Histoire De Melody Nelson

don't fucking piss me off

Oh dear. If this album, which tells the story of a rich, entitled, middle-aged man shagging an underage girl (an "illicit romance" as it's described in the Wikipedia article about the album) was a morality tale about, you know, NOT doing it because it's BAD, it might be acceptable. But reading about Serge and his Epsteinian/Trumpian predilection for sexual partners "on the younger side", I fear this was the "real" Serge singing about his real life. Automatic one star rating for paedos, however good or bad the music is (it's actually not terrible...). Shame on the compilers for including this in the list.

Didn't understand French but it was a nice listen

Jane Berkin hopping on the track wasn't expected. Never heard of Serge but hes cool. The instrumentation was great and I need to go through this again with translated lyrics. I enjoyed it for what it was!

The whole album is very monotonous; it gets a little better in the second part but just a little.

I dug the backing tracks on these songs, especially the ones with the languorous guitar and sexy slow beats, but of course, it's hard to get past the ick once you get a sense for the lyrics: the type of shit they might bump for happy hour for skeezy billionaires and b-list aristocrats at You-Know-Who's island. Leave it to the French.

Sex på et album

Sick fucker zero stars

Had no idea who this was but I ended up enjoying the album. The language is beautiful and I liked the organic sounds of the three piece. Each instrument had some pretty great moments. Love the orchestral strings, parts of which sounded like they were lifted by NERD.

2 French Slop

Ah. How creepy.

I think the only reason this album is considered art is because it’s in French and a lot of people don’t know what the guy is singing about. From that lens’s purely it sounds great, really sonically great even if half the album is a French sensually whisper singing in my ear. Then you read what this “concept album” is about. The singer hits a 14 year old with his car, falls in love with her, commits statutory rape then she dies in a plane crash. What the actual fuck. I would give this at least 3-4 stars as I said, the album sounds fantastic. But I can’t in good conscience give an album about pedophilia anything higher than a 1.

The actual music was interesting. I loved it when the cinematic strings appeared. Felt more like a soundtrack than an album.

Fr*ench, and this album is regarding falling in love with a 14 or 16 y/o girl as a grown ass man. Nah bruh

Man perves on 14 year old Brit with a sexy French voice. It's more of a stage-play, and the plot drops the rating. Well orchestrated, poorly written, 28 minute song.

Cool, definitively cool, even if you let it go on for a good minute. Just keeps coming. Should be a James Bond movie. A genre unto itself.

My dad loved Serge Gainsbourg so I’ve always given him respect and appreciation for the talent and provocative attitude. He keeps on poking the stick with no let-up. It’s an insane and difficult concept album but I was on board and would listen again.

This is cool for a tune, and then it starts to feel creepy. Not knowing what he's saying helps at first, then I start to wonder ... how pervy IS this guy? There's something here, an element of cool, but an entire album, an entire career? I dunno. A 3 just to get on with things.

There was this old Tom Green bit where he stuck dog shit on a microphone and went around interviewing people. And interviewees were torn between their desire to be on camera and their disgust at the dog shit. That's basically the career of Serge Gainsbourg. He gives you so much incredible art, then he covers it in dog shit and lets you decide if you wanna indulge. Case in point: this album. It's a funky, lush, and sultry blend of different styles, and it's all anchored by some of the best bass you'll ever hear. And then there's the lyrics. This album (like all of Serge Gainsbourg's music) is packed to the gills with insane wordplay, double entendres, allusions, and beautiful poetry ... and it's all in the service of a story about a dude who crashes his car into a 14-year-old girl and rapes her. I love the hell out of this album. No, I don't care for the subject matter, but I love the music, the performances, and the overall vibe. And maybe that makes me a shitty person, I don't know. But I love it. Conversely, I hate Lolita. I hate that book precisely because I can't stand the subject matter. I don't care about the beautiful language. I can't get past the repellent material. But this? I love it. (Maybe if Lolita had had better bass lines, I'd like it more.) Anyway, I love Serge Gainsbourg. People call him a provocateur, but that's being generous. He's basically a 6th-grade boy hell-bent on trolling everyone. (One of his biggest hits was setting the French National anthem to reggae music (it kills, btw) and abbreviating the chorus to just ("To arms, et cetera!"). He got death threats. He wrote huge hits for teen girl artists and packed their songs with blowjob puns. He sang a song called Lemon Incest with his daughter Charlotte, and he told Whitney Houston, on live TV, that he wanted to fuck her.) If he weren't such a musical and lyrical genius, no one would care. But damn. The dude is insanely talented. His work is messy. He never did the same thing twice. (If you love this album ... well, too bad. He never did anything like it again.) But it's never dull. Anyway, this album is just incredible. I totally get the one-star reviews from people, but me? Hand me that shitty microphone, Mr. Green.

I wish I understood French because I really like Serge Gainsbourg's vibe. However, if I did understand this beyond the pedophile description of the album, I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy it as much. It's complicated.

I swear to god that french people are so shitty but when it comes to art is the coolest shit u ever see/heard

What a character. Personally I greatly prefer his reggae/dub record aux armes et cetera.

The vibiest vibe record ever to vibe. I'm glad I don't understand French because I suspect it might break the spell.

Reminds me a little of the Marvin Gaye divorce album we recently reviewed in that it mines similarly sketchy, cringeworthy territory; suffice it to say, there’s probably no way this Lolita of an album could be made today. But like Here, My Dear, the music here is fantastic; dreamy, evocative and totally absorbing. Gainsbourg’s speak-and-whisper vocals are sexy and the backing band paints an appropriately loose, funky picture. Another thing that stands out is its influence. The stoned, lackadaisical feel and strings of the leadoff track sounds like the blueprint for Beck’s “Paper Tiger,” while fans of the album De La Soul is Dead will recognize the bass line from “En Melody” as a sample.

Wins the "Sex Dwarf" award for Repetitive Title Usage. I'm not sure who Melody Nelson is but she didnt need her name said breathlessly 200 times.

What's with the weird fucking whispering. Thanks, I hate it.

Prior to this I only really knew Gainsbourg as that horny French guy with the sex song, but this was really bloody good.

Like it, very art house music

I have and like this ablum, but never actually knew what it was about until now. Yuck. Still though, sounds great, but any longer would be pushing it. En Melody, what a banger! 3.5 rounded down Heard before? Yes Owned: No 61/251 (24%) Will I get: Already have

I enjoyed this, but the meat of the discussion around this album is so tied up in things I know very little about that I'm pretty sure I'm not the right person for the job here. I don't speak a lick of French, and I'm only now hearing about Serge Gainsbourg for starters. Basically, in a nutshell, Serge Gainsbourg was most famous for being a provocateur, and I guess he's kind of a French national treasure in a weird way. This album is about an affluent man hitting a child with his car and becoming sexually obsessed with her. Then I think she dies in a plane crash? I'm not sure. Anyways, the subject matter here is pretty fucked. Given this summary, I kind of listened to this with the lens one should approach Lolita with. I had the assumption that the intent of this album was to use the soft spoken affluence of the narrator to highlight the grotesque nature of his obsessions and get to a point about the manipulation of abuse. And, regardless of the artist's intent, this lens works. The funky, nocturnal, slightly ominous music also plays into this very well. But, seeing discussion about this album, I'm not completely sure that this was the intent. I've also seen a lot of arguing over Serge Gainsbourg in regards to this album. I've seen people accuse him of being a misogynistic creep. I've seen people defend him as a misunderstood l, daring figure. And frankly, I don't know enough to get to the bottom. Frankly, I do think that the interpretation of this album that works for me would be cheapened if the stuff on here was completely earnest. But despite this doubt, the sound alone here is enough to at least get a few points. It really is a cool sounding album, even if it's creepy as hell. But I really can't go above a 3 here. Its not just the above concerns that cap it though. There are songs here that I don't really like, and at 28 minutes, I think it ends up a little low impact. Basically, it's a cool experience with a couple of *big* warnings.

