Olympia 64

This was interesting. Very Wes Anderson.

Dynamic performer, but ultimately not really my style.

ja eri kieltä... ei suomen kieltä... mitä? ai ranskaa taas... ok... ihan kivalta kuulosti.. oli meikän luokalla samanlailla lausui ärrät kun tämä ukko...marssi sen jälkeen suoraan puhevikaisten luokkaan... amsterdam

French crooning. I feel like I'm listening to the next godfather soundtrack. Not horrible by any stretch, but not something I'm interested in apart from it being a curiosity

Jeez the crowd frickin loves this guy! I mean they're absolutely popping off, there's an applause break every time he mentions Amsterdam or puts on a silly voice! And I can't blame em! We're all just silly guys searching for validation! Brel! Olympia! Fave track: Amsterdam

Wish that I spoke French so I could understand what sounded like quite dramatic and theatric storytelling in these songs. A really terrific voice that really pulls you into some tracks, and some fun instrumentation as well. Some of the more polka-ish ones I found hard to connect to and overall this record didn't excite me a huge amount. To be fair - I never would have heard this album if it didn't come up here. And apparently Scott Walker did many covers of this musician in English which I enjoy. I'm sure Jacques Brel is a seminal figure in Belgian and French cultural history, 3 stars for me on this listen. Fave track: Le Play Pays

Ik versta dan wel niets van de lyrics maar het klinkt gezellig. Mocht ik ooit een eigen bedrijf beginnen dan wordt dit de wachtrij muziek. Hoop dat er niet gezongen wordt over een heel heftig onderwerp. Dat maakt de wachtij namelijk wel een beetje grimmig.

Zou het niet snel aanzetten maar dit zijn natuurlijk echte klassiekers. Het album is van ver voor mijn tijd, maar toch geeft het een soort nostalgisch gevoel. Wel jammer dat het een Belg is.

Livealbuum van de ook in Nederland geëerde Belgische chansonnier Jacques Brel. Krachtige nummers, maar het album gaat - zoals met de meeste chansons - na een tijdje op de zenuwen werken. leukste nummer: Amsterdam Brel was een van de inspiraties voor Stromae, en dat is met terugwerkende kracht te horen in het album.

Hard not to be swept away by the tremendous momentum. Now show to fidget with mood and tempo, and the snatches I understand are nice. I think I get it.

This one took me all the way back to my childhood. It sounds exactly like being at my grandmother's house. Mr. Brel has an incredible voice and he delivers these songs with a particularly French zeal that I quite enjoyed. The songs, however, are a mixed bag. Some are great and some are sooo cheesy. No amount of amazing delivery from Mr. Brel is going to save those cheeseball tracks. The pendulum swung pretty widely for me throughout this album so I think I have to average it out at a three.

Pleasant album. Certainly the end of an era in music.

I understood 1/3 of the lyrics but I loved the French pop style. Brel’s voice was lovely & melodic.

Il est belge, mais il chante en français, donc je n'ai compris qu'une grande partie de ce qu'il a chanté. Cela sonne très bien, mais assez démodé. Je l'ai aimé, mais je ne l'ai pas adoré. 3 étoiles

Man, this guy is French af. Amsterdam had me hype, the rest was fine.

Hard to rate given language and time period.

Great album. Didn't expect it, but really liked listening to these very well performed songs.

I actually think his Olympia concert in ’66 is even better.

I dont know what this guy is saying, but I do know he feels strongly about it

fuck the french

Gallic concentrate.

bad tab mate?

The music and liveness only amount to a morsel, but Brel's voice has a texture to it. Not at all what I expected given the legacy, but something to respect if not immediately revisit. The audience was into it more.

Ratatouille soundtrack type of album. It was pretty chill and had the spotify radio on after for like 3 hours in the cat, but would never be my top 5 go to genres at this point in life. Curious to see who he is though and who was influenced by him

3.5/5

This is French music at its most typical, strong vocal, accordion and a piano. I have no idea what he is singing about but it’s rhythmical and paints a very French picture.

I have no business reviewing but I like his inflections

Pas mal. Il a trop de passion.

I didn't mind this album. Unlike some people, I don't care that it's in another language and that doesn't detract from my experience with it. I hoped that I'd like this album a bit more, but the songs kinda blended together and didn't do too much to catch my attention. Also, as a side note, some of the clapping is really grating with headphones. My favourite song was probably Les Toros Avec Final, but barely any of the songs stuck out to me.

this wasn't that good

it’s cool but it doesn’t touch my heart

Great singer, enjoyable I’m sure even more if you can speak French.

All I can think about is the Animaniacs making fun of Jerry Lewis.

Have no idea what he was singing about but what ever it was he meant it.

French Chanson always gets me nostalgic of an era that I haven't actually known. This music smells like drama and wine, but this particular album didn't do much for me. I mean it's good but this is far from being one of my Brel favorites.

There's plenty of wonderful Brel's albums out there and they still decided to recommend a badly recorded live album of 8 of his "okay" songs. Brel is incredible, but seriously, what's wrong with list?

It seems like the author of this book just google french singer, then randomly click on a live album and select this one for the book. It just a basic show that was record, nothing that stand out and that really gave the credit that Brel deserve.

Jacques Brel is a truly amazing French singer and he has several great songs to his credit. Given that the record present on this list is a live album, I expected that we would feel something special in this live album... Strong emotions, a particular contact with the public or an unusual energy. Unfortunately, it remains rather cold throughout. As long as that, I would have taken a studio album by Brel instead.

Certainly was enthusiastically French. I can dig it.

What a great performer! He’s so dramatic and expressive. I wish I understood what he was singing about though. Since the focus is mostly on his vocals and charismatic performance, I’m sure there are funny, witty, and romantic lyrics in French that I’m missing. A lot of songs even sound like show tunes. Still, I love this energy and I’m happy to know about this singer. I’m sure he’ll come again up at some point in my life. Hopefully I’ll have someone translating the song meanings for me. (Or maybe if I have time, I’ll try listening to a few of these alongside a translation.)

Far bigger sound than I was expecting, very surprised in a very good way. Grandiose.

