CIEL OUVERT

Martigan´s second release found the band still struggling to find their own sound that would eventually culminate with the superb Man Of The Moment and the masterpiece Vision. Although all the basic elements are here, their distinctive blend of melodic rock and symphonic prog is yet in embryonic form. Ciel Ouvert is the classic case of hit and miss. Some tracks already show some maturity while others are not as well done (the title track is a good exemple of the latter with its mistaken brass arrangement. It should never be the opener)

The CD superficially is not that interesting. But if you pay close atention, you´ll see their superb musicanship and great talent as songwriters. At first look the songs seem too simple and boring, but after a few spins you start to realise how elaborated, creative and different each one is. The unsual rhythm patterns (led by the funky and brilliant bass lines of Axel Schütze), the odd chord progressions, the economical use of the guitar and keys and the brilliant vocal lines are soon noticeable, even if the songwriting and the arrangements are not fully developed as I stated before. Production is adequate.

All in all I found Ciel Ouvert far less accessible and well crafted as their last two fantastic releases. Still they are also too talent to release something totally uninteresting. The CD takes some time to sink in and is quite more demanding to the listener, but it is worth it. My rating keeps shifting between 3 and 3,5 stars. Not really essential, but good enough.

Martigan met music-producer Rudolf Nepix from Cologne soon after the release of ''Stolzenbach'', who was actually the one who encouraged the band to work on a second album.With the same line-up Martigan entered the studio and the result was the ''Ciel Ouvert'' CD in 1996, again released on the Cologne-based label Floh Dur.

The album shows some noticable improvement over the very weak ''Stolzenbach'', as Martigan play some more interesting and focused musicianship on this album with memorable and demanding material, not meeting the high standards of other Neo Prog bands, but moving certainly on the right direction.The dull and cheesy moments of the debut are almost gone and the gifted vocalist named Kai Markwordt now performs under more dramatic and progressive arrangements.His slightly GABRIEL-esque tone meets series of melodic, groovy compositions with some fine guitar solos, passionate atmospheres, powerful rhythm section and balanced keyboard work.The vocal arrangements are also more interesting and expressive, a couple of more mellow ballad tracks are now more needed than ever to soften the heavier tracks and the inspired keyboard/guitar solos along with the fair amount of breaks are more than welcome.On the other hand the somewhat cheap digital keyboards, the clear but mechanical mixing and a few moments recalling the low quality of ''Stolzenbach'' are present as well, scribbling down a bit the new face of Martigan.

Finally Martigan can be considered a band with a brighter future and potential for something trully essential.For the moment ''Ciel Ouvert'' is a good Neo Prog album along the lines of FINAL CONFLICT, MAGRATHEA, COLLAGE and SATELLITE with enough interesting material to be regarded as a recommended release.