, as the guitars mirror Black Sabbath if anything else and the vocals are strange and violent. There's very heavy lyrics here for prog (Creé, Je te blesse, par example). It ends with a eerie electronic quiet and some narration from le vieux homme (the old man). Next is Sur la trace des fées (On the trail of the fairies). Here we have more of an emotional epic. It's one of the more spacious sounding songs here, with lyrics including flying away following the title trail to find faeries in white dresses. Pretty typical prog fair, actually. "Le nain de Stanislas" follows it up with some fast prog, reminiscent of Genesis or ELP with a French touch. Both Décamps brothers are particularly theatrical on this song, bending thier voice and keyboards to make an effective feeling of insanity. 4th up we have "Jour Après Jour" (Day after Day), which is a ballad (Day after day she becomes more beautiful). "Ode à Émile" (Ode to Émile) finishes off the side. This song is another one of sympho prog fair, and it's message is one of great hope (look, let's go past the moon and we'll never be old).

Side two consits mostly of "Ego and Deus", a song in four parts: the title track, J'irai dormir plus loin que ton sommeil (I will go to sleep much longer than you are tired), Aurélia, and Les noces (Weddings). I can't understand of the lyrics, but it's got something to do with Conquistadors. All parts of the suite emphasise the theatrical style Ange prefered, as they jutxapose soft and quiet, fast and slow, electronic with acoustic. There is one final song, "Le marchand de planètes" (The salesman of planets), which is pretty drippy (Dive into the galaxy? I'm there!) It's style is whimsy more than anything.

Emile Jacotey isn't a bad album. The problem is, it fails to do much to distinguish itself. The lyrics, and especially their delivery, are fantastic, but the instrumentation seems like an afterthought. The keyboards have generic sound settings, the typical rock instruments copy off of other bands. When there's an instumental passage, it's very bland and uninteresting (Les noces is the best example). The whole show rests on Chrisitnan Décamps, and he can only go so far.

While it's got some great parts, Ange's reputation as the kings of French prog rest upon other albums. Grade: C