ARRAKEEN

In total contrast, in more recent years, I have regrettably been to very few concerts - in the last ten years in fact, only Pendragon and Big Big Train have succeeded in getting me to stir my stumps (both bands were excellent). That's just the way life evolves.

Across all the years, however, my taste in music has remained relatively stable, and music that seemingly travels, currently, under the generic label of "symphonic/neo-prog" suits me just fine. I haven't the least interest in whether this marks me out as an unfashionable dinosaur - I simply don't give a hoot. I know what I like. And Arrakeen deliver it in spades. Mosaique is an excellent CD, with terrific melodies, soaring guitars, and no duff tracks or fillers. Maiko has a great voice - (if Epidaurus had been able to access her for their Earthly Paradise CD, they might have really been in business). If I rate it as better than the band's first album (Patchwork) it is solely because of their comparative lengths - Patchwork is more of an EP than an LP - but both have stood the test of time in fine fashion.

For what it's worth, not that you're interested, of the multitude of bands and artists that I saw in those far-off Golden Days, the most uplifting was, without doubt, Quintessence; the three quirkiest were probably Tea and Symphony, Arthur Brown, and Principal Edward's Magic Theatre; the greatest crowd-pleasers (with all due apologies to the PA community) were Slade; the loudest (by some distance) was Status Quo; the most tedium-inducing was Byzantium; and the most professional was.....Charles Aznavour (!!) (Bang goes any remaining street cred, but I freely admit to being dragged along by my enduringly lovely wife to see this ageing French crooner shortly after we married, and, whilst I was wholly dismissive and cynical to begin with, in truth he succeeded effortlessly in delivering a completely mesmerising performance. I swear that 20 women sitting near the front of the stage fell pregnant that evening just by listening to him. Talk about the Adoration of the Masses!)

But I digress. Mosaique is just my cup of tea. I loved it from start to finish. Great stuff.

Achard's presence gave Arrakeen a harder edge in the lead guitar parts, but generally the group maintained its style of cinematic Neo Prog with delicate symphonic orchestrations and fabulous, theatrical female vocals provided by Maiko.Through a collection of both short and long tracks they offer elaborate arrangements with interesting melodies, romantic lyricism and extended instrumental workouts, based on Eric Bonnardel's flashy synthesizers.Some of Gouvernaire's monumental solos are absent, but new guitarist Cyril Archard was overall an excellent fit with some great guitar moves and a number of nice solos also in his armour, although a STEVE VAI virtuosic influence is evident in a couple of cuts.Maiko's voice remains the absolute trademark of Arrakeen, combining her majestic chords with passionate, symphonic-inclined musicianship.MARILLION, IQ and RENAISSANCE are the strongest reference points: A nice bunch of Classical inspirations and the lead female voice recall the later, the melodic guitar lines along with the bombastic synthesizers are elements of the first.However ''Mosaique'' was sort of a personal album with non-pop leanings and often a very orchestral sound, twisting from theatrical Progressive Rock to melodic Neo Prog.

After the mini-tour following the release of the album Arrakeen sadly disbanded.Cyril Achard followed a good personal career in the Prog Metal field, while Gauthier Mejanel and Maiko remained involved in the music industry, although far from their progressive roots.

Hail to one of the most underrated Prog bands of the 80's/90's.''Mosaique'' is another nice example of solid, non-commercial Neo/Symphonic Prog, definitely a must-have for fans of the style, albeit a touch weaker than Arrakeen's monumental debut.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

The music is drenched in the very essence of La France. In the same way that there was something very English about the early GENESIS sound, something very Italian about the early PFM sound, there is something very French about the sound of the music of Arrakeen.

Fronted by female vocalist Maiko, fans of bands such as STREAM OF PASSION (but imagine a French essence replacing the gothic flavours) will enjoy this as much as the MARILLION fans it is so often aimed toward in reviews. The accessibility and style of the music is probably comparable with early PFM (think PHOTOS OF GHOSTS) and in fact doesn't have so much in common with MARILLION .

The album is only about thirty minutes long, but the quality is exceptional. Compositional skill is high and everything is played with real passion and enjoyment.

The first track 'Le Monde Du Quoi' is probably the closest we actually get to an early MARILLION sound, particularly noticeable in the keyboard lines. The track ends with a memorable guitar solo. The next track 'Differences' is an eleven minute long prog classic and it is here that the French flavour really kicks in. It's a work of many contrasting styles from acoustic piano to heavy guitar power chords. The third track 'L'Entaluve' somehow manages to convert what sounds like a Eurovision song entry from the 80's into an anthemic prog song !!

Musicianship, throughout is second to none and this release evoked some essential and seminal guitar playing from the excellent guitarist Sylvain Gouvernaire, whilst keyboardist Eric Bonnardel displays a talent that is second to none. The whole band provide an epochal performance on the final track, 'Folle Marie' which is recorded live. On this track Maiko's vocals ebb passion and ache with melancholy over a beautiful acoustic guitar riff that is complimented by some emotional keyboard lines before building into a powerful finale where the band are joined by Steve Rothery from MARILLION. This is one gig I sincerely wish I had been at....