Lolita leanings and language barrier aside, this sounds like cool French cafe vibes. The actual instrumentals are solid. I just doubt I'll ever find my way back to this record. Kudos for the rad cover art though.

meh

Every time this man says her name I gag. I wish this wasn’t so frickin creepy and predatory, since it’s interesting musically. But no, the concept is gross and I just couldn’t get past that.

Never again

This gave me the ick. The one good use of this I can think of is a variation on the drinking game Thunderstruck, but you drink each time someone says the name Melody. It would be an effective pre-game. Not a fan

I came into this album knowing nothing about it - don’t speak French, never heard of Sage Gainsbourg nor did I read about what the album before hand. Just based on the music and the singing I thought it was fantastic, moody with a really interesting base and guitar lines. Was going to give it a 4 then read about what the album was about so knocked off a star but still a really interesting sounding album.

As far as albums about a pedophile go it's OK. I feel sometimes the backing is surprisingly a bit basic jam like. It's also nowhere near as sexy as I was hoping. I feel that sentence shouldn't follow the other one I just wrote, but you know what I mean, I thought the backing would be a bit silkier like Je T'aime.

No tiddies but feel em, me lads

The guitar is the Saving grace of this album as I did not like the spoken French lyricism straight to my ear

About as cool, louche and bizarre as you would expect from Le Vieux Pervers himself

French garbage.

if you really want to listen to an uncharismatic frenchman talk into the microphone for 30 minutes about a made up love affair with a 14 year old, this album is for you! An album that brought nothing new to my life. the lyrics are very straightforward, nothing to really make you think. The backing tracks are okay i suppose, nothing crazy. this guy sounds like those tiktoks where a man is growling into the microphone because its "sexy" Ive read reviews for this work, everyone calls it sensual and brilliant, they say that this album really explores desire from a mans perspective, and yet ive failed to see any of it. Is this really the best way to explore desire? through the eyes of a pedophilic narrator? Just a pervy nothing burger. Makes me miss Nabokov, i think ill re-read lolita.

When to listen: While reading Lolita? Didn't really vibe with this and then read the translation / plot of this album and felt super icked out. Sorry Serge.

I thought that the album was interesting, very experimental and innovative. It was in French, which made for a more unique listening experience

A fave

Har hela panelen blivit Siewert Öholm och börjat moralisera låttexter? Det är en konstform vi pratar om, självklart kan man uttrycka vilka moraliskt tveksamma saker som helst utan att någon ska komma med pekpinnar. Morrissey avrättar Thatcher, Ebba Grön hänger Gud, Depech Mode har BDSM-sex, death metalband beskriver avancerade lustmord ingående och Serge förför fjortonåringar. Det är helt i sin ordning. Det är konst och skall betraktas som sådan, punkt. Den här skivan är alldeles utmärkt även om min franska är mer än begränsad. I synnerhet gillar jag det balladaktiga som påminner mig en hel del om Tindersticks, lufter dallrar liksom där. Duetten med Jane är ren dynamit. Dom är ett dödligt duettpar, det sprakar om dom när dom hörs tillsammans och då är det inte damm på min nål som är orsaken. Även det mer svängiga och elektriska är bra, får mig att tänka på Dorisplatran med Loffe på trummor, lite samma swingstuk. Generellt sett musikaliskt väldigt kul hade gärna hört en eller två låtar till för det känns lite kort. Stark trea

Texten förstår jag egentligen ingenting av, jag tror det pågår någon oanständig romans mellan gubbe och alldeles för ung flicka. Är han pedofil? Om man kan bortse från detta är det som händer bakom Serges prat ändå spännande. Ett tungt vilande komp med bas och trummor i centrum. Suggestivt. Progressiv jazzrock emellanåt. Musikaliskt inte alls vad jag väntade mig av denna tvivelaktiga 60/70-talschanteur. Jag ger en fyra till musiken.

Hur jag än vänder och vrider luktar det unken kulturprofil i om Gainsbourg. Att sparka mot etablissemanget och utmana prydhet har jag inget emot, men gubbsjuka är ungefär lika coolt som att krama nazistpysslingar i liberalismens namn. Pardon my french, men om jag förstått rätt handlar alltså detta konceptalbum om hur berättaren (Serge 40+) krockar i sin Rolls med en 14-årig cyklist Melody, blir förälskad. Därefter båda planerar och genomför tagandet av hennes oskuld. Musikalisk finns här egentligen ett rätt skönt sound. Känns ganska Hendrixinspirerat. Hade kunnat bli nått bra om han hållit sig borta från den jävla pratsången. Och framförallt, ett album som tycker det är coolt att våldta en 14-åring kan naturligtvis aldrig gå nått annat än en etta oavsett hur det låter.

Lou Reed på franska. Det ska vara så himla coolt att det låter tillgjort. Musikaliskt hyfsat tilltalande även om jag kan vara utan Valde de Melody och En Melody. Att inte kunna franska är ett plus då jag läser mig till att detta är ett temaalbum om en medelålders man som ligger med en fjortonåring.

Look at the wiki summary

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The first and last tracks are almost good enough to make you forget that this is a concept album the sympathetically portrays a pedophile! :) 2.5* because also the rest of the music is just not that good...

Bela viagem. Estilo diferente e muito belo

This was a weird one. I didn’t realise the content so I don’t think it’s really aged that well. I did however think that these were the types of French songs in films that make a scene feel great.

Very much Melody Nelson based this one. Think I'm a fan cos it's a bit weird. Just read the Wikipedia and it's about falling in love with a 15 year old which is not ideal.

I don’t own a single turtle-neck and I’ve never smoked, so this album was not made for me. But at 27 minutes, you’ve got to appreciate the brevity!

The music is kinda interesting. The creepiness of it all comes through very strongly.

não vou ouvir algo sobre pedofilia. 1 por fins de avaliação

One of the more interesting conceptual albums about pederasty in existence. I don't speak French so I didn't know that until later.

I feel like I’m in a cool French cafe…I wish I knew what the lyrics are.

Wish I knew the lyrics. Seven years of French didn’t help. Very listenable

The instrumentals were awesome but I didn’t appreciate the middle-aged French man yapping about wanting to sleep with a child

Dang I wish he didn't ruin this really good music by being a creepo

I want to drink his voice like coffee bc it’s so delicious and then like Ursula steal his singing abilities and sue them to make songs about beautiful women who are super of age….. #separatetheartfromtheartinadifferentlanguagetjatucantunderstand

French as fuck. I just can't imagine needing to go to the store to buy this, then sitting down and listening to it. I don't know what that person looks like.

