THE STRANDS OF THE FUTURE

Space rock is one of those terms we throw around that can mean different things to different people. Some of the bands that fall under this wide definition can sound pretty different so I'll try to describe this album for you. Gorgeous, dreamy, near perfect for the narcotic space crowd. Think about one of the classic spacey tracks everyone knows "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." Take the pace, mood, and beautiful floating atmosphere of that song but remove the Floydian vocals. Then add some flute ala Camel and a healthy dose of French-ness courtesy of Carpe Diem, with just a bit of Genesis regal presence in the guitar parts. Crunch these together and you might develop a picture of what Strands sound like. Few vocals, some pleasant lead guitar, but mostly a deep sea of calming keyboards/spacey electronics that is consistently on the laid back side.

The band may be called "the French Pink Floyd" by some but truth be told they never got close to that level of success of course. They were having their own problems with distribution and promotion but did achieve good success in France and good reviews for this album. The highlight of the album is the 22 minute title track which arrives on a cloud of mellotron. Boatloads of electronic wizardry ensue. Soon the band rises and lays down a fairly dramatic riff while the keys soar into heaven. That's the first 4 minutes. The next section will introduce some acoustic guitar and very chilled vocals. There will be a pause in the music for strange pysch effects and voices to freak out the tripping set. Some of the most beautiful passages occur in the second part of the song when the keys and guitar blend together melodies that range from sunny to ominous cloudy. They even manage to funk it up just a tad around 15 minutes in before the epic ends. "Flight" is a short and delicious piece of flute and acoustic guitar. The remaining two tracks will cover similar ground giving the space fan a consistently high quality 44 minutes. From the liner notes: "a sound which is characterized by its great sophistication, complexity, technical and melodic perfection and great strength and symphonic beauty. With this album Pulsar acquired a reputation as one of the major French rock groups."

One potential problem with the album is the somewhat dicey sound quality, but you'll need to check it out anyway if you are a fan of this sort of music. Not quite in essential territory but a good piece of 1970s France all the same. The Musea issue features the typical nice band bio with color photos of the band members and a nice display of what I assume was the inner gatefold art-a very bizarre scene. 7/10.

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