STAND BY

Aside from the rather repetitive and one dimensional electric guitars by Richard Pinhas, this is an excellent electronic prog album. The 14 minute opener sounds pretty much like King Crimson in a grungy manner with some Klaus Shulze electronics thrown in.

The most appealing thing about Heldon are the keyboards, which are monolithic in application. And there's lots of them!

Heldon were always instrumental, and I can't help thinking that a few vocals in small doses might have helped along the way, particularly if sung in French. There's always something missing that I can never quite put my finger on.

'Stand By' is certainly one of their better recordings, and is quite intense, if listened to carefully. The unimaginatively entitled 'Recognition' sounds incredibly like Tangerine Dream circa 'Force Majeure' and is probably the highlight of the album, choc full of brilliant analogue synths. Patrick Gauthier (of Magma fame) contributes as dual keyboardist.

The best description would be: A more energetic Tangerine Dream '77 to '79 with more edge and uneasiness throughout.

It pushes for 4 stars, but the guitars do grate a little. It's different and entertaining, I'll give them that, but come on... the cover really is pretty bad isn't it?