I keep saying that live albums don't belong on this list - and I stand by it. But, I will say, this album doesn't sound live. It's musically simple enough that it sounds "clean" - like it could have been recorded in studio. Also, the audience is completely inaudible except for in between songs - which I think is a testament to the way in which Brel must have had them captivated. He certainly has a classic, crooner voice. He's good. The songs are pretty.

Live Albums: I've not been a lover of live albums as to me they're kinda like a cheap option (saves on studio time). Minutes of audience clapping too is a drag. There are some great artists in this category and it's a shame as there are a great many good songs not given their due. Non-English lyrics: I also think you don't necessarily need to understand the words to a song but in the case of Brel (who was primarily known for his lyrics) again it's a shame. The most you can hope for is to appreciate the tune, passion and singing ability. Maybe just the vibe of the genre? Nice to have in the background....

What do I make of this? Not really my genre or era normally, and I couldn't understand a word of course. Even so I liked it - excellent singer and, even in a language I can't speak, had classic feel.

A fun album of old French music. It's always nice hearing stuff like this.

Cool music and energy.

Chansons, sung with great enthusiasm. Le Plat Pays is still a classic, of course. Not the kind of music I regularly listen to, but it was a nice change.

I kinda liked this? but also, I'm sure I don't ever need to hear it again. 3/5

Even though I don't understand French, the singing is really powerful and emotive. It's not really my thing but enjoyable for the theatrics.

No cal ser fan de Brel per saber apreciar la seva veu portentosa, i la majestuositat de la seva interpretació, que es reflecteix de la millor forma possible en els seus mítics vespres a l'Olympia.

Una muy buena voz para un género vocal de las primeras décadas. Para entusiastas de este estilo

its like a French opera

Kunni að meta. Fer á einhverja sunnudaxchill playlista.

I can get why this is on the list, and I enjoyed it as far as being a new exposure. But I’ll never listen to this again unless it’s on some Wes Anderson movie soundtrack.

Great voice but the music was average. Need to check his other stuff

This guy's insane! Una interpretación muy sentida y alocada, me cayó mil puntos.

Bit rah-rah stereotypical soused-in-a-circus music, but the dude knows a killer chorus.

Fun

Not something I would ever have come across or even thought to seek out on my own but, despite being at best adjacent to my wheelhouse, I quite enjoyed this!

This was interesting. The opening song, Amsterdam, I know from Scott Walker and I realised I'd come across the name a few times through that. I love that song and was hoping for more like it and the rest of the album kinda doesn't deliver. He is an absolutely amazing singer but musically it just doesn't work for me.

Maybe I'd have liked one of the other 63

Ok

lekker voor de zondag en in je Franse fase

Even though I don’t understand the language. He sings with such emotion that the meaning of the song becomes clear. Not something I used to listen to, but I enjoyed this album. Favourite song: - Amsterdam

Not familiar with this artist at all. This project is bringing such excellent opportunities to my ears. Although I cannot translate the meaning and it is quite possible that Jacques is singing about mundane tasks of life, his voice and style are filled with passion. It was quite a pleasant listen, but this is not for me as far as an addition to my library, so it sits at a 3.

I’ve heard Jacques Brel songs over the years but this is my first sustained listen to an album. Good French songs. Certainly something I’d enjoy at a bistro or cafe in the background. Not really something I’ll add to my library and listen to again, but if someone played it at my next dinner party I would enjoy it. I know a little French but only enough to get the occasional gist of what he’s singing about. So I imagine a lot of the wit and emotion I hear would be even more compelling if I were more fluent. Passionate and entertaining and I appreciate having listened to this.

This one is a bit of an oddity but I weirdly kind of enjoyed it.

Definitely a mood album...! I feel like I should be smoking an unfiltered cigarette drinking coffee at an outdoor table just watching the world go by. I don't feel adequately equipped to review an album of this genre (...overly-theatrical French love songs...?) so perhaps my best review could be that this is enjoyable background music; I'm sure I enjoy it more (mostly?) because I don't understand the language - it helps Brel's aggressive voice wash amongst the instrumentation as if it were it's own complimentary instrument. Being a live album only adds to the mystique - the hall reverb, the urgent crowd responses are as important to the vibe as any other component. Somewhere roughly in the 2nd half of this album his vocals start getting....more weird? Little chirps and yelps - more akin to overacting :P although I'm sure some things are lost in translation. It gets a little annoying here and there but rarely lasts too long. Not necessarily a personal keeper only due to personal tastes but it is a worthy listen at least once - putting this on transports you to a different time and place and I could see how people love this album. 7/10 3 stars.

French 'Chanson' requires an intimate knowledge of the lyrics uttered, in addition to a sort of classical composition that tethers the record. In 'Olympia 64', the sheer musicality through Jacques Brel's voice shines through even with a lack of French understanding. Be that as it may, a fair judgment of the album still can't be attained without considering the fundamental nature of the music - in 'Chanson', the poetic essence in the lyrics which typically precedes the music.

French!

Best prima eigenlijk. En lekker kort en to-the-point ook die Jacques.

Leuk om er een keer Franstalig tussen te hebben. Weer eens iets anders.

a live album, french, 1964.... I have no idea what to expect here. Ok I have no idea what genre this is, but it's the sort of stuff that'd end up in a tarantino movie as an ironic soundtrack to a shootout or a torture scene. but it sounds exactly like you'd expect something french from the "olden days" to sound. I can't really give it much of a rating, it's too old and removed from anything else I listen to. but 3/5 because it wasn't bad or anything.

Oh, this is fun. Jacques Brel has a strong, passionate vocal. Combined with evocative musical arrangements, Brel accomplishes the not insignificant feat of making you care about what he's singing, whether you understand him or not. By the time the audience kicks in at the end of "Amsterdam," I'm ready to storm the gates for him and possibly take up smoking. That's by far the best song on the album, but unfortunately none of the other songs quite match it in energy or emotion. This was an enjoyable listen though. Fave Songs: Amsterdam, Les Vieux, Le Plat Pays

я такую дрянь не слушаю принципиально, мусор ...

french but kinda groovin

It's fine, even beautiful at times. But I don't need it and probably won't ever listen to it again.

