L'Heptade

I was able to pinpoint the time this came out after a track or two. Reminds me of stuff that Mike Oldfield was doing. Whenever it shifts genre, it does so really well, in a way that never feels jarring or out of place. I think the language barrier is a bit strong, kind of preventing me from fully grasping the story, but the music does a decent enough job getting me there. Call it a 4.5. Favorite tracks: "Le premier ciel", "Le corridor"

The language barrier is always a challenge, if this really had a sense of narrative scope I think that probably impeding my grasping it. As it was it seemed a bit of a prog mishmash. Bump it a point for just sfong musicianship on all fronts.

This is highly unique and original, I have to give it credit for that. At times it sounds like the soundtrack to a TV movie (I mean this in a good way). At other times it is very pop ballady-y. Almost like a lot of modern Chinese pop ballads. This is made all the more strange because they are singing in Quebecois French. I didn't love it. It's not exactly my thing, but I will always applaud being introduced to something new and unique.

TOO SOFT. I HAD TO WRITE THIS REVIEW IN CAPS TO OFFSET THE SOFTNESS IN THE MUSIC AND UPSETTING RATIO OF GLIDES TO STOPS IN THE LANGUAGE. 3/5.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Le premier ciel, Comme un sage

Elegantly arranged with a rich sound and intriguing concept. I enjoyed Serge Fiori's vocals, which remind me a bit of John Martyn. Some of the stylistic shifts struck me as odd and the pace occasionally drags, but overall this was a really enjoyable listen. Thank you for sharing it. Fave Songs: Chanson noire, Le corridor, Le premier ciel, Comme un fou, L'exil

Yea, this was like a mix of classical, prog and even a bit of motown.

Appreciated the classical feel of this one given the original 1001 didn’t have too many symphonic LPs, but ultimately this one wore my patience a bit thin. There are some interesting ideas at play, and the scope of the longer, proggier tracks is impressive, but there wasn’t a consistent enough melodic presence to keep me 100% grounded throughout. Maybe I would feel more connected if I spoke French?

Prog but French! You'd think it'd be an automatic 5/5 but sometimes it's comfortable sitting on an idea a touch too long.

Not bad for a 1.5 hour album 4 3

Interesting! 3 stars.

Prog Rock is a hit or miss for me. I did read the wiki: prog rock, french canadian, over 80 minutes and pretentious. Listening to it took most of the fears away. The album consists of very varied music, from ballads, folk, orchestral, chansons to rock fit in a prog format. With great theremin, horns and good vocals. Some songs are too long (Come un Sage) or unnecessary elevator music (le corridor, epilogue). All in all a pleasant surprise!

Un album de rock progressif, avec des éléments classiques. En français. C'est bof. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: L'exil Date listened: 07/01/25

Made me a bit bored near the end

Rock progresivo en francés. Rollo. Un 2.

Progressive orchestral? Unique genre but ultimately a foreign language snooze fest and overly long. Not engaging at all.

This sure was a bunch of very quiet 10-minute long French songs.

as much as I enjoyed the stylistic element of this album it really made it difficult to love with the constant soft tone of inaudible singing and French lyricism that did not translate for me. It was well made and I’m sure if I understood some of it I would give it 3 stars but language gap brings it down yet again. 4.7/10

This album feels old, it has aged badly because it doesn't even feel classic. Being in another language makes the challenge of getting to grips with it even more complicated because the vocalists sound very slow in their phrasing and the beats of the music don't help them much either. The result is that after a short time the album seems very heavy to listen to because of its length.