The French age of consent is 15 and Gainsbourg draws on this to create a new Lolita. In today's language he 'grooms' Melody and hearing his lust play out over this LP is uncomfortable. So is the LP any good, musically it's a yes but his voice takes some getting used to. Unfortunately the subject matter should have consigned this LP to the dustbin of time. Saville would have loved Serge

realmente não consegui entender isso aqui estar na lista. eu até diria que a ideia de um concept album é interessante, mas certamente não é interessante no caso do que é apresentado ao longo deste álbum. não consigo visualizar a importância e nem o que o torna tão relevante assim considerando o que é cantado e descrito ao longo do álbum. 1/5.

Musicalmente falando é interessante e gostei de algumas coisas. Mas também nao achei fabuloso. Seria algo entre 2 e 3 estrelas. Daí eu vou olhar a motivação do album…

No private session used and no idea of what I was getting in to. It's a double concept album in French. Something about a concept album where I don't understand the language, and therefore the concept makes me a little miffed I have to listen to it. The music wasn't bad, but still the concept album in a language I don't understand. I can only imagine me intentionally listening to this again if I had some people over and wanted to come across like a pretentious a-hole. Oh, I would impatiently roll my eyes when someone dare ask what the f are we listening to and then ignore the question to sip on my Kir Royale and adjust my beret. I ain't mad at Serge, but mad that this was considered something I had to hear before I die.

Perché?

My French is pretty weak, but hearing French songs makes me feel giddy. Now the concept of this album isn't that great. Huge age gap and with a minor?? Big yikes, but this is technically art. Still, the girl isn't even an adult...

They got this guy on here and no Edith Piaf?

It’s hard to believe this album came out in 1971. It was so ahead of its time. This is the kind of album I was gooong to find from this list.

à réécouter plus attentivement, éclectique et étrange !

Hard to appreciate this.

1 Star (2/15)

I'll be honest, I'm not listening to this. My patience for pedophiles is at all all time low (yes that's a real sentence I never thought I'd have to say). It's 2026 and we (the USA) have a pedophile for a president. And somehow that's OK with a large portion of the population. It's not OK with me. So I'm not going to stream this and fund this pedo. I'm going to give it 1 star and hope for something better tomorrow.

Just creepy. That’s a shame as the music is decent but difficult to get past the themes.

Oef, dit is een goed voorbeeld van; Je moet niet altijd de Wikipedia checken voordat je de muziek gaat luisteren... Een conceptalbum over een man van middelbare leeftijd die verliefd word op iemand van veertien, de muziek kan maar beter heel erg goed zijn als ik hier nog door heen wil. Muzikaal klinkt het best ok, de gitaar is strak en instrumentaal is het echt prima, wel heel jammer om een heel album lang een geile Fransman in je oor te hebben hijgen. Dat draagt niet echt bij aan het hele 'misschien is het niet als ophemeling van een foute zomerliefde bedoeld'. En Melody is waar hij me echt volledig kwijt raakt, een nummer met alleen maar uitroepen en lachende geluiden? En aan het einde treurt de ouwe viespeuk om het verlies van zn veertien jarige liefje. God, wat een fout album, dit is denk ik het eerste album waar ik me gewoon echt een beetje naar over voel als ik het luister, helemaal als je daarna nog leest dat het autobiografisch is... Toepasselijk dat dit mn 666e album is, het voelt ook daadwerkelijk alsof ik na dit te hebben geluisterd naar de hel ga. Ik wil het op basis van de muziek nog 2 sterren geven, maar twijfel sterk of ik er nog een ster afhaal voor het feit dat ik nu het liefste onder de douche stap. Staat er eindelijk eens een niet Engels talig album op, is het zoiets..

I don't know that I understood a thing he said, but I am pretty sure I felt everything he did. Somewhere between a 3 and a 4, leaning towards a 4 since I think it would get better with more play.

This did not spark joy.

Semi-autobiographical? Hmm. I didn’t understand a word which seems very important for this album. Based on the Wikipedia though I don’t know what would possess somebody to write this. High 2.

Don't understand French, but I liked the music behind the words. More psychedelic rock than I expected. That said, when I read an album blurb, the subject is kind of creepy -- older man seduces 15 year old girl. Clearly made In a different time.

The mixing on the first track was absolutely brutal. His voice was so much louder than the instrumentation that I couldn’t set the volume correctly. The rest was fine. Much vibier and classic rock jam sound than I expected

This had me asking "Who the fuck is Melody Nelson?" Then I looked it up after and man, mabey worst concept for an album ever. I don't speak French but he sure sounds like he would be up for some statutory. The funky instrumentals were cool though

Musically pretty good. I don’t speak French, so it loses something, I’m sure.

The music here sounded instantly familiar. Beck’s Sea Change is one of my favorite albums, and it’s so clear he was influenced by this record — particularly with the song Paper Tiger sharing the same DNA as the opening and closing tracks. As far as my enjoyment of this record goes, it’s slightly marred by reading up on the subject matter. Maybe it’s better I don’t speak French for my enjoyment. I listened through twice and En Melodie had the only moments of the record I didn’t enjoy. The closer is the best, keeping the tune and instrumentation of the opener and adding those haunting backing vocals. Just superb. I have to knock a star off because the whole storyline gives me the ick, but the music is pretty much flawless.

A french guy talks, and sometimes sings, at a very high volume under a very cool soundtrack, that unfortunately gets obscured half the time by the loud soliloquy of this french primadonna. He should have positioned the microphone further away from him, or the producer could have turned down the mic volume by at least 5 db, but alas, neither things did happen. The puritan moralists that condemn this album by its subject matter, should be reminded that talking about something is not the same as promoting or endorsing it. It gets a 2 from me, only for the fact that musically this album is butchered by the LOUD vocals.

Goede nummers, maar het verhaal maakt het lastig luisterbaar

Best Song: NA In 2026, there is too little accountability of pedophilia and I refuse to listen to something that glorifies it. This could be the best album ever made, and I would never know because I'm not listening to it and giving clicks and/or listens to this artist. 1/5.

Singing was a little bit uncomfortable at times but the musical content was actually really good. A very pleasant surprise.

Art does not exist in a vacuum. I don’t think you can objectively evaluate the music without considering the story it tells. And the story here is reprehensible. This album tells the story of a middle aged man raping a child. It’s a stain on this site to include it.

It has a cool vibe. But it's hard for me to be too interested in a foreign language album.

You WUT mate?

Blind album and artist. Don't have much to say except it wasn't for me.

First listen

Noping out of this one.

listening to this feels a little like watching porn in the middle of the day while your family hangs around in the same room. the melody was amazing, very funky and groovy. the vocals were smooth and sexy if not also a little creepy (or maybe even a lot creepy). the concept of this album is... certaintly a choice. but i guess the album was pretty good, if glossing over the fact that it's a little pedo-ish and rapey.

Naaaaa

I have no idea how to rate this due to the fact that it's phedophilic content by all standards. Even when released this album was controversial. With that being said, without knowing the context the album plays like a villain monologuing. It's unfortunately influential and very well made despite the content. The "narrator" is very much a Humbert character. Lolita being released about fifteen years prior, first published in Paris, France, and then this album being made seems to have some significance. First he hits her with his car that plays as the abuser aspect, and then bringing her to a hotel as the kidnapping aspect. In line with the Lolita story more or less. As a concept album it fails to deliver any moral correction. Instead of punishment for illicit affairs with a young girl she 'dies' as a solution... It was controversial then and has only soured with time; This is unlike Lolita, where we know the antagonist is not to be empathized with. I think there's some context to know from France: The age of consent is low, and as far as I have been made aware of through the art community... Their pornographic content makes everything in America look softcore. Not a justification for the album, just context to consider. Especially since (as already stated) this album was still controversial. Great minds don't always create the best concepts. They're just good at what they do in a technical sense. Good music, absolutely shit ass take for a concept work. Statutory rape and obsession cannot be rationalized into a love story.☠️

No thanks.