Nice music, pretty voice, but Brel plays the game mainly on his lyrics. Even though I am learning French I am not able to understand it properly. Not even talking that near the end I was little bit bored.

Not really my kind of thing but didn’t hate it so 3 stars seems about right

Liked it

I found it hard to get past the 'frenchness' of it and just listen to it as a piece of music, which I think is partly to do with not understanding the lyrics and partly because I don't often listen to music which isn't in English. I thought it was pleasant, but I think he might have been slagging off the english in the second to last song... 🤔

Cos nowego na liscie, bo albumik live, ale to nie koniec nowosci, bo jest to tez pierwszy albumik nie anglinski czy po anglinsku, bo niemieckie grania byly, ale z angielskimi wokalami, a tutaj mamy spiewaka francuzkiego Jacquesa Brela, pierwsze slysze ale juz wiem ze to gruba ryba francuzkiej muzyki, bo przeciez kogo innego by na taka liste upchali, co do gatunku muzycznego, to jest to francuzka piosenka spiewana ktora okreslaja mianem chanson, gatunek skupia sie glownie na stronie lirycznej, wiec troche nie sposob mi oceniac muzyke ktora opiera sie na slowach rymach i typowo francuzkim stylu prowadzenia ballady muzycznej, gdzie instrumenty sa jedynie tlem na ktorym bard maluje szczesliwe male drzewka, ale sluchalo sie przyjemne i nigdzie nie bylo momentu gdzie by spiewak zaniemagal, a material 50 minutowy bez zadnych cutow piosenka po posence polaczaonce clapowaniem, wiec caly zapis koncertu tak jak byl grany, na plejaka wrzucam tango pogrzebowe, czyli tango funebre, ciekawe czy w innych jezykach podobny gatunek rowniez jest lub byl grany, bo jakos nie moge nic sobie przypomniec podobnie brzmiacego, a moze to tylko jezyk ktory az tak wplywa na odbior spiewu

An all right album

Música agradable, buena voz. Disco en vivo con lo que supongo son los éxitos del señor. Muy francés el género, chanson, suena como un paso intermedio entre la balada y el tango, llevado más por la lírica y la voz. No está mal. 2.5 estrellas que sube a 3 porque en realidad no lo odié ni nada.

al parecer los en vivo que tiene la lista van a ser muy extraños y únicos, me agradó bastante por que hasta coincidió que me estaba rasurando y me sentí en barbería antigua. Me imagino que fue un show en un lugar pequeño y muy intimo

Interesting. Pretty good and apparently gets covered a lot. Investigate more.

Well, I don't speak French, so there's that. Putting that aside, the album has a great feel to it, if you're in the mood for it. Luckily, this morning, I was. The album is not one I would reach for very often, but I wouldn't turn it off either. 3 stars.

Interesting and decent but nothing else

Spotify. Interesting listen but nothing stood out

Not really into baroque or circus-style percussion so not a huge fan.

Kinda strange French cabaret vibe.

V rámci francúzskych šansónov sa to dá...

Fine? Just very much not my thing

I did not understand the words. I sounded very romantic. Reminded me of Lilly Malane being sung on Hogan's Heroes.

So Jacques Brel is known as a “master of the modern chanson”. A chanson is a lyrically driven French song. So this may be a great album of chanson but if you don’t know French (me) it kind of just sounds like a guy reading poetry while a band plays next door. Most of the album the music is almost nonexistent, when the instruments are more forward in the mix the songs aren’t bad, but when it’s mostly a guy talk singing in French it’s not much fun to listen to. It’d be like listening the odyssey in Greek, it may be a classic tale but if you don’t understand the language it’s nothing but noise.

I really tried. This has a very classic sound, and if I were a different person, I could see why it's on the list. I can't do it, though.

Nah not for me. Maybe if I spoke French.

The world's first French rapper.

Its hard to enjoy or rate without knowing what's going on

Lost in translation

Why

Hot take of the day- French is not a beautiful language. This is not my jam. Mercifully short

This is the most French person ever

Bro it's french

I really wanted to love this but the vocal performance just didn’t grab me. Theatrical in the wrong way. Possibly also the mix on the vocals.

Почему на меня кричит француз?

I usually listen to to these albums at least a couple of times to give the music a chance to catch on.I only listened to this one once. He’s very talented but I just know it’s not my thing. I probably sound like uncultured swine but during the second song on the album I couldn’t help but think of that French chef from The Little Mermaid.

I liked the opener - Amsterdam - that had some energy to it. Thereafter it was a bit too chatty / cabaret for me - and as my french is dog shit i had no idea what was going on so all the wit in the lyrics was lost on me. He has an interesting voice tho. 2 feels harsh but I will not be listening again.

Free me from this prison

- I don't tend to like live albums, but the sound isn't terrible, except for the annoying cheering. It's really distracting - the weird order where the encore clapping happens near the start. - His voice holds up on this, I think. I just don't find it as great as some of the crooners, but it was pleasant enough, and definitely emotive and expressive. - The first song feels a little bombastic for me - almost nationalistic, which, no thanks. The cheering definitely adds to that at the end. - The second song takes it to a more sentimental and sweet feeling. - I think instrumentally, the piano stands out - it's a nice, airy melodic addition. - The rest, I'm not so into - it just sounds very theatrical, and I guess that's not what I'm after. Maybe I would enjoy it more if I could appreciate the poetry/wit here, but that would take me a lot more time and energy than I have today. - Nothing really stood out as something I want to come back to.

I liked the opener - Amsterdam - that had some energy to it. Thereafter it was a bit too chatty / cabaret for me - and as my french is dog shit i had no idea what was going on so all the wit in the lyrics was lost on me. He has an interesting voice tho. 2 feels harsh but I will not be listening again.

I can only quote another listener of this list who wrote; "What I listen to while my rat cooks me dinner" Tres parfait!

Not sure why I'm supposed to appreciated 60 year old French pop music.

