NEURONIUM

Neuronium, project from the 70s by Michel Huygen. A masterpiece of world electronic music. This record I had the pleasure of listening in Brazil. I met and had some contacts with Huygen years ago, when I interviewed him for Revista Keyboard of Brasil. Huygen was wonderfully generous in sending me almost every CD discography as a gift via mail!! This Hydro CD has beautiful atmospheres and female vocals in parts,made in synthesizer.All music remember of course, Vangelis (some parts-I think Huygen and Vangelis are great friends) I won't compare it with other works, because it's unique. In the beginning ( 70's), the Neuronium has that electronic analog vein inherent to Kraut Rock, very lysergic and cosmic. Huygen was adapting to the planetary transformations of art and music, and rebuilding in other aspects, his music.As well as many musicians like Klaus Schulze or Vangelis.Hydro is magnificent.Listen!!

"Secret Audience" starts quite promissing with some somber synths that set the mood, only to disappear after a short while and be replaced by lifeless synth pads. A mandolin shows up occasionally to lighten up the song and it continues like that repeatedly for a while. All of a sudden aggressive synths and horribly dated drums appear to awake me. We get synth and guitar solos back and forth and the drum pattern is annoyingly repeated for a long time. After that there's "Reprisal", a useless reprise of the previous theme.

"Torquemada" begins with sounds that remind of Hyperborea but after a few seconds there are repetitive drums again, and much faster this time. Fortunately it has nice melodies and the acoustic guitar solo is quite good.

"Lethal Dose" is gladly more atmospheric. Although nice for a while, at some point its lack of direction is noticeable. It ends with a really good guitar solo, but it's too late to save the album.

Summarizing: very few and completely different ideas with barely no atmosphere, all thrown together. Certainly not the best place to start with this band.

1.5 stars rounded up because of the cover, probably their coolest.

2.5 stars

Although with a cover as horrible as "Supranatural", "Numerica" shows an unexpected welcomed sound evolution compared to the dated cheesy synths of the previous album. Recorded only 2 years after, it looks like it was recorded a half-decade after. Good point for NEURONIUM, the 80's clichés are gone for good. So, does this mean better music?

In fact the album alternates enjoyable and less inspired moments. For example, "500 Years" is an enjoyable slow opener, while the soft melancholic "Deep Illness Of Love" is average. "Promenade" is an ambient tune with "world" music sonorities, while the slow "The Power Of Your Smile" is rather boring. The title track is dreamy and incorporates a pleasant synth loop sounding a bit similar to KLAUS SCHULZE's "Crystal Lake".

Not really tortuous, "The Maze" is nice but a bit sleepy. The 15 minutes long "Extreme Limits" is not very extreme either, but features some cool sonorities and voice effects. The record finishes with "Au Revoir", with a sequence again reminiscent of KLAUS SCHULZE, but with an average result this time.

At least Michel Huygen escaped from the 80's and made his sound progressed in a good way. Concerning the music itself, from now on, the compositions will be less direct and more slow ambient/new-age oriented. As a first attempt in this new direction, "Numerica" is unequal, it still contains weak tracks and too long passages. Not an album of hypnotic pulsating electronica, but works as background music or for relaxation.

In 1987, NEURONIUM has now finished its mutation and completely emancipated from its initial influences. Is this a good thing? Even for great bands, this decade saw many electronic music disasters. Nearly one of them, "Supranatural" shows Michel Huygen using cheesy electronic sounds, as well as experimenting with new effects, unfornately not the bests.

The opening "When The Goblins Invade Madrid" is the only good track of the record. A catchy sci-fi pleasant tune, if you're not allergic to 80's synthetizers. I don't personally see the relation with gobelins or Madrid, but it doesn't matter. "Digitron" is the strangest as it features bizarre vocal sounds. The music itself is rather dull and repetitive, like in the next track, "Priorité Absolue".

At least, "Europe Is Europe" is listenable. This calm new-age track is in the style of VANGELIS, however a bit too flat to keep attention. The record finishes on the 17 minutes long "Sundown At Tanah Lot". Usually, NEURONIUM's epics contains nice passages, but here there are hardly no variations. The first part is long and monotonous. The second part, more atmospheric, does not bring anything. By the way, "Tanah Lot" is a small island in Bali.

Almost as horrible as its cover, "Supranatural" is saved by its opening track, "When The Goblins Invade Madrid". One of the most dated NEURONIUM releases.

2.5 stars

Just after a few seconds, you can detect a change from NEURONIUM's previous albums. The difference? Carlos Guirao left the band one year earlier. It was him who brought the electronic 70's Berlin School spirit in the compositions. From now on, say goodbye to hypnotic psychotronic synthetizer sequences. "Invisible Views" shows cofounder Michel Huygen moving away from his initial influences and trying to propose something different. This is a respectable goal, but the result is hesitating.

