MINUIT VILLE

Synopsis were a French band who remained quite unknown during their brief existence; what else to expect when making symphonic prog during the late 70's and early 80's? This is the first one of their two albums. It includes only five tracks between 5 to 9 minutes in length. The music is keyboard-oriented but not in the bombastic way à la ELP or Rick Wakeman. The GENESIS-influenced style is closer to compatriots MONA LISA and ATOLL, also PULSAR or PENTACLE could be mentioned in the same sentence. All these are clearly better bands than Synopsis. Actually the thick layer of synth or organ gets tiring as there really are no great variety in sound. The guitar is happily not buried completely. The rhythm section is given a minor role, for example 'Melodie Saoule' is for the most part without solid percussion, but it has some nice hi-hat... and later on also a slightly faster section with complex rhythm, during which keyboards do their typical, continuous background layering as they always do. Some synth soloing sounds more like badly outdated and amateurish than a musical bliss. Maybe the production is not the best possible either.

The vocals are approaching falsetto and they're rather weak (still maybe better than the over-dramatic, spitty French of ANGE!), but they fit fairly well with the sensibility in compositions. I can't give a good comparison for the voice, if not the SPARKS in the most falsetto parts! Anyway, the longish compositions are often instrumentally oriented, CAMEL-like at times. Are they memorable? Definitely not. The mellow and melodic music is likely to please those who enjoy soft symphonic prog, if the weak vocals or uninspired synths are not too big problems, but nothing more, I'm afraid. Easily more than two stars but not quite full three stars. The second album Gamme (1981) sounds better and more lively.