Terrific voice - but a whole album worth? Meh.

nicee

I love this project for introducing me to stuff outside my usual musical radar, like this. Can't say I loved this one, though. Seems from an era when the singer was really a performer, like the star of a musical. Not my stuff.

Certainly wasn't boring!

I knew Amsterdam but prefer Bowie's version. Overall not engaged with this genre.

While I appreciate the history and influence, this isn't an album I enjoyed or would listen to again.

I listened to it all, didn't more than a few lyrics, musically it didn't really do much for me either.

Interesting. Second Live album in three days (are sure this is random?). I don't really know what to say about this one. Yeh, it's good, some songs here are phenomenal. The preformens is good as well. But I don't feel like it's a special or essential live album. I hope there are studio Jacques Brel albums here, because it could be much more interesting. It's very very nice as a casual listen. But unfortunately I think I'll give it a 2.8 today. As I'm not sure this should be here.

Sounds like he's sucking grits through a garden hose. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing

this was fine but it feels very lyric focused, as someone else so eloquently put it, like a french leonard cohen. its hard to appreciate something like that in a language you dont speak so it didnt really work for me.

Cool listen, but ultimately not something I'd come back to.

Not for me, nice sounds 2*

Not for me. At least his singing is nice.

beautiful r's. my grandma loves this shit.

one of the big french chansonniers. an enigmatic album with a lot of power. i can't quite come around to like it more... it's too monotonous after a while

It's all French to me.

Fine I guess

It’s great if you want to listen to one of the songs. But if the whole album is a bit much for me. Overall not really my thing.

Mooie muziek maar zelf geen fan

Pardon my French, but what the fuck is this?? I speak a little of the language, but I'm hard pressed to see the relevance in this day and age of someone who appears to be like a French (well, Belgian) version of Dean Martin. Strong voice, but the music is oh-so-boringly-outdated and I can't really comment on the songs as I can't translate fast enough to keep up. Definitely don't see this as an essential listen unless you are very keen on the history of French contemporary music. In which case, fuck off back to your boulangerie, you poseur.

If I wanted to go to a concert by Jacques Brel, I’d time travel. But I don’t, so I haven’t.

não é a minha praia, e igual a muitos que já passaram aqui, vou me basear no que eu achei nas duas primeiras faixas e é isso aí n é pq tá nessa lista que é bom, algumas descobertas já valeram e outras eu poderia morrer sem ter escutado 2 por fins de avaliação

Didn’t really like

Very theatrical and lyric-heavy. I'm sure it has a lot more punch for fluent French speakers. His voice is a bit unconventional but he delivers a lot of emotion. Not something I'll return to but it's good to hear something so different.

Just so French it's untrue.

Not so into it. I liked Amsterdam and I was familiar with Funeral Tango through Scott Walker’s cover, which I like a lot. The rest of the album doesn’t do anything for me.

This album had too much going against it for me. The biggest two being that it's in French and that it's a live recording. There was very little likely to get me past those two issues, and the fact that a lot of the songs sound the same certainly didn't help. Not for me at all, guy is an incredible singer though.

Not sure how I feel about this album, his singing is good, but I don’t know how this genre changed the face of music. It’s very of its time and doesn’t blow me away

It feels like a hard album to judge as I don’t speak French and it’s a live album but anyway not the sort of music I listen to and not an artist that I will be seeking to listen to but the music and voice wasn’t bad so not dreadful

шансончик

It's kinda hard to appreciate a lyrics-focused genre when you can't understand the lyrics

Perfect as background music for a Parisian cafe. Nothing I really care to listen to purposefully.

I recall the phrase “Jacque Brel is alive and well” from when I was a kid. This was tolerable but I was glad it was only 28 min.

Not sure what to make of this. It was short enough but I didn’t hate it like I was expecting to. So it was raised by low expectations.

it was fine i guess? not my thing

I think Chanson works better with female vocals. This is fine, but would not seek this out if I was looking for French pop.

Not my cup of tea.

Could this be the absolute definition of french annoyance?

Different, captivating. Wish I could understand the words.

2,5 stars

Impressive energy in his singing - you can feel he means every word he sings. But the songs are uninteresting and the sound quality is not very good. The best part is that the album is quite short.

This is a review I legitimately feel guilty about cause the magic of this album (if it has any) was completely lost on me. For instance, I know he wrote a lot of the lyrics and poetry and that went into this album, which could be super powerful and moving, but I don’t speak French. I also could see how the super theatrical element to this music is especially inspiring, and I could see how an artist like this could influence somebody I really love who is also theatrical, like Bowie, but again it just didn’t click for me when I have nothing else to cling to. But I would say that’s the most impressive and interesting part of the album was the instrumentals. But again, this album’s awhile just didn’t click with me despite the obvious talent.

Would probbaly really love it if I knew what the lad was saying

It’s the wrong link here, as it should be to Olympia 64 (Live), with 15 songs 48 minutes, which makes a difference - with Au Suivant and Madeleine matching Amsterdam. I know it’s my loss in not speaking French but the stories are lost/water on me. I appreciate the atmosphere and delivery, but…

It is not my jam, but I do enjoy it enough at times. I was itching to listen to something else by the second to last song.

French Sinatra

waste of time. Same as 1000 other crooner albums of the era, BUT THIS ONE IS IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, SO COOL, PUT IT ON THE LIST.

Well, cross that one off the list.

2.5/5 Neither here nor there for me. Didn’t think it was bad, but it also kept sinking into background noise every time I tried to listen to it so it never got to good or great.

As a bit of a metal guy, I am pretty used to not understanding the lyrics, but I feel that with this, I am really missing out. That being said, it still was an enjoyable listen.