First time listen Yeah okay whatever the production is good I guess. But it's really fuckin hard to remove this album from the pedophilic context of its subject matter and Serge's weird (putting it lightly) relationship with his daughter. I say this as someone who generally doesn't have any issue separating art from the artist, or enjoying art that tackles difficult subject matter - Serge Gainsbourg was a perverted freak who dabbled in pedophilia and incestuous overtones in his music, and I don't think his history of being a provocateur really makes this album easier to stomach. No lush production or orchestral crescendos can make my skin uncrawl from listening to the giggling of this fictitious 15 year old girl in the context of a sensual spoken word ballad. I don't deny its influence or even its artistic merit, but I find the subject and artist detestable in a way that refuses much appreciation for its positive aspects. Fav track: I don't know I don't care Least favorite: All of it 1/5

Not for me

Thoroughly enjoyed this, though it seriously tested my French. I also wonder, if Serge had come from Sheffield would he have sounded more like Jarvis Cocker? Once I'd felt a connection between them I found it hard to ignore...

"hon hon hon my name eez Serge Gainsbourg and I will get zee most talented backeeng band to play on a record about being a pedophile hon hon"

My inner monologue is a creepy French man...

Definitely not his best music. Very forgettable.

There's a lot going on thematically in this concept album- reckless driving, lust, statutory rape, untimely death. But the music is fantastic! Weird to have that sordid story against the relentless funky psychedelic music. Oddly this seems to be more shocking to people than shock rock. Also, was there a touch of goth in Cargo Culte?

Definitely an artistic expression. While the subject is particularly distasteful during the throes of the post-Epstien reveals, it's possible to appreciate the intent was to shock and scandalize and hold up a light on the darker side of man's nature as embedded in the ground-breaking and rich phonic approach.

4 and a bit

I dont really know how to rate this. I researched what the concept of this album was and hmmmm problematic. But it was interesting to listen to even though I couldnt understand the words. Albums like this are one of the main reasons Im enjoying the 1001 journey, it's sooooo different to anything I would choose to listen to myself.

This is real? I thought music like this only existed to satirize the French in movies.

ew

Ignoring the lyrics - I don't understand them and feel that reading a translation can only make me like this less - this album's biggest problem is pacing. There's some interesting stuff happening musically that feels very ahead of its time. Free-form guitars that aren't playing any riffs dominate, and the bass is almost funky. But the songs are either too long and stagnant (the bookends) or too short, ending before they feel like they've offered anything. This is really more story than album, but the shifts at different events are subtle, much like the music. Only at the very end does it reach any kind of climax. The vocals are fine, the music is at least intriguing, but the slow, flat pace makes it go by without me enjoying it. And even if I don't understand the lyrics, the female vocals on "En Melody" are enough to make me feel uncomfortable.

Listening to spoken words in French is not enjoyable.

To be reviewed, sick

I like French music but this not so much.

Fuck this is good. I left this a long time listen to and wasn't enthusiastic at all, but it's brilliant. Sounds incredible, the guitar and rhythm section is so influential on lots of other great music too.

Interesting concept. Interesting album. I'm not a huge fan of the spoke-word style at the beginning. The music is good. "Cargo culte" is my favorite track. The guitar on it is great. I don't really know who this album is for. A bit too art-house to be listened to casually.

One thing I really enjoy about this 1001 album experience is the ritual. The ritual of getting an album, sometimes something completely new to me. I downloaded it and do some research and then sit down and listen front to back. This album slightly tainted that. Doing some research gave me the ick. The listening was not enjoyable. The vocals are rapey even without knowing what they meant. Knowing what they meant just made it that much more gross. I am giving this a 2 because the music is nice and well performed.

Boring it almost hurts. But only almost...

1/5

Do I want to listen to a french pedophile murmuring into a microphone over some sloppy soft-funk instrumentals? No thank you

I think I'm too caught up on the story of the album because it's super fucking creepy. Enjoyed the instrumentals and can see myself having this on in the background while doing something else. The artist is a bit ****interesting too. Very influential not only in France but other artists outside the country (don't know any of them though :/ ). Guy likes them young.

The music is phenomenal, but the subject matter gives it one

¡Vaya asco de señor y vaya mierda de disco! Me da igual la música o la influencia de este disco, es una puta vergüenza.

Would not buy

It's one of the most famous and influential French albums for a good reason. It's a concept album, a very well produced one, with long smooth instrumentals. I can hear the direct influence he had on bands like Air, for instance. Thankfully I don't understand the language because I read it's about a relationship with a 14-year old, so this kind of pedo-lolita story is not my thing. I base my rating on the music itself, though, which is really great.

Beats were nice, groove was good. Would listen to again.

Sentí que estaba en una película pretenciosa pero la verdad lo disfruté un montón

Groovy bass !! Very unique songs. Feels straight out of a french film. Fav song is ‘L’hôtel particulier’.

No nos cabe la más mínima duda de que Gainsbourg estaría hoy en día canceladísimo y quien sabe si se habría convertido en otro de esos fachaprogres que no hacen más que lamentarse de que ahora ya no se pueden hacer discos sobre jovencitas de 15 años abusadas por señores mayores aprovechando su inocencia, que es de lo que va el disco. Esa voz susurrante, grave, que habla más que canta y los arreglos funky con preeminencia de las líneas de bajo han definido el estilo de Serge durante gran parte de su carrera. Amado y odiado a partes iguales, me quedo con el Serge de la actitud rebelde pero me da un poco de grima su más que posible actitud machista en cuanto a la relación de la que hacía gala con las mujeres.

kind of interesting 3.5

Aaaah l’Serge, bon nuit sur le tete mon copain, mon…. Babeeeeh

Just so you know he has a song called "Lemon Incest"... 2/5

fumada en francés, bastante malo, los instrumentos son buenos, pero el cantante es un pelmazo 1/5 o menos

Never heard of this guy. Favorites: - Thoughts: Fuck this album. Made me quit this list for a week.

I'm not as enamoured by this album's dense and sleazy atmosphere as many others, but I certainly recognise how unique it is. Tremendously composed and orchestrated, but it sounds kinda creepy, and not in a good way. I recently listened to Gainsbourg's first few albums and I must say, I enjoyed those much more. Key tracks: L'Hotel Particulier

This + David Bowie = Pulp. I dug it but I'm glad I couldn't understand the words.

Seems like a soundtrack, pretty funky but I dont like all of the spoken word stuff

Not on the Epstein files

Sacré Serge et ses satanés fantasmes de déculotter des mineures!

Meh

it's okay i like his 50s stuff a bit more

I don't speak French and I'm not familiar with Serge Gainsbourg so it's difficult for me to comment on the lyrical content of this album. Perhaps it's ironic, maybe it's sincere, or it could be deliberately provocative, it's difficult to tell without the right cultural context. That being said, this album SOUNDS great. It has funky bass lines and groovy instrumentation. And it is mixed incredibly well. As a concept album, it has long, sprawling instrumental passages, recurring motifs and genre changes. He put a lot more effort into it than most english-language concept albums. My 4 star rating is based almost entirely on the musicality of the album.

