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Magma - Retrospektïẁ III CD (album) cover

RETROSPEKTÏẁ III

Magma

Zeuhl

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5 stars I bought this album when I was eighteen. For more than twenty years I have been a "prog" fan, and I heard hundreds of albums from prog artists. I still believe that "Retrospektiw 3" from Christian Vander and GO from Stomu Yamashta were my most important "discoveries", I mean the best albums I choose on my own while not relying to professional editors nor from radios or friends. I could never be tired to hear Retrvision ( Track #1 ) rythm and arrangement, while you could consider SIDE B of the album to be good, again, but not a masterpiece indeed.
Report this review (#60777)
Posted Monday, December 19, 2005 | Review Permalink
[email protected]
4 stars this album showes that magma was able to incorporate many different musical styles, track one is the first ten minutes something of a zeuhl/funk/gospel piece, then moves into more darker territory, very good, track two is something of a pinnacle displaying christian vander`s incredible vocal skills, the album is worth bying for this song alone, fantastick solos, incredible drumming, overall a brilliant track, track 3 is a more laidback beautiful little ballad with vander once again daisplays his vocal abillities, stunning!!

Worth buying if you like magma`s style, but if you are a newbee to magma, buy K.A. or Attahk and M.D.K. First!

Report this review (#82923)
Posted Thursday, July 6, 2006 | Review Permalink
Rainer Rein
4 stars I bought this LP from Brussels some weeks ago with Retrospective 1 & 2 (Univers Zero's fantastic concert took place on the same day there). On this Retrospective 3 we can hear three quite different compositions. The first one - "Retrovision" - is a side- long "retrospective-medley" from Attahk-album - with some more-gospel-elements - maybe not one of the most hypnotic tune of Magma but still listenable... But the second side of this LP includes in my opinion two absolute masterpieces. Firstly just another very good version of "Hhai" - including "superlatives"-needing conversations between Didier Lockwood's violin and Benoit Widemann's synthesizer. And vocal parts are by Christian Vander (Klaus Blasquiz didn't take part here). For "encore" we have the greatest pleasure to listen one quite short "ballade-like" tune called ""La" Dawotsin" - including only vocal parts, bass guitar, piano and some "fragile" percussion - only compliments for this beauty! My rating because of "Retronision" (3 stars) and because of "Hhai" and ""La" Dawotsin" (5 stars) can so be almost solid four stars.
Report this review (#97494)
Posted Tuesday, November 7, 2006 | Review Permalink
bhikkhu
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars One of the advantages of living in an eclectic university town, like Ann Arbor, is the abundance of used music shops. This is a very diverse place, and is quite international. This means that you get a wider variety of musical tastes. It also means that if you find something unique, you'd better grab it. There is a good chance someone else is also looking for it. This was the case on one of my many visits to my favorite shop, and I noticed a MAGMA album in the M's. At the time, I was just beginning to explore different music. I had head MDK a couple of times, but I still didn't know any Zeuhl that well. I had no idea what "Retrospektïw III" was (I didn't remember even seeing it listed on P.A.), but I had to follow my own guidelines and pick it up.

Once I put it on, I was extremely happy with my purchase. It just grabbed me right from the beginning. The funky bass, tight drumbeats, and crazy chatter are instantly infectious. The jamming then ensues. And jam they do. This is actually a very upbeat affair. The selections are three of their most accessible, played with incredible vigor and joy. The band is very tight (as you would expect), and the vocals pristine. They do get a bit dark at times (it is Magma after all), but it is generally positive, and very soulful. I think they must have been listing to some funk, and a lot of Soul before this show.

This could actually be the most, dare I say, fun album in their collection. It might also be the best place for a novice to enter into MAGMA, or maybe even Zeuhl in general. The selections are not the most complex or groundbreaking things they could have chosen, but it doesn't fail to show the originality and excellence of Christian Vander's musical vision. It's also a great representation of the energy of a live MAGMA experience. This may have been recorded in 1981, but I can tell you that even in 2007, they haven't lost a bit of it.

If you are a big time Zeuhl fan, or just becoming interested, go get this one. You'll be glad you did.

H.T. Riekels

Report this review (#134042)
Posted Tuesday, August 21, 2007 | Review Permalink
Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars The second of two sets of extracts from the epic June 1980 reunion concerts put on by Magma focuses on post-Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh material. The opening Retrovision presents a much more convincing fusion of zeuhl with funk and gospel than was achieved on the Attahk album (extracts of which appear in the song), whilst Hhai appears in the classic zeuhl style much as it was on Live/Hhai and the album is rounded off by a sparser and quieter closing ballad. The material here is not quite as iconic as that on Retrospektiw, but Magma fans will still most likely find it enjoyable.
Report this review (#565684)
Posted Thursday, November 10, 2011 | Review Permalink
Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars I do refer "Retrospektiw I-II" to this one even if they were both taken from the same series of reunion concerts they did in June of 1980. They did three nights in Paris at L'Olympia. It's that opener that I have some minor issues with but overall I can't not give this 4 stars, just a really enjoyable recording. And it's funny I'm at work this past week and a few times I had "Hhai" stuck in my head which I thought was humerous. I mean who gets a MAGMA track spinning over and over in their mind. At least that main melody. I really like that "Hhai" version especially when Lockwood trades off with his violin with the keyboardist. Not sure if that's clavinet or synths but it's a cool section starting after 4 minutes. Love the female and male vocals here too. Christian is featured as the male singer while on the other two tracks it's Guy Khalifa. Stella is here with Liza and Maria as far as female vocals go.

What I do like about the opener "Retrovision" is the guitar that arrives around 8 1/2 minutes replacing the female vocals. And how about when that sound turns heavier and more determined before 11 1/2 minutes then the female vocals return. More of that determined sound after 14 minutes and check out that bass 16 minutes in. That would be Mr. Bertram. Paganotti does the bass on the other two tracks. The closer is short at around 4 minutes but a nice edition as we get mostly piano and vocals and it does get intense.

So yeah another MAGMA release that I seem to need to keep around.

Report this review (#2582769)
Posted Saturday, July 31, 2021 | Review Permalink

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