LE TRÉSOR DE VALLIESRES

VERSAILLE were a four piece Symphonic band out of France who operated in the 90's and this is their third of four studio albums they released during that decade. Most pan their debut with the short songs and while the second album boasted longer tracks and it certainly has it's fans it's really their final two records that get Prog fans excited. The album covers of those final two albums is another story as I'm not a fan of either. It's very interesting to me that three of the four members here would become part of MONA LISA who operated in the 70's but put out one final comeback album in 1998 the same year VERSAILLE released their final record.

Huge respect from yours truly for this third release "Le Tresor De Valliesres" from 1994. This album is brimming with ideas and take away those four short tracks and I'm very seriously considering 5 stars, but as it is this one is definitely a keeper. Lots of surprises and they clearly put a lot into this album and most of it works quite well. I love how upfront the bass is and the vocalist singing in French is very good and we get an array of keyboards including their only album with mellotron. I'm really looking forward to spending next week with their final album as this one impressed me so much. Imagine ANGE without the theatrical vocals.

How amazing does this sound with the choirs to start before the vocalist arrives sounding very French. Bass and beats and it just soars on the chorus, like a celebration. Catchy stuff. Killer bass on this one plus a few calms and flute later. "Une Saint Barthelemy Devote" is the epic at over 20 minutes and my favourite. It's fairly mellow for the first 3 minutes before they amp it up, flute too. A change after 12 minutes with soprano vocals and a classical sound before kicking back in with some great sounding guitar and bass. Spacey guitar leads follow and how about that nod to MAGMA with the chanting and upfront bass before 17 minutes. Come on!

That sixth track is 13 1/2 minutes long and we get some cool vocal arrangements 12 minutes in but that's the tip of the iceberg as we get another track for them to stretch out and be adventerous. The closer, the title track features some melancholic synths, whispered vocals and of course the bass and guitar especially around 4 1/2 minutes to the end. Nasty stuff.

Andy at Planetmellotron gave this 4.5 stars and I need to keep this around for now to compare it with their final release as this is an album that does excite me despite the cover art(haha).