Actually interesting instrumentals, although the French crooning got old kinda fast. Unique as I would want a concept album to be, at the cost of being off-putting sometimes

This album has elicited everything it was designed to elicit. It's whole frame is to make you want to retreat into the safety of moral offense or intellectual superiority, neither of which takes on the album as a whole. Though trying to be the sophisticated person who understands how to be both morally disturbed and aesthetically pleased may be yet another temptation. But even if I grant that it dies everything it wants to do well, one of the things it wants to do is dare me to like it despite its subject matter, and that feels crummy. So, I'll thread the needle on it, I guess.

And now, a running diary of listening to Histoire De Melody Nelson for the first time in February of 2026 in the United States: [Track 1, 4:10] Oh wow, this is hitting all my sweet spots. Is this one of my new favorite albums? It's so lush and moody. That bass guitar belongs in a museum. [5:29] I wonder what he's talking about. Knowing Gainsbourg, it's probably scandalous. [6:18] This album is about what now? Oh wow. Big yikes. [Track 2, 1:02] Am I a terrible person for loving this? Do I need to turn this off right this minute? Not an hour ago, I was infuriated by the latest Epstein file stuff. This is beyond the pale … right? [Track 3, 0:30] I'm really curious what people make of this album. [Track 4, 0:46] 1001 listeners are all the way out, which is justified and righteous. Critics and musicians seem to totally embrace this, though admittedly not recently. Oh, wait, here's a 2020 article. Nope, still on board. Apparently, it's embraced musically and is what it is. Also, this (obviously, in hindsight) influenced a lot of my favorite bands. [Track 5, 1:02] It appears that the woman on the cover / providing some of the vocals was 24 when they recorded this. Thank goodness. [Track 6, 0:18] Goodness this music rules. Should I buy this on vinyl? Should I clear my browsing history? [1:32] Wait, what are these shrieking and laughing sounds? [2:04] Oh I see. Uh... what the actual f*ck? [Track 7, 2:05] If this were in English, I would likely have turned it off. But since it’s in French, I’m mostly just riding on vibes. And my goodness the vibes... [6:41] I feel dirty. But also, I want to listen to this many times. What kind of rating am I giving this? Five stars? In this political climate? On an internet site that will be archived under my own name? You have to do an awful lot of caveating and twisting yourself in knots to give this a bunch of stars. It'd be easy to pretend this is some artistic cautionary tale ala Lolita, but (as far as I know) Nabokov and Kubrick weren’t writing a fantasy story of something they demonstrably wanted, as evidenced in their life stories. Then again, docking it down to virtue signal also feels antithetical to my whole schtick (though, admittedly, I am morally repulsed by it, so I’d at least be signaling something based in reality). I can't deny that musically, this was one of my favorite 30 minutes of this whole project. I also can't deny that I feel icky.

***an easy listening album

Mey

I don’t think this pedo album should be on the list.

Greatest french language pop album, spoken french Ballad of melody nelson

So did we all get this album this week to mark more of the Epstein files dropping? I feel bad for liking it as much as I do because the concept behind this album is truly reprehensible, but some of the music is gorgeous.

Sjovt album - lidt langt

concept album français : ok alors imagine un pointeur

A very small dose of Bohemian cool that doesn’t age super well.

No. 359/1001 Melody (2x) 3/5 Ballade de Melody Nelson 3/5 Valse de Melody 3/5 Ah Melody 4/5 L'hotel paritculier 3/5 En Melody 2/5 Cargo culte (2x) 3/5 Average: 3,0 Concept albums are always interesting. This one didn't fully click with me.

I surprisingly listened to this before and it just makes me feel like i’m in a cafe in paris. Crossaint and Bread. but i do not understand a lick of french i did enjoy the album and the instrumentals. I cant really speak on the lyrics…. Im pretty sure it’s a story about a lady named Melody Nelson and it’s very beautiful. French is a beautiful language i will say but i have nothing else to say but a 8/10

Decent 2,5

He sounds like a French Leonard Cohen.

If i could give this 0 I would. OK its kind of arty, probably best as an installation in a modern museum with flashing images, preferably nowhere near me.

I like the French language except when it is being sung at me and a creepy low pitch that makes me feel like I'm about to be assaulted

It sounds... fine? It definitely sets an atmosphere but not one I particularly love. Nothing special really regarding everything else, doesn't convince me of anything.

This one is tough to rate after about who Melody Nelson is meant to be. I'm almost glad I don't understand French.

Franchement bon album pour rentrer dans la discographie de Serge Gainsbourg, je trouve que le coté album à thème lui réussi très bien en plus alors c'était très agréable à écouter

Well, I wanted to rate this a 3 or 4, but then I read the album description. Bummer.

382/1089 - Drums are incredible on this. The con sordino strings sound very French (Gee, I wonder why???) and distinct. Not a fan of the talk singing and microphone eating. After looking at the subject matter, I'm once again convinced that the French are a nation of perverts (sometimes I do pay attention to lyrics!), but other than that it was pretty good.

The music was great but the album being a story about a middle aged man in a relationship with a 14 year old girl ain't it

Annoying singing about a disturbing topic with righteous guitar?

Did not listen based on the subject matter.

As you’ve probably saw from the other one star reviews…yeah…this is a no for me dogg. Music was ok, but the lyrics and subject matter, that’s a different story

Non. Non non non. Ceci est pas acceptable, je suis même pas désolé. Non non non.

Massively cool. Need more time with it but yes

Distasteful, given its subject matter . This album shouldnt be on here

ok French! quite beautiful and took me back to all the years I took French in high school. Might become one of my study albums!

I didn’t understand anything but i didn’t need to, it spoke for itself 🥹

Is this really an album to listen to before you die???! No.

Too much talking and weird.

Slam poetry before his time. Somewhat interesting, but I think Melody should get a restraining order!!

This is cunty. A lot of the instrumentals are so good that idegaf that I have no clue what he’s saying.

vocals were way too front and center and a bit too much for my taste.

Great!

Not sure what to make of this. His voice is seductive, the music okay....

Can you be MeToo'd for listening to an album? My French is too basic to understand what's being said. But the one thing I know about Serge Gainsbourg is, while he was a louche bon vivant back in 1971, these days we'd call him a creep. To wit: 1) The 1,001 book describes this as a "gloriously seedy concept album exploring the author's fascination with the unattainable teen heroine." 2) There's topless Jane Birkin on the cover made to look like an apple-cheeked child, clutching her doll. The album is supposedly from the POV of Gainsbourg's even skeevier alter-ego, "Gainsbarre." However you wanna dress this up, I'm guessing it's problematic. And it's not as if the music compensates for that. "En Melody" is pretty great, especially the bass, as is "Cargo Culte." But Gainsbourg does the same shtick in every song. Can I get a version without him?

In reading the wiki article on Serge, I was led to the French tv broadcast of a bunch of young boys dressed up as him singing to him while he cried, which was more interesting than this album. Maybe bc I don't understand French. He seems like the musical incarnation of Pepe Le Pew, and there is something to be said for that. Mercifully short.

