ICI EST AILLEURS

The first Raison De Plus album was pretty good and called for a follow up. Which has duly arrived.

Raison De Plus continued with their mix of Spock's Beard, Genesis and Ange on their second album. The opening track Jamais j'aurais dû grandir is in fact very Spock's Beard like. The music then moves into a more conceptual art with spoken words interlinking the songs. I do not speak French and I have no information about the concept either, besides of the booklet and art-work. But I very much suspect that this is a concept album. The music is very theatrical at times too. Early Genesis and Ange springs to mind.

Quality wise, some of the music here is great, but most of it is good. Dans la cité des incrédules is a great song and the best Raison De Plus has ever done. A great epic song with some great guitars. The rest of the material is not up to that standard. Which makes this album one of those frustrating nearly-great albums. I do recommend this album though if you can find it for a knock down price. Great art-work, btw.

3.5 stars

It obviously helps a tad with foreign prog when one can understand the language (I was lucky to have learnt Italian, Spanish, German, Hungarian and French while still a youngster), so I can really get into the lyrical content. With French bands, this can be often a poetic maelstrom that perplexes and the passionate drama is often misconstrued as hysterical by those who "ne parle pas français"). Those who do understand, already have been beguiled by Ange's Christian Decamps' pen and vocal delivery that were singularly pushing the boundaries of religion, philosophy, society and morality in the glory days of early 70s prog . Raison de Plus provides another chapter in the oft fairy tale-like style that the French Prog school has gifted on our ears with creative vocal bands such as Arachnoid , Mona Lisa, Atoll, Pentacle, Pulsar, Halloween as well as recent gems Nemo, Maldoror, Aside Beside, Saens and Ex-Vagus. The pressure to craft outstanding music around these linguistic hurdles is a strong motivator, in order to keep the Prog world content. The translated titles will give the reader a concise insight into the typical themes espoused within. Each track begins with a brief narrative. The opener "Renaissance" very smartly introduces the stellar musicianship that will characterize the entire album: the magical pied-piping flute leading the way through pastoral Banksian twin keyboard flourishes, featuring happily smiling synth solos, galloping guitar interference, rumbling bass and appropriate drum propellants, delivering a very positive upbeat message. Batting second, "I should never have grown up" (I agree wholeheartedly, adulthood is not as cool as advertised), a Pentacle/Ange style number with tons of delicate flute forays, lush string backgrounds, a semi-reggae shuffle from the trio of rhythm guitar, bass 'n drums, with some feisty lead synths solos to spice up the brew. The singing is emotive, regretful and reflective. The stories and legends theme continue with "The Grey Weather King", a spirited mini-opera that navigates through somber valleys, gloomy forests and wintry snowscapes, sprinkled with acoustic guitars, sprightly electric leads with added violins and various vocalist parts. "Soul swells" is not an interlude but a 5 minute modern instrumental that explores dreamy introspection, featuring a fat lead solo, some 12 string guitars, piccolo flute (Flageolet) and zippy keys that emit a slight Celtic tinge to the mix. The masterful 6.5 minute "Another Chance" introduces an incredibly bright new hope for the future, with a kick ass guitar led theme that patrols, soars, prowls and howls, again very close to Pentacle in terms of breezy vocals and choirs, with more of that magic flute turbulence. A gentle synth mid section swells almost into a pillow of dreamy chords, recalling some instrumental Moody Blues. "The Key" is another sharp vocal less piece that aims at more biting themes, less bucolic and more bombastic with gritty guitar scratches, brooding bass and whopping keyboards. "In the City of the Disbelieving" is the longest track, nearing 9 minutes and stays well within the Decamps confines of operatic exhortations and thus very close to the 70s Ange formula, rowdy crowd noises, sudden silences, long soft moments and always that impending melodrama that suddenly explodes with utter anguish, Beyond Delirium (wink, wink). The brief "The Rumour" is a spooky mass choral extravaganza with every musician throwing in their voices ("Crazy, is he crazy?" they exhort!), again reminiscent of Christian Decamps' poetry. The "take a look back" sheen of "Buried Alive" is a theatrical piece laden with various sound effects & noises, attempting to illustrate the will for escape, trapped within the coffin of daily routine, showcasing outright "Foxtrot"-era Banksian organ blasts that torch off to some Hackettish swelling, very heavy Genesis influence here, complete with Collins style drumming . "Between Real and Imaginary" closes off this entertaining version of an adult bedtime story, an engaging dreamy promenade that butterflies through various relaxed themes, swaying with unbridled melancholia. Is this an exceptional prog masterpiece, a must-have? No, "Here is Elsewhere" is just a fine compelling recording that evokes the child in all of us, not taking life way too seriously. 4 etoiles.