The monkeys paw really and truly unfurled with this one. I wanted a unique album that wasn’t just mediocre British Punk or American Rock, and in a sense I got it with this album. On the other hand, I didn’t really care for this album all that much. Listen, I had to give an album a 1 star review yesterday for the first time in 108 albums. I ended that review writing that “All I can do at this point is hope I get a better album tomorrow.” When I checked out the reviews on this one, I was not the happiest camper. However, it’s completely understandable why the rating is so low. I don’t speak French, and neither do a majority of the people rating these. I don’t really love the way Jacques sings here. I didn’t get much entertainment out of this one. But, it’s getting somewhat of a pass this time. Yesterday’s album was in English and I outright detested it. This one was at least fun, gracefully short, and has the built in excuse of being in a foreign language. It’s not what I’m looking for, but it’s fun. Would that be a reason that a majority of reviewers are going to rate this one pretty low?? Yeah, for sure, obviously. But, you can tell without speaking French that Mr. Brel is a talented singer, even though this isn’t really my thing at all. I think my favorite song was “Les jardins du casino”. Why?? Don’t know. Doesn’t matter. The instruments were fun enough throughout the album, and the obvious passion put into this man’s craft elevates it to at least a 2 for me. Not nearly enough for a 3, but I can at least see the reason someone from France in the 60’s would go crazy for something like this. It’s not bad, but it’s not for me, and it’s probably not for most people in general honestly. But, I can see why it’s here, even if I’d have liked another Pearl Jam album or 2 instead. This is my first experience with a “Chanson” on the site. Humorously, of the 6 listed on the site, every single one of them has a 2 star rating, which will likely end up matching my own takes on all of them if they end up sounding anything like this one. One of them is even in the bottom 20 rated albums on the website. Knowing my luck this week, I’m going to end up rolling it pretty soon, or just another Chanson in general. I can’t say I’m the most excited about any of them. The French make outstanding Electronica, but I’m not so fond of the Chanson from what little I’ve heard so far, and it would seem I’m not in the minority when it comes to that take either. We’ll see when the site decides to spring Chanson 2/6 on me so I can verify whether or not they all kind of sound like this or not. Until then, this one is a very comfortable 2 stars out of 5.

I am not a big fan of live albums but yet, I am happy that Jacques Brel was able to make his mark in a list such as this one. I think it is a short and interesting listen but I'd much rather hear the studio version in this case. 7/10 [SWAP]

Kinda fun considering i dont speak the language

As always, it’s difficult for me, who is woefully monolingual, to rate a non-English album when lyrics are the focal point if the songs. Evidently, Brel was deeply influential in France and Belgium. Unfortunately, I don’t really understand why—just that he WAS. This album didn’t offend my ears, but it seemed behind the times for the 1960s, so, perhaps unfairly, I’m giving it a 2.

I really wanted to like this more than I did, especially with Scott Walker and David Bowie such big fans. I suppose it demonstrates a certain level of sophistication to enjoy Jacques Brel, sadly a level I don't appear to have.

It’s real tough to like a big band singer when you hate the voice.

Maybe this was really high quality for its time? I’m not sure. I’ll never know. The guy has a good clear French voice, that’s as much praise as I can give. Just so so dated when it comes to listening in the 2020’s. Two points for signing about casino gardens, they’re underrated

I give Brel and his devotees the benefit of the doubt I'm missing something about this music's aesthetic quality or historical significance because I'm not a French adult in 1964 whose never heard rock n roll before. He doesn't seem like an explosively powerful performer or have a magnetic singing voice. The songwriting and instrumentation are pretty traditional. When I heard "Le plat pays," though, I did pause at its weird beauty; I feel there's SOMETHING here on this album I'm not understanding (besides the French lyrics). I think he's handsome and has a cool demeanor, so maybe I'm actually over-enchanted despite not loving most of these songs. I dunno, I'd like to think I would have been listening to jazz or Varese or something if I were a continental European in 1964.

These old live singer-songwriter albums really rely on 2 components: the singer's voice and the lyrics. Because typically, the backing instrumentation is pretty simple and just enough to be a platform for the singer. Not only that, since it's live, the instrumentation is washed out by reverb and poor recording equipment. So back to the 2 components. The singing: It was alright. Not a performance that blew me away by any means. But you can definitely feel that it packed a punch and was just odd enough to stand out. The lyrics: well I can't really comment. Because I don't speak French anymore and I can't be asked to translate this whole thing. It would be great to give some love to some of the more diverse albums here but if I'm being honest, I wasn't feeling this one. Amsterdam was probably my favorite track.

Was alright. Not really my thing.

an excellent singer, with lyrics up front, and well written. but you better be a fan of that style of what was considered pop music of the time

Belgian Nan-Rock! But seriously, there was something about Amsterdam, but in French... Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ Nan ★★☆☆☆ (3/10) Total reviewed : 222 Already owned : 50 Purchased : 11 To buy list : 3 Nope : 158

lol what is this? Why is it here? It's not bad, but a top 1,001 of all-time? French sounds so silly, especially in this context. While I know the most convenient thing would have been to record this live, but there's no live element that benefits this album over being a studio recording. The applause is distracting and makes everything a little disjointed. I was going to maybe call this album good, but I think the only good thing on this album is his vocal control. I will be glad to never listen to this again. Favorite Song(s): none

Very charming, but ultimately not my thing. I do love the Song Amsterdam, but I prefer the Scott Walker version. 3/10

I'm sure someone likes this

Huh…?

Very disjointed with songs seemingly from different concerts, and not a voice that cuts across all languages.

203/1001 Jacques Brel - Olympia 64 Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ The name isn't a new one to me, but his music is. When the music is so vocal forward and you don't understand the lyrical content, you need to love that voice to embrace it. Unfortunately, it grated on me right from the off. On the other hand, it's mercifully short at 28 minutes.

2/5 - Very much not for me. Generally not a fan of live albums but the recording seems to have been done well for this one. Easily the Frenchest album I've ever heard.

Knowing the translations for these songs won't make this any better for me. The music is playful and entertaining, but I don't find his voice anything but average... like this album.

Exhausting!

A live performance of a Belgian singer singing in French backed by an orchestral ensemble. It was OK. Like watching a very old foreign film with a scene in a restaurant or club with a band.

I could tell it was great but I didn’t love it

Absolutely great album

Good on Robert for including something non-English on the list. But this? I question the authenticity of his efforts.

This album has me feeling really indifferent. I doubt I will remember this album for anything good or bad.

