MOVING GELATINE PLATES

Legendary yet short-lived French group,formed in 1969 by schoolmates guitarist Gerard Bertram and bassist Didier Thibault in Sartrouville in July 1969.They were joined by drummer Michel Coulon,who soon left to be replaced by Gerard Pons and Maurice Helmlinger completed the line-up.In 1970 a performance in front of 5000 people at the Le Bourget Festival was the incident ,which changed their career.They gained wide recognition before even releasing an official album and were soon signed by CBS and recorded their debut in just six days.

''London Cab'' opens the album and it is a great presentation of the band's complex sound with flutes and saxes in a rather free form accompanying Bertram's complicated playing with definite hints from SUPERSISTER's style.In this track Pons' performance on percussion is trully memorable,while the band surprisingly included some lyrics from the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice''.A jazzy and humurous yet always demanding short ''X-25'' will follow,before ''Gelatine'' bring hints of the Canterbury scene,especially SOFT MACHINE and CARAVAN.Nice and adventuruous Psychedelic Prog with delicious and atmospheric Hammond organ parts,relaxed bass lines by Thibault,again a complex offering by Bertram full of fine breaks and a mass of sax attacks by Helmlinger.

Heading for the long 15-min.''Last Song'',an electric outburst will start for it,pounded by electric guitars (both in a rhytmic way and solo's performances),some furious drumming and melodic saxes in a frenetic groove.For a 3 min. time the solo drumming of Pons is always good,but drum solos are not my cup of tea.Fortunately the track starts to develop again in a psychedelic mood with obscure work on guitars and organ and also a soft series of vocals (always sung in English) until its horn-based end.Good track,but I expected a little more of it.''Memories'' will correctly close the album with some softer music dominated by acoustic guitars and Helmlinger's melodic flutes on another professional performance.This man almost turned to be the band's main hero.

So did the album worth all the praise about it,before even it was released?Mostly,yes.MOVING GELATINE PLATES show some incredible talent and deliver both great individual and team performances,but seem to lack a bit in compositional skills.Still the album is a fantastic listening for Canterbury Prog,Jazz Rock and complex rock fans.3.5 stars and strongly recommended.