1. 'Renaissance' for the cinematic intro before its time, with this beach narration, quickly erased for a layer of synths that gives into neo-symphonic and the song that lasts, lasts and goes on nostalgic lands, 6 years to release a better-made album!! 2. 'Jamais j'aurais faut grandir' with the introduction of the French vocal in the lyrics, ouch that has aged well there, I find SHELLER in the intonation, the flute not helping matters by flirting with the ANGE of yesteryear; a slow, well-crafted drift, but with old-fashioned markers that take me back to the date, ah yes 2001 like for the film, a sidereal space; in short, the flute is eyeing JETHRO TULL now, hey, a little reggae where are we going? It's a bit disparate 3. 'Le roi du temps gris' (The King of Gray Weather) with a preamble, it's beautiful, explanatory, a sound that looks to MAGNESIS or vice versa, for the distinctive vocals that can be disturbing because they're put too much forward, like in a vulgar French song, the Achilles heel of French prog; a touch of ANGEL again, we're right in it with the operetta voices, like in the epic of General Machin; the outro with violin makes us forget these details that the prog fundamentalist of the 70s can't stand; well, a journey to the dark French forests of the Vosges 4. 'Vagues a l'ame' (Waves to the Soul) with its waves, narrates the story of the meditating king; Seagulls, the synth, ah, we're going for the 80s new-wave sound, interesting, hey, a hint of SAGA again, the sound evolves, the flute minstrel, medieval, Scottish... folkloric for the moment, a well-crafted instrumental, which confirms that sometimes music is enough without the vocals. 5. 'Une autre chance' for the title track on side 1 with the melodic importance of the gently reverberating guitar, on the flute of MOODY BLUES, yes, the nostalgic memory has an effect; it's soft, it takes us far away from the prog of yesteryear, the narrated vocal explaining for those who want to know everything.

6. 'La cle' reminds me of the band's adulation for SAGA, hence the immersion in the album; Fresh keyboard layers, the nervous side on MINIMUM VITAL too, the tenacious guitar reminiscent of Ian and the flute more on OVERHEAD infusing the rhythm, a very good musical moment and it rises in quality 7. 'Dans la cite des incredules' with the theatrical vocal return worthy of Christian from the ANGE 70s era; the voice that channels the music and guides it on bucolic tracks; the pleasure of traveling with a majestic finale so as not to take itself seriously; long and well done, to wander on it 8. 'La rumeur' with a wink, whether proven or not on purpose at all, on the magnificent 'Fou' by ANGE, yes we are really on it and the voice integrates again flawlessly with the diabolical orchestration; The sound of MORE REASON is here, not elsewhere. 9. 'Enterre vivant' and its clock, time, the cinematic space of a time when it didn't exist yet; sirens, key sounds, a vague synth in the distance, and then the song gets going; the SHELLER-esque voice again, it's rather pleasant given the compositions of this outstanding singer and composer; a space with the GENESIS-esque keyboard, not bad either; the well-integrated vocals prove it's possible; the guitar even dares to flirt with the melancholic notes of HACHETT, yes, Steve Hackett himself. Come on, a little martial military drumming, yes, I repeat myself, and a few birds in the distance for the album's track, and it's not the frog that will croak at me otherwise. 10. 'Entre reel et imaginaire' concludes this concept album, the slow and long story of man, always a child, loving to lose himself in his imaginary meanders, or the child sleeping precisely in each of us; A playful tune where the lyrics blend in with the notes of this sad melody, because even the prog knows they no longer have a place in today's world; think a quarter of a century later, it's even worse. In short, go get the ball and keep dreaming.

MONA LISA, ATOLL, PULSAR, HALLOWEEN, and especially SHELLER, SAGA, and ANGE as the spearheads, the initiators of this album of yesterday.(3.75)