Amazing. Also melody is from Sunderland which is a great fact. One of my favourite albums

long songs. i don’t speak french

Perfect for the days when you just need to hear a whispery French man and a sexy-sounding lady saying her own name once in a while. ...okay so after reading the reviews, apparently the "lady" is actually an underage girl, ugh. Very disappointing.

THE FRENCHMAN

this is so amelie coded

Não me agradou.

This was much better than I was expecting. The 2nd side of bonus tracks is unnecessary, but the original tracks flow together seamlessly. Musically, its a break from the other Serge Gainsbourg music I've heard. More psychedelic, funk, and rock focused than his other music. It works well, even with him speak-singing over the tracks. Overall, quite good.

Ignoring the lyrics and vocals, this would get a high score from me. The orchestral instrumentation is lush, giving an atmospheric tone and telling it's story. These are clearly astutely arranged songs. The drums also have a 90s trip-hop feel in places, giving the music a pleasing groove. The subject matter of the lyrics is troubling of course, though. Like why did she even have to be 15? He could've written this story without the paedophilic element. I read that Serge Gainsbourg is celebrated for his braveness to write provocative and controversial songs. Fine, but if the target of your provocation is people who think it's bad to rape a child, then I daresay that's not a good thing. It's not even a "separate the art from the artist" thing, where he's writing about a subject matter to shed light on it or to say it's a bad thing. Given he wanted to have sex with his daughter when she was 12, he doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt here He gets 1* and can get in the bin

Fuck this stupid L’Oréal Paris advert sounding album

An album in an unfamiliar language will always be one I struggle to attach to. Musically, it’s actually pretty solid. But it’s just spoken word French, from a guy who sounds like a creep. Then I found out Melody is supposedly 14 in this, while the narrator is 20 years older. Yeah, not for me.

Pan baguette

It makes me uncomfortable but I can see the appeal.

Just dig out the video of this man with Whitney Houston. Talented yes. Dirty old filthy pervert? Also yes. Interesting listen and an undeniable talent. Even if it did go to his head.

1001misogynistsgenerator delivers again!! backing band is alright in places. middling Can smothered by boring strings. to make sure that it's a chore to have on, all that gets drowned by sleazy French. I don't speak French, but the summary seems to be: guy hits a teen girl with his car. gets obsessed with teen girl. has sex with teen girl at a secret hotel. so that there need not be any reflection or reckoning, she dies tragically in a plane crash. guy can go on to be a regular shithead (Deeply Tortured by Desire) and nobody has to know. it forms the base of our pile here on 1001misogynistsgenerator, the pile of songs by guys who think their creep behaviour is tortured & deep. the songs in this pile outnumber the songs with a woman performer. tonight I'm going to see Sour Widows, who fuckin rock (2024's Revival Of A Friend is a 10 ★). they have a brutal song about the normalized entitlement rockers have toward young women that gets the heart of the thing in one line: "𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 / 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦" at the quiet part it goes "𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵" which is more provocative, more musically and culturally interesting than a whole career of Serge Gainsbourg. by contrast the only thing that makes me go "woah holy shit" about Historie De Melody Nelson is "holy shit what a fucking loser." nihilism is dull you coward. music: hated.

“Hon hon hon hon! C’est la rôque du pédophilie! Ouain!” I’m glad I didn’t find this musically more than middling, because I was going to write that either way.

Nope.

Don’t really understand why this is in the 1001 albums??

Let's address the elephant in the room. First, the 1944 novel Gigi, turned into a highly celebrated movie, won a record breaking 9 Academy Awards including best picture. An even more risqué novel, the 1955 Lolita, is a controversial story that is considered a masterpiece by many in the literary community. The 1962 adaptation currently has an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Point being, this was a different time in our culture, and neither story celebrates pedophilia. They are revered because of their ability to examine the complexity of the human condition. That brings us to Melody. While it is a cringe worthy storyline with a graphic and unnecessary hotel scene, the style of storytelling, with the musical backdrop, is undeniably captivating and creative.

Tiene algo mágico Gainsbourg

not the biggest fan

One word: Insupportable. There's no melody in melody and the vocals are a guy talking.

Having never heard this record before, imagine my surprise when I'm hearing its influences on Pulp, Portishead, Beck, and beyond. It's a spectacular album and this is exactly why I am doing this challenge.

5/5 - amazingly orchestrated

*The topic doesn't exactly hold up well *It has cool instrumental parts, but its often just the guy talking over it *Probably would give it a 2.5 if that was possible.

This album is about pedophelia. Is there anything else that needs to be said?

This is just a gross French dude talking over some bad 70s porn music. Apparantly it's about underage girls, too. Yuck.

No va

Great music in the background to a guy telling the story of being a nonce in French

Non Merci

Dimery y'a envie de nuire comment ça tu mets cet album pour nous représenter, un album expérimental qui traite de pédophilie ; comment veux tu que ces golems d'anglosaxons comprennent qqchose. L'album est pensé un peu comme un film, avec pas mal de poésie. Le frérot arrive à créer une vrai atmosphère, autant envoutante que dérangeante en décrivant une pulsion aussi honteuse qu'indéfendable. Musicalement c'est très bien produit, parfaitement au service de la narration de l'album. Le seul problème de ce genre d'album, c'est que la réécoute est pas si simple, les sons s'écoutent pas tant que ça individuellement, l'album est un tout indivisible. Chat : Histoire de Melody Nelson (1971) est un album-concept où Gainsbourg raconte, en spoken word, l’histoire sombre et ambiguë d’un homme qui s’éprend d’une adolescente, jusqu’à une fin tragique. Il est important car il impose en France une forme d’album narratif très moderne, à la fois provocant et littéraire, devenu culte. Musicalement, c’est un mélange unique de groove (basse/batterie), de rock/funk feutré et d’arrangements de cordes très cinématographiques (Jean-Claude Vannier). Sa production minimaliste et hypnotique a influencé durablement la pop, le trip-hop et l’électro. Un disque court mais extrêmement dense, pensé comme un film sonore

this was an interesting listen, but i would never listen to this again. however, my top three songs were: - valse de melody - ah melody - l’hotel particulier

beautiful voice, i don’t speck french but it sounds soo good aghhhh. The melodies at the start of the songs are so catchy!

i really like the instrumentation on this. its a shame the best songs are either super short or backed by a french guy whispering sweet nothings into my ear. i don't mind sexy music but this jus making me uncomfortable. good album but its not for me

This is the first and probably going to be the only 70s French pop album I listen to.

It's not very good musically and the "concept" behind the album makes me question why this was ever made

Super cool, loved the vibes, no idea what they were really on about although I know enough French to recognise a few words and keep the intrigue up.

Meh

Who doesn't love an album about child sexual abuse? Fortunately, I don't remember enough French to know the lyrics. So my rating is based just on the music and melody. Which was engaging enough. I'm not likely to revisit this, but it had its groove.

