PHASE IV
Art Zoyd
•RIO/Avant-Prog
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Studio Album, released in 1982 Songs / Tracks Listing 1. État D'Urgence (14:38) - Thierry Zaboitzeff / vocals, bass, cello, acoustic guitar
Artwork: Thierry Legrand and to Quinino for the last updates Edit this entry |
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ART ZOYD Phase IV ratings distribution
(59 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(36%)
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(50%)
Good, but non-essential (10%)
Collectors/fans only (2%)
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
ART ZOYD Phase IV reviews
Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings
Collaborators/Experts Reviews
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

For all their formidable abilities as instrumentalists and composers, Art Zoyd's music has always been just a bit too cold and intellectual to fully engage the listener - many of their pieces were conceived as soundtracks to multimedia events or installations, and taken out of context can seem a little lifeless. The music is also very carefully scored most of the time, but with none of the space for improvisation or interpretation that was usually left by perfectionists like Frank Zappa and Christian Vander.
Leaving those reservations aside, it's hard to think of any other band who have patrolled the border between contemporary avant garde and rock music in such a determined and single minded fashion. The fact that they have continued to explore this singular musical territory for over 30 years is even more impressive. Recommended for those times when you want something to engage the intellect and by pass the feet altogether.
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator

rating: 3.5 stars
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk

What to say about this album except that it is yet another typical AZ album so far and whatever you have found in previous albums, you will find roughly the same. Etat D'Urgence (penned by Zaboitzeff) is one strong long epic an ever-changing and dense composition with dronal tones. Most of the rest of the (shorter) tracks on the first disc (bar two) are all from Hourbette and are definitely darker, more enigmatic, so the balance is somewhat respected. The second disc however is an almost entirely Hourbette affair, but it is well in the line of the first disc, the two long tracks Chemin De Lumière and La Nuit being the highlights.
Not any better (or worse than the previous album or the following two), Phase IV is an excellent RIO-Zeuhl record, but just one more to add to the pack, but then again, this kind of classical music is never easy on the nerves and to listen to both disc at a time would actually be an exploit for almost the whole planet including progressive music minded intellectuals. Although impressive, it is difficult to recommend this album, especially if you mean to listen to it as a whole album at once.
PROG REVIEWER

The first track as usual is brilliant, and the best of the lot. This really recalls previous albums, the way they contrast those intense sections with the calm passages. The first 4 minutes features a lot of horns,violin and piano and then we are hit with a dark, intense section with vocals. It becomes uptempo again 7 minutes in. Dissonant horns, deep bass and vocals all before 10 minutes. Check out the bass lines 11 1/2 minutes in as horns play on. Deep, dark hum sounds to end it. Classic ART ZOYD. "Naufrage" features piano and violin before a full sound 2 minutes in. Great soundscape a minute later that is very intense. A calm follows but it doesn't last long. "Derniere Danse" opens with violin, bass and horns. Cool sounding tune. Dissonant horns 2 minutes in before it settles down with some deep bass. The tempo picks back up before it ends. "Et Avec Vetre Esprit" is the fourth amazing song in a row. Piano and horns lead the way before bass joins in. Great sound. It calms down with choir sounds 2 1/2 minutes in. More tension 4 minutes in. "Ballade" is where I feel they start to lose me. This one is brighter sounding for the first 2 minutes then heavy bass and blasts of horns come in. Nice. It then settles back down. "Deux Preludes" is a short mellow track of horns and piano. "La Musique D'Erich Fals" is mere seconds of scraping violin sounds.
Disc two begins with "Chemins De Lumiere" a 15 minute killer track that starts with piano and a dark mood. Some suspense when the violin comes in around 3 minutes. Piano again takes the lead after 4 minutes as violin and horns take a back seat. Piano is the dominant instrument on this song. "Du Sang Sur La Neige" is my favourite from disc two. The dissonant horns and violin are incredible. "Vue D'un Manege" again features piano, horns and violin. Themes are repeated. Good tune. "La Nuit" is 13 minutes long and the most difficult to get through. There isn't much going on for the last half of the song. "Les Larmes De Christina" features dual piano melodies, horns and violin.
Barely 4 stars for me, this is a lot to digest. Certainly this is their most ambitous recording so far, but i'm just not enjoying it as much as the first three albums.
PROG REVIEWER

