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Etron Fou Leloublan - Batelages CD (album) cover

BATELAGES

Etron Fou Leloublan

 

RIO/Avant-Prog

3.46 | 69 ratings

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Rune2000
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars The first album from the original Rock in Opposition band Etron Fou Leloublan is quite different from some their later more popular works, like Les Poumons Gonflés, and instead actually reminds me more of the early Rush records!

Of course my comparison of Etron Fou Leloublan to Rush has very little to do with how these bands sound and much more with the development of their individual styles. Both of them began their relation to progressive rock music with lengthy spliced-up suites. Rush did so with compositions like By-Tor And The Snowdog, The Necromancer and The Fountain Of Lamneth where they clearly stated their intention of writing experimental rock music with instrumental virtuosity. Etron Fou Leloublan basically did the same with the release of Batelages.

In spirit, this is a very ambitious and well-executed record featuring a band that knows exactly what they want with their music and try to achieve just that. Unfortunately, just like the early works of Rush, I lack the fluency that would make this material special for me. Granted that this is a common fault of early albums and most such releases instead manage to make up for lack in the structural songwriting department by substituting it with raw energy and exceptional creativity. This is definitely the case with Batelages, but unlike most other bands who lose their spark after a few releases, Etron Fou Leloublan managed to uphold all of these qualities throughout their career while constantly improving their songwriting skills.

Lengthy pieces like L'amulette Et Le Petit Rabbin, Madame Richard - Larika and Histoire De Graine are all nice experimental explorations of that perfect mood and setting but they inevitably also become an exercise in excess where the young inexperienced band just doesn't know when to pull the plug and call it a day. There is definitely enough ambition on Batelages and Rush's early albums but composition-wise both bands achieved far more further on in their careers.

**** star songs: L'amulette Et Le Petit Rabbin (18:09) Yvett'Blouse (0:28) Madame Richard - Larika (9:25) Histoire De Graine (11:20)

*** star songs: Sololo Brigida (3:19)

Rune2000 | 3/5 |

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