My god. Awful.

didn't rlly like it

bass line ok??!?! it was last weekend of septemba...... vibes. bae idk what ur saying!!!!! Ah melody kinda cute? IDK WHAT UR SAYING THO !!!!! i dont understand why this is top 1001 albums. i think i've heard better than this? idk? melody prise complete kinda fire wtv... yayyyy it's almost over en melody was fun, alex G would write this lol

what an opening track! Musically I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was great listening from start to finish. I am a music first, lyrics second person, so the fact that lyrics were in French did not really matter to me, I found the music captivating with a lovely contrast between slow and melodic and then the frantic guitars thrown in. en Melody was the standout track. I do not necessarily have a desire to own this record but it was captivating enough for me to say 3, maybe 4 stars.....Then I looked at the reviews and discovered what the lyrics are about. sigh. Rating the music 3.5 stars. rating the person 0 stars. on a side note, there is a lot of hypocrisy here from reviewers who will overlook popular artists who have had historically raped girls under 18 and dismissed it in the name of "it was the 70s" or any other such excuses. Every scenario is despicable. If you want to stand on a high horse then be consistent

Don't know French, but this kicks serious ass. Probably 4.5 for me

between this album and the incest song with his daughter….anyone tried ctrl + f’ing mr. gainsbourg in the epstein files?

Kinda classic, fun to try to understand my french!

Not My thing at all.

With my limited understanding of French, I didn't get many of the lyrics, but when you consider the pedophilic theme, I'm pretty sure I'm glad I didn't. I did like the music as a narrative element to whatever disturbing story was being told.

Instrumentation and musical composition were often (but not always) compelling. But the vocals were tonally unpleasant and lyrically disgusting.

Kind of interesting, but kind of weird. I feel like maybe there is another album of his that I’d enjoy more.

An ok album, I appreciate the music that it influenced tho! Prob won’t go back and listen, but it’s a low 2 for me. Didn’t hate it entirely

DUDE! This is a must listen. Trip-hop before trip-hop was cool. The basslines creep into your spine and force your head to bob. Serge Gainsbourg's voice is DRIPPY. So smooth over the bassline, enhancing it, just slipping in there, delivering the lines. This is an album you'll want to keep in your back pocket. It's all in French, and one day I hope to become fluent enough to understand all of it. My Rating: 5/5. I'd give it 10, but I can't.

Not for me

kinda weird. the bass sounds great.

I didn't pay enough attention in French class in secondary school. Which works to this album's advantage. If I could understand what Serge is saying, I feel it would only go against this album, and its incredibly creepy concept. So, I'll stick with ignoring what he's singing about and concentrate on the music instead. The opening track "Melody" is absolutely brilliant, and by far the best on the album. The orchestration works so well with the fragmented, stabbing guitar playing, sounding like something from a 2000s alt rock record. In fact, to be more specific, sounding absolutely identical to Beck's "Paper Tiger", which is, it turns out, no coincidence. Despite being released in 1971, this feels like an album well ahead of its time. You can hear its influence lingering, and not just with Beck. The blend of beats, guitar and orchestration brings Portishead to mind. Serge's breathy spoken-word vocals were clearly an inspiration for Jarvis Cocker. Then there's the guitar sound. Vic Flick's guitar work doesn't just feel like it's inventing a genre of "alt rock" 30 years in advance, it feels like it could have been released in the late nineties to early 2000s and would fit right in. I'm not fully convinced that he didn't actually travel back in time to play on this album. I hear aspects of Johnny Greenwood, Adrian Utley and Mick Harvey in the use of guitar across these tracks: scattered, raw, and at times just doing it's own thing. It often acts as percussive texture, bringing frenzied energy to the compositions, rather than a more traditional solo melody. For all its brilliance, Histoire de Melody Nelson is not an easy or comfortable listen. Its deeply unsettling concept lingers in the atmosphere. But musically, it's brilliant: influential, innovative, and decades ahead of its time. Just make sure your French is as bad as mine.

Really enjoyed super cool and jazzy

Meh

5.7/10

2/10 Favourite: Melody Least Favourite: En Melody

the guitar sections are alright but apart from that I don't really like plus I don't know French and they aren't really signing

This could be the best album ever made, but I’ll never know because the subject revolts me and I refuse to validate it even in the tiniest way by downloading it. I am thankful that the 70’s are receding into the distance.

Some cool grooves and sounds to be found on here (especially in the accompanying choir in the later track) but my ear absolutely detests the horny french ASMR loaded within here. It's honestly a shame, as the concept and surrounding elements could make for something I'd really enjoy.

A french language album on here? Unexpected This one plays more like an EP than a full album. Groovy instrumentation, no clue what he's saying (though I have some guesses and I'd assume he's pretty horny). I can see how this had a big impact on French music going forward because I can hear it in the work of Air, etc.

It was fine. I see the vision, and I can appreciate the significance Serge Gainsbourg has in the artistic community as a whole. mighta just caught me on an off day

No. I love the sound of it but now I know the story and the lyrics and it dropped completely off. I can't get past the artist to the art. But also the art lyric- wise also sucks, so there's that.

Fette pedo aber susch banger album

Very interesting and pleasant music

lmao. Amusing thanks. Also not bad? French ASMR but at least his voice is ok. Valse de Melody is ok? Will we have Supergeil by Der Tourist on the list.

This album is weird as fuck. The premise is gross, and it’s so odd that someone would create a concept album about falling in love with a child. That said, the composition of this album is really beautiful. I think going into this album without any knowledge of the artist, subject matter, or lyrics would be a huge benefit. There are some really beautiful parts, but the singing/talking can severely detract at some points.

This is one time where not being able to understand the language would have been very helpful. Unfortunately, Wikipedia exists and filled in the gaps of what was actually being creepily whispered in this album. The instrumentals on this album are really well done, and the only reason this album gets a two, but the content of the lyrics is so damn gross.

If you've ever wondered what a french man using ASMR to seduce a 15 year old girl sounds like, boy have I got the album for you!

Ouh ouh ouh, rather listenablé oui oui baguette viva la revelucion

I thought my French comprehension skills were decent. Apparently, my French comprehension skills are not decent. And so the pedo content went in one ear and out the other. Fine by me. The music was fun but the vocals were not my thing.

Es bastante interesante y te atrae, pero no sé si sea por el idioma

I couldn’t handle this creepy shit. The subject matter is vile, and the dude spends most of his vocal time just fucking talking. Not too mention the moments where you hear Melody… nope, fuck this asshole, and the author for even including this 0 / 5

I liked this once, but I would never listen again.

I’ve known about Serge Gainsbourg for about 25 years now, but this is my first time listening to one of his albums from start to finish. He’s truly incredible. This album has such a strong mellotron presence, giving it lush orchestral arrangements that bring out that baroque and chamber pop vibe. You also get some psychedelic rock touches and these raw, gritty guitar riffs that even flirt with a proto punk sound. The entire album is sung in French, and all those musical elements I mentioned are layered on a French pop foundation. The production is fantastic, with the bass especially standing out. This is definitely one of those albums you want to listen to with headphones to really appreciate all the sound layers. If the rest of his catalog is as solid as this, Serge Gainsbourg might just work his way into being one of my favoritesi. 5/5

Creepy and French on Christmas Eve

Just because a thing is about a thing, it isn't necessarily a proponent of that thing. Come on guys, Lolita is not pro-paedophilia. Anyway, Serge is a big pest. 5 stars.

love serge and his co-vocalist just ululating. experimental and fresh. its what you need to feel weird and breathy. whisper at me frenchman, whisper.

Premier chose premier, je pense que j'ai prefere Histoire De Melody Nelson apres de decouvrir plus. By which I mean to say, first things first, I think I preferred Histore De Melody Nelson before I discovered more. It turns out it's a concept album about a man and a 15 year old. No thank you. It's a shame, because it's not unpleasant musically, and while the vocal stylings are a bit de trop, it's relatively enjoyable. A solid three for the music, loses a bit for the Lolita ick.