SPECIAL COLLABORATOR RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams

So now it's quite strange for me starting this review from my "disc 2".
"Etat D'Urgence" (State of Urgency) is a very dark long track. I think the album's cover reflects well the feelings. However just in the middle of the track it becomes more rhythmic, quite Zeuhl, with brasses in evidence and the darkness replaced by a sense of urgency like the track's title suggests. At this point we can hear a number of possible influences, but the fusion of classic and jazz suggests me the word "Zeuhl". We lack only a soprano, but the speeches cried starting from minute 10 restore the RIO/Avant mood respect to a possible Magma influence. Surely this is one of the best Zaboitzeff's compositions, full of different moments, never boring neither easy. The coda slows down to a sudden end.
"Naufrage"(Shipwrecking) is started by a piano solo later followed by cello and I think contrabass played with the bow. When th ebow stops there a short moment f peace suddenly interrupted by piano again. Piano is the only instrument able to drive this track. even when it just plays repetitive notes. The track progresses with the strings overtaking the role of leading instruments in a crescendo of intensity to slow down in the finale for a conclusive fadeout.
Piano again, immediately followed by the other instruments. It's "Dernier Danse"(Last Dance) There's a hint of a melody immediately overwhelmed by the orchestra. After 2 minutes the obsessive sax alto transforms this into a very eclectic track. It's incredible how a 4 minutes song, a length good for the radios, can contain so many things. The last minute with the obsessive rhythm provided by the strings is fantastic. Bumblebees flying...
"Deux Preludes" is a short one based on piano. It shows a contemporary classic influence contaminated by rock chords.
"La Musique D'Erich Faes" is 14 seconds of cello which introduces "Et Avec Votre Esprit" (.and with your spirit). I don't know what's the relationship between this sentence, part of the catholic liturgy, and this very dark and intense orchestral music. Suitable as comment to a horror movie, after two minutes features a sort of church choir in the background which is one of the darkest things of the album. It's so grotesque that makes me think to HP Lovecraft. Grotesque like the Arzachel's "Azatoth" but very much darker.
"Ballade" is opened by harmonics and piano on major chords, like a children's lullaby. This is very unusual for Art Zoyd, a short excursion out of the usual darkness, a pause in the sunshine with a Canterbury or even a YES flavor that the brasses move to the Zeuhl area in the second part of the track. The bass line is remarkable.
Ok, too much fun. The relaxation time is finished, let's get back to hell. "Chemins De Lumiere"(Paths of light) is dark as usual but the rhythm is initially slow. Even though there's nothing electronic, the first minutes of this long track have a singular connection with the early Tangerine Dream, probably because this track seems to be a patchwork of several 4 minutes tracks. The second of them is very low volume and dreamy...even if more than a dream it looks more like a nightmare. The transitions consist in one second of silence, but the recurring themes give unity to what only apparently is discontinuous. It's only at minute 11 that the usual obsessive atmosphere is restored by piano and brasses, but the tempo remains slow and this puts the listener in a hypnagogic situation.
"Du Sang Sur La Neige" (Of blood on the Snow) is as repetitive as an Edgar Froese's track. The variations are progressive (in the sense of progressively appearing) like in a wicked bolero. The saxes and the cello create a wall of chaos on four repetitive piano high pitched notes. The chaotic moments of Vangelis' Heaven and Hell come to my mind even thoug from a musical point of view there are absolutely no relations between Art Zoyd and the Greek maestro.
"Vue D'un Maneige"(View from a Maneige) is based on a rhythmic sequence of a single note. It looks like a 7/4 but I'm not sure. A good hypnotic track.
The second long track of this double album is "La Nuit"(The Night). Effectively the first minute gives a sense of nightly restleness, with the alto sax playing like flies and mosquitos in a warm night. This is not a summer night, it seems to be in a damn swamp, specially when the chaos comes. The flies are very big, now. The chaos comes and goes, and sometimes the brass accents produce major chords. It's like somebody sleeing in an alternance of exited nightmares and relaxed REM phases. It's a great track. Near to the end the flies and the mosquitos are back. The sleep is finished and you can wake up and be conscious of them.
The album is closed by "Les Larmes De Christina"(Cristina's tears). I don't know who is Christina, but also this track is very dark, based on a lazy rhythm provided by a piano chord. Does it transmit sadness or are they tears of pain? I think the first. The soul's pain is sometimes worse than the physical. There's a sense of resignation in this short closer.
Not an easy album, but in general RIO/Avant things are usually uneasy. If you have the patience of put yourself into this dark world for about two hours this can be a 4 stars experience.
..and do not listen to it while driving....
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