STRESS!

Benoit Widemann was the keyboardist of Magma between mid- to late-70's.Among his duties with the Zeuhl monster band, he also found time to write some material of his own and recorded his debut for the small but legendary Ballon Noir label, entitled ''Stress!'', in 1977.He was helped by several other Magma members like keyboardists Patrick Gauthier (also of Heldon fame) and Jean-Pierre Fouquey, drummer Cl'ment Bailly (former of Nemo) and bassist Guy Delacroix.We find also contributions by guitarist Patrick Tison and singers Emmanuelle Parrenin and Hugues de Courson.The album was recorded during the summer of 77' at Studio Acousti in Paris.

''Stress!'' is a much-keyboard-driven album of different dramatic soundscapes and what more reasonable with three keyboardists on the roster.It is a great proof of Widemann's diverse talent and composing skills with the tracks ranging from Space Fusion to Funk and from energetic Jazz-Rock to Electronic Prog.While ''Baleze'' opens with some fiery and powerful Funk/Fusion beat, it is followed by the hypnotic ''Herbes sol'', full of electronic ambiences and led by Widemann's grand piano.The eponymous short instrumental has a lovely Canterbury edge in it with great electric piano throughout and on ''Le camp du Drap d'Or'' it is time for Delacroix'es star to shine, deep funky bass lines all the way supporting the Fusion-esque synthensizers.''Demi-final'' is just an outro based on sound effects, totally needless.The flipside opens with ''Quaternaire'', fantastic Fusion with complex bass lines and Canterbury-styled synths blended with funky vibes, definitely the album's highlight, performed under series of great solos.''Spirale'' is so close to Avant Music with Widemann's haunting piano and the obscure synths creating a grandiose atmosphere.The addition of the rhythm section along with some background mellotron and guitars make it even more bombastic and powerful, another great composition by Widemann.''Fete au septi'me plan - Sacrifice'' has also an obscure atmosphere created by the atmospheric background synths and the distorted guitar lines to close as a pure cosmic Electronic piece of music.The pair of ''Final'' tracks at the end are Jazz/Ambient-based numbers, much driven by Widemann's piano, an attempt by the keyboardist to close the album in a smooth way.

I categorize this album as one of the best releases ever to come out by a Magma member, though its style is rather unclassifiable.Yet this a trully progressive release of versatile instrumental musicianship, that deserves some exposure.Strongly recommended, propably even more for fans of dynamic Fusion stylings...3.5 stars.

3.5 stars. Yeah a little disappointed with this one overall. Especially with 5 MAGMA members playing on Widemann's debut solo album including himself. This just simply isn't a Zeuhl recording although there's one track that did have that Zeuhl styled bass. This is very much a keyboard album though with three of the guys playing synths. I just feel that while there are three tracks I really enjoy there are three that do the opposite including the opener and closer and for me that's significant enough not to give the fourth star. Just my tastes but I was hoping for better. Nine tracks over 38 minutes released in 1977.

My problem with the opener "Beleze" are those moog sounds that ping madly ruining my enjoyment of this one. Other synths help out and there's so much going on especially around 1 1/2 minutes. "Herbes Sol" is so much better and a top three for me. Spacey synths here slowly pulse as piano joins in after a minute and soon other synths lead the way. A warm sound here in contrast to the opener. "Stress!" is another top three and electric piano and synths create a beautiful melody as synths wash in.

"Le Camp Do Drap D'or" like the opener fails in my opinion because of the upfront moog that I find annoying here. I like the bass though along with the drum work. Still I want to skip it along with the opener. "Demi-Final" is experimental and quite short under 1 1/2 minutes. Interesting I suppose. "Quaternaire" is uptempo with piano to start as moog and synths join in. This is the song with some Zeuhlish bass lines after 1 1/2 minutes. Catchy too.

"Spirale" is my final top three. Beautiful electric piano to start and I like the male vocal melodies. Such a nice touch here. Drums and a fuller sound kick in at 2 minutes. Love the drumming around 4 minutes too right to the end. My favourite. "Fete Au Septiemeplan Sacrifice" is pretty intense with the bass and synths early on. It settles around 3 minutes to a spacey sound. "Final" is pretty much piano only throughout the 5 minutes and it seems to be divided into two parts but a rather anti-climactic finish to this album in my opinion.