This was a weird album. I was going to make the comment this dude was obsessed with Melody. Good for him. Then I read who Melody is, for this album, and now I'm just weirded out period. What the hell man? Apparently, Trump has made pedophile acceptable. Well at least among Republicans and the MAGA group. Maybe he should invite this dude to play at the Kennedy Center. A packed house of PedoRepublicans for sure.

1 Aww, a meet-cute love story about a guy and a girl named Melody! Just like me and my Melody, how ado- OH. OH MY GOD. WTF IS THIS. Turns out, Serge be the kind of guy that would get along quite well with our president. As someone who subjected themself to a film class in college, this largely feels like a byproduct of the French New Wave movement, an era of creative expression that has never really clicked with me (though shoutout to La Jetée). Like, cinephiles hail Breathless as some kind of magnum opus of the genre, and yet it’s just 90 minutes of a dude trying to convince a girl to have sex with him. But boy oh boy, this makes that look like VeggieTales. Come on, what is this? Musically, it’s bland, performatively, it’s pretentious, and topically… if the first two points weren’t bad enough, the pedophilic storyline makes this 1000x worse. Every time I had to hear “Melody” whisper her name to the narrator (suspiciously based on the 42-year old Serge), I cringed. The instrumental moments towards the end were mildly enjoyable, but then once the provocative noises started, and I realized what the name of the penultimate track was… no. Just no. This is exactly the kind of thing I feel like people would point to to say, “Hey, great art is supposed to be shocking”, but I’m not buying it. Tell me it’s just like the old man in that book by Nabokov all you want; it doesn’t make it any better. I don’t like to think of myself as a judgmental person, but if I saw that you owned a copy of this album, I would probably raise an eyebrow. Musically enjoyable or not, I think you really have to ask yourself what inspires someone to write something like this - the cover is a half-naked child covering herself with a doll for crying out loud. Fortunately, the model was his real life—adult—partner, but I still find it weird she was talked into this. One of the biggest “wtf” albums on this list so far. I’m off to go clear my search history and take a shower.

Wow! Glad I read some background on this one prior to listening. Actually, I really didn't need any of that background to feel upset and creeped out by this entire record. Despite the music being actually really enjoyable. There is a BIG caveat here though. There is a difference between an autobiographical admission of paedophilia and a dorky French guy essentially being the first edgelord. I believe the term was "provocateur." From a guy who recorded a song about incest with his TWELVE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER, this is pretty tame. I don't know. It all reads as so "Are you TRIGGERED yet??" Either way, more musically interesting than most of the shit we hear, but pretty indefensible lyrically. If it were more understandable to me, I'm sure I'd be the "triggered soy boy" that Serge was trying "pwn" back before it was cool. Tabarnak. 2 HIGHLIGHTS: Still believing Anthony Kiedis is worse than this

Instrumentalne velmi zaujimave ale neni moj styl

Nao da nao

Vibes: 0/5 Instruments: 3/5 Production: 1/5 Emotional Value: 0/5 Storytelling: -1/5 AC: +0 Stand Outs: Ballade de Melody Nelson Overall Rating: 0.8

This is one of those albums where I feel like it happened to me rather than I listened to it. The arrangements are nice and the vocal performance is fine when he’s actually, you know, singing. I didn’t mind my listen but can’t see myself revisiting. Apparently this spins some Lolita-adjacent tale that also misses the point of the original Lolita? The 15 year old girl “consents” at a hotel and then dies in a plane crash? More research needed. 1971 was a different time I guess. Maybe it’s for the best that I don’t speak the language. I have no real idea how to rate this so I will follow my heart, which says “be honest with yourself and just give it a fucking two, dude.”

Fuck. This. In the time of Epstein and Trump, forgive me if I simply cannot separate the art from the artist on this one. Disgusting.

a french man speaking lowly in my ear.. this ain’t for me

It’s a fantastic groove, and the French spoken word adds a certain… je ne sais quoi of high brow sophistication. Just, don’t look up the lyrics.

Weird as fuck, man. Honestly, I kind of rate it. In a world where we have half stars, this is probably dead on a 3. It's still a 3 in a world without half stars, but it feels a bit unfair because it's better than most the shit I'm rating 3 stars.

Weird, it feels like I'm listening to some sort of musical French audiobook starring a mysterious and coldhearted detective in love with a woman melody. Also the detective is very hot. I don't really get it to be honest, maybe if my French was better, the music is alright, but not much more than that. He really did appear to be 'en melody'. 40/100 Score edited 28/01/26

Felt like I was listening to French ASMR. Some good instrumental bits from time to time but certainly nothing special. Perhaps good for those who speak French, or who take the time to understand it. But even then, the way the story is delivered simply didn't interest me.

interesting enough that i gave it multiple listens Would I listen again: Yes Deserves to be on this list: Maybe 3.9

Couldn’t understand a word the guy said.

When I saw French pop I immediately assumed there would be some scratchy voiced Frenchman sounding French and there was and it was great and so was the rest of it.

It's gonna be a big, fat NO from me dawg. A man talking seductively in French a little too close to the microphone about his lust for a 14 year old girl is not exactly what I'd call "enjoyable" to say the least. It is a shame because the music itself is quite ahead of its time, with many of the arrangements, particularly Cargo culte being very progressive. I suppose if they weren't there would be no reason for this album to be remembered. Some people can put the subject matter aside and just enjoy the music, and I applaud them for that; I suppose it's not much different from listening to Black Metal if you're not a pagan. I think the album is just far too sexual for me to be able to ignore what it's really about, which makes it nearly impossible to enjoy for me. Sure, it inspired a bunch of future musicians and was way ahead of it's time, I'll give it props for that. But will I say I like this album or listen to it ever again? Non.

Ok so the storyline is creepy, duh. But so is the narrator's voice eughhh! That said, there are creepy spoken-word esque songs that I do like, I'm thinking about Velvet Underground and Black Box Recorder and such. Maybe if I spoke French I would have a higher opinion of this album. Actually, the plot is pretty easy to follow since the album is so short, but I think the issue is just that. It doesn't seem that novel or interesting. Maybe there are clues to metacommentary or storytelling nuances I am missing that would make this more of a literary experience. I do really enjoy the sort of plodding, sultry music, the bass is similar to Portishead, who I love for similar qualities. But every time she whisper-speaks "Melody," I cringe!

Beautiful, esoteric and oh so French.

Not for me.

Good album?

Crazy how this sort of thing was just cool with everyone. YUCK.dotcom

yup, that was a concept album

Very French

Nice string arrangements cannot justify the absolutely repulsive concept of this record. Even the album cover is borderline CSAM. Anyone who enjoys this record should be placed on a watchlist honestly...

Its french jazz? Cafe idk french

Soft French

French expeirmental

8/10

I didn’t love the ASMR of his voice deep in my ear canal, but overall pretty good album!

Not my style.

Yes, interesting music and beautifully produced. Can't help think about the sort of person that would write about falling in love with a 14 year old though.

is this even an album

Moi, je n'aimais pas. It's a shame he wasn't singing about something else, because I quite liked the music.

There are some tinkly tunes in the background that are quite cute but everything else is deeply irritating.