ECLAT DE VERS

Eclat de Vers is a pun on Eclat de Verre (glass shatters) mixed with poetry and it does fit this album ( although I believe later albums are mostly intrumental ) as the lyrics are very thoughtfull and poetic. The singer has a typical voice delivery of Chanson Francaise and a voice that reminds me recently deceased Belgian singer Pierre Rapsaet. The music, however , makes the difference as the guitarist is very flamboyant and the rythmic section is very apt at climate changes. I saw Eclat in Verviers last month and they were a very pleasant surprise of that WE festival as every one in the audience agreed.

In late-80's there was a small but stable underground progressive scene in France with bands like HECENIA,HALLOWEEN,MINIMUM VITAL,ARRAKEEN and NAOS trying to keep the sound of classic prog rock alive.Among those bands were ECLAT DE VERS,found by guitarist Alain Chiarazzo.Some years later,after a mass of gigs and plenty of line-up changes the bandc releases their first eponymous work,a very short album,clocking just at 30 minutes,with songs from both their early phase and more recent years.

This junior attempt of the band shows them in the right direction.Melodic Progressive Rock with symphonic leanings,expressive and lyrical singing and some rockier moments as well.Great guitar work by Chiarazzo in a Rothery-ish neo prog style with some complex breaks but often adding Latimer- and Hackett-like elements in his playing.Keys and piano are mostly in the background,trying to create either atmospheric or symphonic soundscapes,while vocals are trully a strong point,being sensational,sensitive and warm with often a theatrical Decamps- influenced twist.Too bad the album is that short.

A highly enjoyable album,far from anything really unique,but with a skillful band trying to present their love for Classic Progressive Rock and offering some trully strong moments.Worths your attention.

Not quite there yet.

It's unclear to me why Eclat chose to release their first self titled album like this. The album contains 3 main songs and 5 short songs under the 3 minute mark, which makes this album extremely short clocking at 28 minutes only, hardly an album worth of material. Those short songs can be considered as ideas for something greater, one proof of that is the song "Ether" which earned a better and a much more developed version and made it to their 2002 album "Le Cri De La Terre" but can also be found in their 1998 live album as "Eternite". I wish the band took their time and develop those ideas to proper songs because the potential is definitely there.

The music here is mainly melodic symphonic rock with just a slight touch of Neo prog, in the vein of bands like Minimum Vital and Hecenia only with less emphasis on the keys lying mostly on Alain Chiarazzo's phenomenal guitar playing. The short songs though are featuring a different angle of the band, trying to show they are not Chiarazzo's band but are capable of writing something that is not guitar driven, something that will come in to fruition in their next album but not quite with this one. Keyboards here are nothing to be excited by, they never come to the front or solo, they are mainly atmospheric and just adds to the overall mood. Vocals play a big roll here and are quite good, sometimes reminiscent of Decamps. The slow and mellow songs feels like french chansons, which is nice. I don't speak french but from what I've gathered the lyrics are quite poetic and interesting.

The first three songs are complete and are the main attraction. I like Chiarazzo's combination of clean and distorted guitars, he always mix them together and create an interesting main theme or all sorts of breaks. His solos are fast and fiery but also can be slow and passionate. A good example and the album's highlight is "Courir" which is still being performed live. It's a slow paced song in which the guitar solo for the first four minutes, fantastic really and reminiscent of Steve Vai's playing with all his weird guitar bends. Just to be a little more diverse acoustic guitar is added and fills the vocal part with some beautiful touches. The rest of the album is by no means bad, it just looses the album's strength and offers some good ideas which are not developed further more. A real pity. Every one of them is good on its own right and shows the band not only trying to rock but also have a more symphonic side.

While Eclat are truly a good band and one can identify their talent and potential it's their next album which is worthy of getting. So while it is never bad it's not really essential too, but it does make a good addition if you're into the band's next studio album. 3 stars is fine.