France pounded Switzerland today 5-2. I’ve gotta go out right now, so I’ll let the Internet do the talking for me on this one. The website oldishpsychprog says:
One of the most famous French groups in the field of melodic symphonic rock was Atoll from Metz. Luc Serra, Jean Luc Thillot and Alain Gozzo decided to form a group in February 1972. Reinforced by Andre Balzer (vocals), Michel Taillet (keyboards) and Francis Paul (bass), Atoll released their first single on Eurodisc in October 1973 (“Je T’Aime Quand Je Te Vois” / “Change Ta Vie”). This sold 40,000 copies, quite impressive for a debut. Patrick Kiffer replaced Francis Paul for the second single (“Le Secret Du Mage” / “Je Fais Un R?ve”) and then Jean Thillot switched from guitar to bass. Only the A-side of the second single was included on Musiciens – Magiciens, released in November 1974. Atoll’s music combined the archetypical symphonic rock influences (from Genesis and Yes) with vocal harmonies reminscent of drowsy American soft-rock (CS&N, America). Like their contemporaries Mona Lisa, Atoll were also influenced by Ange and Magma, giving the music a distinctive French character. At this early stage, Atoll was better at composing songs than playing fluent instrumental music with its own soul. This is the work of a group yet to find their own personality, just discovering how to play complex musical structures. For this reason, short tracks such as “Musiciens – Magiciens” and “Le Secret Du Mage” are the most memorable. The album was engineered by Jean Pierre Massiera, but still sounds surprisingly dry and dull.
See? Awesome.
Atoll
Musiciens ~ Magiciens
(Eurodisc – 87 008, 1974)
A1. L’Hymne Medieval
A2. Le Baladin Du Temps
A3. Musiciens-Magiciens
B1. Au-Dela Des Ecrans De Cristal
B2. Le Secret Du Mage
B3. Le Berger
B4. Je Suis D’Ailleurs [MP3]