OK, I feel awful giving this a bad score, because I'm sure it's all my fault. The thing he's doing with his throat sounds like the sound you make when you're pretending to speak underwater. I've been to France plenty of times, I'm aware there is a guttural aspect to the language, but for some reason, this guy bugs me. Other than that, it's pop music, which in this case is fine, I guess? But I'm not sure *why* this album must be listened to before death. So overall, I'm not sure it's bad, but I hated it and it was hard for me to listen to half an hour of guttural throat noises, so 2 stars it is.

There were 2 songs I couldn't find anywhere but i think 3/4 of this record gives me enough to judge. Musically interesting though, and i think French is a very musical language, it's hard to listen in a language I don't understand. I read along with translations so I got an appreciation for the meaning i think. Hard to give it more than 2 stars though.

Gaullist nonsense

Does nothing for me

Not something I would listen to

A period piece, and quite interesting to hear it. Clearly a guy with loads of charisma.

To quote renowned music critic Austin Powers, this sort of thing ain't my bag, baby.

Appreciate it. Millions of French can’t be wrong.

If I stay true to my thoughts about rating, I have to give this a 2. I mean it's not bad, but it's just not something I would select to put on. And TBH, it's something I would probably turn the channel on if it came in and I had control. Made especially for grandmas with plastic on their couches and covering their carpets.

No another live album! He clearly tries, but the recording quality is pretty trash. I don't know enough french to appreciate the lyricism.

Traditional pop that's limited by the confines of its tradition. Brel is great here; his vocals - especially on the opener "Amsterdam" - carry the performance. He injects every song with a dramatic flair that elevates the music. That music is pleasant, but it lacks variety. There are ballads and more upbeat tracks, but they all feel somewhat predictable. Of course the focus here is likely on the lyrics - I don't speak a lick of French but from reading about chanson the story and poetry of the lyrics seem to be the most important part of the songs. Regardless of lyrical quality, this makes for songs that are often hookless and just a vessel for those stories. And without some kind of variety, it can feel like the same song with different stories. Probably a great performance in 1964, but I would long for something exciting to happen if I were to see it today. I like the accordion though.

Thankfully a short album. At times it was ok but most of the time all I could think of was Joey Tribbiani trying to speak French.

If I was 30 years older I might like this, but I'm not and I don't. 2 stars or D.

Français en tabarnak (je sais, je sais; il est né belge). Points for the poetry, and that's about it.

France in the '60's has that classic romantic sound, but that doesn't mean it makes for good listening. Doubly so when it's a terribly mixed live album. That said, he reminds me of a French Sinatra or Martin; a crooner.

Heel dramatisch maar het heeft wel wat ofzo

French singing with piano and other instruments. Good voice but I disliked the crowd noise.

I'm sorry, I'm sure this is great but I can't take it in 😏

Very very French. Like I get it, it’s in French, it’s going to be French, but this was like cartoony level French. Besides that distracting part, I will say that this is one of the better sounding live albums I’ve listened to. Besides a couple tracks I doubt you’d even guess that it’s all live. Very dramatic at times that I could almost believe that this is a soundtrack of a musical. Not bad at all but definitely not for me unfortunately. I think my favorite track was “les vieux” but I will not be adding it to any of my playlists due to the audience noise that was discordantly loud at the beginning of the track.

Sorry, but i don't speak French

2 - No es mi estilo

Apparently a lot of the praise for this derives from the lyrics. But I'm not French, nor do I speak French, so I'm a bit buggered in that department. Therefore I can only rate the music rather than what he says, which I tend to favour anyway. I don't like his voice, the music is overly theatrical at some points and boring at others, I don't like how he's looking at me on the cover. Very generous 2, probably the most generous 2 I've given. It wasn't exactly unbearable to listen to, and I did enjoy the first song somewhat. It also is a quick listen, doesn't overstay it's welcome.

First album i've rated thats entirely sung in a foreign language (French). This isn’t my usual genre, but I can appreciate its dramatic, theatrical nature and the passion in his singing. Even without understanding the lyrics, the emotion translated. I could still feel it. What I really appreciated was how uniquely immersive it felt hearing these songs performed live rather than in a studio. The crowd, the pacing, the atmosphere it all adds to the whole album. I could picture him on stage just from the audio all through out the album. Standouts for me: Amsterdam.

1. amzterdam - 1 2. vieuz - 1.5 3. tango - 1 4. plat - 2.5 5. timidez -1.5 6. cazino - 1 7. Repas - 1.5 8. Toros -1.5

What? Okay, it's not that I dislike it or that it's in a language that I can't understand. It's just that it's soooo wordy, lyrically important and the voice is especially what the music is focused on. As an English speaker this doesn't leave me with much than a bunch of passionate syllabls. And that gets old pretty fast. For foreign music like this to work for me there has to be a really great mood and backing music. This lacks this.

Yea this one was rough. Nice enough voice. Also under 30 minutes

I suppose I am not Gallic enough (at all) to like this all that much. Monsieur can belt it out, an no doubt to the 60s French heart these were stirring as hell--so, respect to you Jacques!--but too melodramatic for me.

Part of the problem here for me is lack of context (which I don’t have time to rectify), but I didn’t find this terribly compelling or interesting.

French bullshit

French/Belgium crooner performing live? Not exactly a must listen to me.

Bro PLEASE clear your throat bro please

If you’ve ever wondered what it sounds like when a man wrestles with his own soul in front of a cheering crowd, this is it. Eight songs, 28 minutes, and enough emotional intensity to power a small French village. Brel doesn’t just sing—he attacks every lyric like it owes him money. The audience? Absolutely loving it. Me? Mostly wondering why my O Level French didn’t prepare me for this linguistic hurricane. I managed to spot “window” and “fish,” which I’m fairly sure weren’t central themes, but hey—small victories.