It's a shame this album is often remembered only due to the band touring with MARILLION and is often ignored because of this. If you have heard this before and dismissed it, I urge you to listen again with 'fresh' ears !! If you have never heard this, please take the time to find a copy, you will not regret it.

Arrakeen was an early 90's French neo-prog band that boasted a very strong singer and some guitar hero flourishes. I was attracted by the strong reviews to their second album Mosaique on this site, and my initial reaction was that the band's sound was good but that the songwriting was not too memorable. After returning to the album that impression remains. Female lead singer Maiko mixes some Enya into the usual female-fronted heavy metal sound (admittedly before that sound was so common). Guitarist Cyril Archard has all the usual shredder moves including sweeps, legato runs, and some tasty clean chops. His leads are quite good, but his distorted rhythm tone is terrible. (The fuzzy timbre sounds like a cheap amp and distracts me throughout the entire disc. The keys are typical of late 80's / early 90's pomp, and really date the work as well. (They aren't frankly unpleasant, however.)

The issue for me is that the compositions are glorified pop rather than prog, and while pleasant, don't really challenge my ear in any way. The song "Sizygie" has some proggy rhythms and some keyboard flourishes, but most of the songs are much more straightforward. "Celebration" is a guitar showpiece which begins with a nice jazzy clean composition that ends with a hammer-on cadenza a la Joe Satriani's "Midnight." A distorted whammy-fest then comes in over a vocal-synth pad, but it's quickly over with little sense of risk. "White Moon Dreamer" is sung competently in English for a changeup.

I must admit I'm not a big fan of neo-prog, but I've certainly heard examples that held my attention. Mosaique is a little too typical, its production a bit too dated, and despite very talented players, fail to make a strong musical statement. I compare this to Magenta, which plays music in very much the same territory, and the difference is immediately obvious. Both the singer and guitarist in Arrakeen probably have better chops, but Magenta has something musical to say.

Pleasant enough, but with so much great music out there, this is really just for neo-prog collectors.

Nightwish reminiscent ? I don't think so, using of higher woman vocals doesn't mean NW automatically. And metal part is maybe 1/10-2/10 of these songs. It's quite short and because of this, my rating wouldn't get over 4 stars. Maybe unfair, but little bit over 20 minutes is not so interesting, as 40, or even 80 minutes. It's almost over before you notice anything. No, this is good neo-prog, which has one big mistake, so

4(-) for short length. Believe me or not, but I see it as a mistake.

Patchwork is definitely the shorter album with only four songs clocking just over half an hour. These four songs are all winners though so that makes it hard to be negative about it. In fact it's a bit of a strange release because the fourth and last song is played live and that's not very usual on a debut to say the least. It's a great song but it has to be said - and that's my only criticism on both Arrakeen albums that this live song is not really the best of them all. Female vocalist Maïko must have had a tough evening because she sounded exhausted at the end. Well, it's just a minor complaint, the rest of what this band has done in the early nineties deserves every praise and are performances they can be proud of.

I'm proud to own them and recommend both Patchwork and Mosaïque to all neo progressive music fans. But I feel any music lover can enjoy this. It's near perfect stuff. Hats off for Arrakeen.

Star of the band is Maïko, an excellent female vocalist. I did a google search lately because I could hardly understand a woman with these qualities would do just two albums with this band and then nothing anymore. But I couldn't find anything really unless of course I didn't dig deep enough. Maïko is the dominant factor of Arrakeen and that's a big achievement since all members of the band are very capable on their instruments.

Also the songs are very worth while, there are hardly fillers on this album. On the other hand there are no real highlights either which means a very equable performance and it has the advantage you can play the album without skipping songs. If I do have to name two stand out tracks it's the title track and the longest on the album, Rages.

I hardly can believe this band quit after this album and I really regret this too. I believe they could have had a shining future, at least where their potential is concerned. Maybe they called it a day at their highlight, we'll never know. This album is recommended to those who like cristal clear female vocals, very capable musicians playing excellent songs. I don't really know who to compare them with. It's true neo prog no doubt but it's certainly not a clone of any band. Four stars easily for Mosaïque

So,to create decent neo prog you need mostly a good melodic guitarist and a sufficient keyboard player...Well,this band has it all...Behind the keyboards we find Eric Bonnardel who plays amazingly his role without having to be extremely bombastic...Sylvain Gouvernaire is a fabulous guitarist filling the tracks with its melodic guitar play and the great,emotional solos ala Steve Rothery...Maiko's vocals are just a paradise...Strong performance that fits greatly with the thrilling atmosphere of the album...MARILLION,CLEPSYDRA,ARENA or even RENAISSANCE fans will a have a great time listening to this...Other progressive rock fans should also check this album out definitely in my opinion...A great music creation by a short-live legendary band which deserves at least 4 stars!Highly recommended!