The first half is the least interesting. The opener "Decision" arrives directly as a shock if you know the band's first albums. Dull and repetitive with its childish sound, this track definitely marks a rupture. The guitar does not bring anything. "L'éternelle Renaissance" is a slow melancholic piece, a bit long and not really interesting.

The second half is more inspired. "Fullness" is a fun dynamic retro sci-fi tune. Rather nice, although sounding quite dated. As it contains some moments reminiscent of their former style, "Invisible Views" is the best track of the disc. It starts softly with an aerial atmosphere to then evolve into a pleasant discrete synth sequence and spacey guitar play.

At least the record finishes on a positive note (unlike the beginning). Most 70's electronic formations encountered difficulties in the 80's, but here NEURONIUM will never be the same again. An unequal transitional album, not recommended to discover the band.

NEURONIUM is a spanish electronic band that combines 70's hypnotic electronic sequences - in the style of TANGERINE DREAM or KLAUS SCHULZE - with more accessible, melodic elements. Their debut album "Quasar 2C361" shows interesting promises.

The title track is a dreamy 26 minutes suite with a slow progression. It alternates soft and sequences passages, with apparitions of guitar and flute, and finishes with a pretty finale. Although a bit too long, the overall is enjoyable.

"Catalepsia" is pleasant atmospheric tune featuring nice spacey guitar. The short "El Valle De Rimac" introduces the melancholic ambient mood that will later become a trademark of the band. The ending track "Turo Park" theme has reminiscences of PINK FLOYD's "A saucerful of secrets" finale.

With this album, NEURONIUM is still building its personality. Sequences and melodies are still discrete, compositions are rather homogeneous. As a consequence, "Quasar 2C361" is one of their most aerial and contemplative record. Not innovative, but nice soft relaxing music.

Carlos Guirao's departure was a big loss for NEURONIUM. The band moved away from hypnotic 70s' influenced sequences to 80s' more or less inspired new-age / ambient music.

"Secret Audience" is a slow, delicate melancholic opening with absolutely no rythms. It certainly shares reminiscences with the style of their first albums. On the opposite, "Reprisal" shows NEURONIUM entering the next decade... but not the good way. Overall this track sounds very dated: it features many 80s' synth clichés and the guitar part does not bring anything. The short energic tune "Torquemada", with small guitar passages, is surprisingly quite enjoyable. The record finishes with the ambient "Lethal Dose". I find this composition a bit flat and less inspired than their previous works of the same type.

"Heritage" has a few interesting moments, unfortunately the long pieces fail at keeping interest.

A soundtrack for an imaginary retro-futuristic landscape

Simply my favorite from the spanish band. A mastered mixture of pretty melodies with hypnotic sequence-driven passages, yet rather accessible. Furthermore, there is no weak track on the album. Maybe the most electronic of the five first albums, as it features very few guitar and singing.

Our trip begin with "Prelude" a nice, short, soft and melancholic piece, in the tradition of previous NEURONIUM tunes. The title track evokes the wandering into the ruins of a lost, ancient alien civilization. A slow track, but with a robotic spacey feel. The journey ends with "The Neutron Age", the highlight of the album. A real masterpiece, with multi- layered synths flows, harmony and melody, psychotronic meditative passage and its aerial finish. Unreal.

This album deserves attention of TANGERINE DREAM, KLAUS SCHULZE or JARRE's lovers.

Unfortunately this record is last one with Carlos Guairo. The quality will decrease in the following albums.

One of my favorite from the spanish band, and the first one with a good balance between the tracks.

"Flying Over Kai-Tak" shows heavy influences from Berlin's electronic school. Parts one and two respectively sound like good old 70's KLAUS SCHULZE and TANGERINE DREAM. This 25 minutes piece is certainly not innovative for 1980 and a bit too long, but quite good. "Privilege" is the short track of the record. It consists in a soft melancholic melody, with a more accessible, although dated, sound. The most beautiful passage comes with "Les Tours Du Silence". A smooth and dreamy ambient tune, with a superb leitmotiv finale.

As a conclusion, although not groundbreaking, "Digital Dream" should please 70's progressive electronic fans.

With this album, NEURONIUM wanted to propose more accessible music with shortened compositions. Contrarily to their other first releases, "The Visitor" features no 20 minutes long suite.

The title song surprisingly starts with a short electric organ introduction, and then deploys a melancholic soft space-rock melody. Not my favorite passage. "A Stange Affair" slowly sets up a trippy and mysterious atmosphere, with vocoded passages. The best composition of the disc. The electro-pop moment then comes with the catchy "Rendez-vous". The longest track, "The Light Of Your Eyes" and concludes the album. It can be divided in two parts. The first half is sung and features soft acoustic guitar. The second half sounds similar to TD's "Encore" release, but unfortunately less insipred and a bit too repetitive. The finale is a reprise from the opening theme.

In between "Digital Dream" and "Chromium Echoes", "The Visitor" is unequal and a bit different from these hypnotic sequenced-oriented releases. Nevertheless, fans of early 80's TANGERINE DREAM should check this album out.