Jag föredrar hans bror Kjell Brel, ingenting på den här skivan är lika bra som hans "Under en filt i Madrid" Amsterdam har man ju hört i en mängd versioner, inte minst Scott Walkers och jag föredrar den. De långsammare låtarna funkar bättre än försöken till upptempo, det är ungefär vad jag har att säga. På cdversionen finns Mathilde med, den känner man också igen för den har Tom Waits gjort Svag 2a

Det låter lite som Leonard Cohen, lite som Sven-Bertil Taube. Fast på franska. Och förstås tidigare. Rätt trevligt att lyssna på en gång eller två. Men kommer kanske inte att göra det igen. Hade jag förstått franska hade jag måhända fått ut mer av det. Eller inte.

En rättvis bedömning hade nog krävt vissa kunskaper i det franska språket. Emellertid, Brel har en fin röst och arrangemangen förmedlar definitivt en viss stämning. Kanske skulle betyg varit högre, men jag går utgå från den information jag har.

Jag kan inte franska och då faller det mesta med den här inspelningen för. Varken rösten eller musiken är tillräckligt intressant för att stå på egna ben utan texten. Därmed blir det väldigt svårbedömt för mig.

You can’t make me finish this.

French.

Someone please go fetch me my escargot s'il te plaît

I don't know who this is for but I know it isn't me.

it's a nothing burger album but it's in french so that gives it some points !!!

It's really hard to appreciate someone who supposedly has really solid lyrics when you don't speak the same language. That being said, it felt a bit spastic during most of the album. Also I'm not a huge live album guy as I've mentioned before. Also it's all in French so that's gonna cost it a star.

Too French for my liking

Didn't enjoy

Ok 2/5

Ehh

French

This was the Frenchest thing I’ve ever consumed. I wish I was alive in the 60s cuz apparently you didn’t need much talent to become popular or remembered.

Nah

No one makes me listen to a French man

French cocktail lounge music. Not my thing.

This is #day441 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… all right, here's some chanson. I appreciate this record being on the list, though at times it felt a little too French for me. I'll land on a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day442.

Completely new to me. Spotify has an 8 track album, but wikipedia has 15. Apparently 8 is the original, and 15 is a reissue. I'm gonna listen to the 8. I've had some long albums recently, so I'll take the under half hour option. Track 1: I don't speak French. Won't even bother trying to understand. Won't look at the lyrics. Just vibes. He likes to trill those r's. A gradual builder. Kind of wish I could see what he is doing. Interesting. Track 2: So, apparently, this style is lyrics-focused. Not understanding the language, I feel like I'm missing a key ingredient. He seems to be singing with a lot of expressiveness. I like the instruments. But my mind is wandering. A bit languorous. Track 3: Awesome. Felt like a scene from L'Atalante. Track 4: Kind of stopped paying attention. Track 5: There are two things taking me out. One is the lack of lyrical understanding. I won't carp on that anymore. The other is, I personally prefer to hear a studio album first, and I prefer to watch live albums than just listening. Track 6: Other than Track 3, I probably won't playlist any song. Not active music for me. Definitely background though. Track 7: Nevermind, this one also gets playlisted. Track 8: Yup. Good background. Overall: Good background music. Nothing bad. Nothing great. I feel like I like the ability to fully enjoy it. So in my limited capacity, it's okay. 2/5.

It sounded kinda good but a whole album was way too much kinda good.

i didn’t hate it.

oui oui fav track: "les plat pays"

If this were in English, I'm certain I would still hate it.

Eh? As a live album, Olympia 1964 did not wow me, or interest me much at all. The album being in French and capturing popular music of France in the sixties is about the highlight for me. Jacques Brel at least had the decency to make a short album, though the production left a lot to be desired.

I didn't really enjoy this all that much. The genre is called "Chanson", which I had never heard of before. It was kind of like French opera, but not even that fully describes it. Still, it was very lyric-driven. That said, I think opera would have been preferable. The recording for this was pretty crappy too, making for a subpar listening experience.

Interesting once I looked up the artist found how many were influenced by his work. It isn’t something I would choose to listen to but am glad I did.

Ne me quitte pas is an amazing, sad, mournful song. On a different album though. I don't know any French, so the content of the songs here largely passed me by, and the atmosphere was sorrowful throughout. Funereal. Struggled with an entire album of this.

Never heard of this guy, don't really like the style of music, and my french is not good enough to understand the meaning of any of it..... Makes it very difficult to give a fair review of! The live recording sounds terrible too, perhaps unsurprisingly. Not for me, sorry Jacques, which is mainly my problem, not yours. 1.5

Loved the first song. The emotion and style of unguarded singing...very cool. Unfortunately, after that it pretty quickly lost its novelty for me. Glad it's on here, though. Refreshing to get something so different.

It offers very little musically, I don’t really like his voice and while I’m sure the lyrics are probably good if you understand them, I’ve just got to work with what I’ve got which is very limited French and therefore I couldn’t enjoy this one much. 2 stars

You really need to double check here, whether this is by an actual French person, or an incredibly racist impression of a French person. It's the former, but I now know who inspired every terrible accent in 'Allo 'Allo. Anyway, the songs are quite bad, the singing is extremely stupid, but it's short, and sometimes that's enough.

French 🤢

I don’t speak French, so it feels unfair to rate an album that is so heavily lyric based. Best Song: Amsterdam 4/10

Très français. Deux croissants s'il vous plaît.

Well, he's definitely got a lot of passion. This wasn't bad at all but I don't think I'd relisten, so the 2.5 has to get rounded down.

This is something. I don't like live albums, I've said it before. I feel like about 1/10th of this album was applause. That detracts from the album itself. There's some interesting things in this, but it's so short and so full of applause breaks it just felt like a slog. 2/5

Fine but I'm not really the target audience here.

Not gonna lie, this bored me as I found most of the songs sounded the same. Best songs were Amsterdam and Le Pays Plat. 2.5

Not for me.

I would like to say I appreciate this enough to understand why it is on this list, but I just can’t get there.

Ihan ok ei ehkä niin mulle.

No.

Uhm. Mr. Jacques "Strap" Brel has a decent enough voice, but I think this album is just a little bit too froofy-goofy for me. Fave song: - Tango funèbre (only because of those silly ass noises this man is making. What in the French hell)

Worst N64 game ever.

Different, I liked the playfulness and some of the chord progressions were pretty inspiring. But it’s hard to really connect with it when everything is in French.

This is a hard one to rate. It's definitely a unique listening experience, and doesn't overstay its welcome, but did I really like any of it? Not that much. It's good music, still. French is a lovely language and this dude's voice is certainly pleasant, but there's obviously a barrier since I imagine that this music is very lyrically driven!

Aggressively French. This is just very, very stereotypically French. I mean, it's so French. It's fine, but I don't know when I would ever listen to it apart from trying to set an atmosphere over a candlelit dinner.

Not my thing I guess

Maybe fitting for a French themed cooking sesh

Pros: rolling French Rs are never not funny to imitate, album is under half an hour. Clearly a talented chanteur. Cons: not really for me, no thanks.

This is the first Jacques Brel music I’ve listened to, possibly because everything is in French. He gets credit for being passionate about his singing, and he might earn a higher rating if I understood the lyrics. The music is ok, but too theatrical for my taste.

It's so funny how good France is at all culture except for music. Art, philosophy, film, literature, architecture, photography, fashion, food: they're up there with the greats - the course of 20th c culture passes through Paris and its colonies. But Daft Punk/Air aside, they're total duds musically - so much so that their best guy, French Sinatra, is Belgian! Maybe they're too addicted to their own language to really let music do it's thing. That's why Chanson and Hip Hop have been their preferred genres, poems set to music. Anyway, this album is a pretty fun one - a great expressive voice full of drama delivering the verses with full force, accompanied by loungey piano, cafe-ass accordion, some light bass touches. It has a very cartoony animated feel to it contrasting the lyrics' dark take on modern life and love.

Despite being Canadian, my French knowledge isn't great so this review isn't about the lyrics at all. They could be amazing, or they could be terrible...I have no idea. If this album was just "Amsterdam" then it would have been a 5-star album! Amsterdam kicks off the album with a ton of energy...which from there the album can't recover from. The rest of the album (minus the last track) is much slower. I feel like building up and putting Amsterdam at the end would have made this a much more enjoyable experience. 2.5/5

Lyrics gotta lyric and HS French wasn't quite enough

struggled to vibe with this but tbf, i don't speak French

I wanted to like this, but I just didn’t. Maybe I need to sit with it more, but not this time.

"The Elvis Presley of French Pop." Je n'aime pas du tout ça. Le jeu trop emphatique et le manque total de charme ne sont pas mis en valeur par la mauvaise qualité de la production. Le public est enthousiaste, alors peut-être que je passe à côté de quelque chose à cause de la traduction (ou plutôt de l'absence de traduction).

Je ne suis pas qualifié pour noter cela, mais je n'aime pas ça.

Chansons and particularly Brel should be listened to live, so I don't mind this being another live album. This doesn't change the fact that this is still not my music.

Biased because I love David Bowie and he often talks about what a big influence Brel was on him. I haven’t ever actually listened to Brel though I love Bowies covers of Amsterdam and My Death. This album wasn’t a relisten for me but I did like two of the songs a lot

Some good storytelling (well, as far as I can tell with my rusty French skills), and some really intricate arrangements. But some of the lyrics are very "rhyme, or I have ways of making you rhyme", and musically, it's kind of same-y as the lyrics/storytelling takes center stage.

Feels like it’s kind of off limits for a 1 because I don’t speak French But know that I was close

This is a very random album to end up on this very English-biased list. Overall, it didn’t really work for me.

Another one that just isn't really for me. I didn't think it was bad, but I didn't feel like I could appreciate it fully without more info and context. On its own, it was vocal heavy, instrumentation light, and a live performance. The lyrics were in French, so I didn't know much of what was sang. All that added up to me feeling a bit left out. The vocalist was lively, so that was a plus. He was emotive and clear, using emphasis to tell his stories. Even without understanding him, I could feel his passion come through. I'm guessing he put on a bit of a show at the concert performance as well. It felt almost more like listening to a musical soundtrack than a concert. I want to be fair, and I do think it was a decent listen. None of the songs struck me as bad. I just know I am missing out on some of what makes it an addition to this list, and it's not a style I usually seek out. For my experience, I can't say I thought it was more than fine. Overall: 2.25/5

I guess I can see how some people might be into this. It’s more of a vocal performance? I can’t imagine being in this crowd and enjoying it that much. The band is decent, though.

I really expected a lot of this, but I feel underwhelmed at the end? All very samey.

It's something

On one hand this was pleasant enough, on another it wasn’t anything that interesting or worth writing home about, not to mention live albums are not generally my cup of tea, (I also don’t think live albums should be included because there will be glaring omissions but that’s another complaint) I also feel very confident I could’ve died without hearing this and not feel any different

I mean… not good right? It all just blended together. His singing was weird and seemed to not carry a tune. His voice didn’t sound very good. The music was forgettable. I listened to it on a drive and it repeated once it finished and I didn’t notice until halfway through because none of the songs stuck out. Feel free to remove this one off the list

28 min felt like an hour. lyric heavy music over sparse instrumentation when you don't understand a word of french kinda feel like you walked in to the wrong place. it is probably important to french music but it is hard when the music don't really do much and the language barrier makes it pretty inaccessible.

Listened while mowing the lawn. Just not my style but the guy has pipes

Bonjour, it's like deja vu, my chauffeur said it's like belle epoque with Grey poupon in baton rouge. Pairs well with chicken cordon bleu and a baguette. Merci

2/5

#609. Not gonna lie, I only listened to the first song. I'm sure someone that cares that I'm mispronouncing the word croissant could explain why this is important, but honestly I probably wouldn't listen anyway. 2/5: not my jam

Hmm, not sure what to call this, a French crooner? It’s okay, not really my thing. The instrumentation was fairly interesting.

Fun album, I like how hype the crowd is. I do not understand French though

I was hoping to get past the language barrier on this one despite Chanson being a lyrics focused genre. Sadly I was unable to, Jacques gives an emotive performance but the melodies within the songs sadly left me dry. I understand why a figure like Jacques belongs on this list and I can appreciate him from a distance but this album wasn't for me.