Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Ange
Label: Philips Records
Released: 1976
Length: 41:19
Rating: 4/5
Ange were (and still are) the most important and best-known French progressive rock band, founded in 1969 by two brothers, Christian and Francis Decamps. Both drew their inspiration from the British prog rock scene, especially Genesis and King Crimson, whom Ange still recall most strongly, even though they also pack in thoroughly distinctive elements of French folk, theater, cabaret, chanson and burlesque, with no shortage of clever lyrics and that unmistakably French sense of humor. On the classic Ange albums from the first half of the seventies, lead vocalist, occasional pianist and accordionist Christian and his brother Francis on keyboards were joined by guitarist Jean Michel Brezovar and bassist Daniel Haas, while drummer Jean Pierre Guichard came aboard in 1976. That was also the lineup that recorded the album »Par les fils de Mandrin«.
One really interesting thing about Ange is that they often simulated the sound of the mellotron by manipulating sound effects on a special type of organ, and only used a real mellotron fairly rarely, most of all on the album »Guet-Apens« (1978). »Par les fils de Mandrin« was their fifth studio album, released after the conceptual masterpiece »Émile Jacotey« (1975). On »Par les fils de Mandrin« Ange carried on with their recognizable symphonic direction, without forgetting the narrative interludes they use to shape the individual stories in the lyrics. The aforementioned French humor and cabaret touches can be fairly hard to follow for many, especially anyone who doesn’t understand French, but it all smooths out thanks to the splendid musical foundation, which has no shortage of symphonic grandeur, virtuoso guitar passages, pastoral folk ornaments and theatrical vocal feats.
The charismatic Christian Decamps, today the only original member, has always been an immensely passionate singer, and with his distinctive, strongly theatrical vocal approach he often slipped into the roles of the characters in the lyrics, surely drawing inspiration from Peter Gabriel (Genesis) as well. The occasional accordion kept the French folk elements in play, while Ange’s music was often marked by a Romance-flavored ambient charm, the kind you can also detect in the Italian prog rock scene, and which differs quite a bit from the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Teutonic or Scandinavian take on prog rock.
The title track opens with a cuckoo call and the rustling of newspaper, then, amid chirping birds, a layered symphonic arrangement kicks in. With a ruffled guitar riff, the band slowly prepares the ground for Christian’s theatrically spiced vocal displays. Francis’s keyboard textures contain a whole string of witty effects, and there’s no shortage of a short burlesque section or Brezovar’s combative guitar improvisation either. »Au café de Colibri« opens with the café sounds of local drunks, followed by a promising, immensely witty motif with cheeky use of percussion and an elusive guitar riff. The main driver of the extremely lively atmosphere is Christian’s incredibly committed singing, and it’s not hard to picture a sleepy afternoon by the Seine, with smoky old men happily playing boules behind the café next door.
»Ainsi s’en ira la pluie« has a slow rhythm and a somewhat gloomy atmosphere, built by Christian’s half-narrative vocal over elegant mellotron curtains and scattered guitar improvisations. Later in the piece, Ange bring in some French folk charm with the accordion, while a guitar solo heralds the move into a punchy section where Christian’s vocal, over ARP synthesizer sounds, practically ‘bursts with rage’. The folk-rock-seasoned »Autour du feu« opens with the sound of fried fish sizzling, after which a thoroughly Mediterranean, romantic melody takes over on acoustic guitar. The harmonica, dynamic percussion and Christian’s calm singing nicely build up an exceptionally subtle mood, which ends with a wild acoustic guitar passage.
The pastoral »Saltimbanques« also contains elements of French folk and boasts a festive mood that sounds like the band is in the middle of some countryside masked carnival. »Des yeux couleur d’enfants« opens with a punchy instrumental section built on a sharp guitar phrase and vast, mellotron-tinged waves, which together conjure up an epic-rustic ambience. Christian once again shines with an intensely committed and colorful vocal performance, full of fiery emotional turns. Here the influences of classic King Crimson, mainly thanks to the thick mellotron swells and the dark ambient sections, are the most obvious of anything on »Par les fils de Mandrin«, even though Brezovar has a completely different guitar approach from Robert Fripp.
»Atlantis« is the only track on the album where even those who don’t understand a single French word will know roughly what the lyrics are about from the title. The rise and fall of the Atlantean civilization, ‘narrated’ by Christian’s theatrical, shape-shifting vocal, is accompanied by occasional sounds of dripping water and exceptionally subtle, symphonic arrangements. With the mighty guitar solo that arrives in the last gasps of this piece, all lovers of triumphant endings can still lick their lips today.
The nearly 10-minute »Hymne à la Vie« is, as its title already says, an epic hymn in the truest sense of the phrase. It’s also the most complex composition on the album, opening calmly with a distinctly upbeat section where Christian’s vocal sits in a somewhat higher register, accompanied by pastoral acoustic guitar chords and layered synthesizer textures. Later on, as the accordion briefly drops in, the vocal takes on even more passionate dimensions than usual, while the whole band sets the stage for a triumphant finale in which epic arrangements take over. These create the festive mood of a typical French celebration, complete with the obligatory stroll through Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe.
»Par les fils de Mandrin« belongs to the golden middle of the classic Ange albums, meaning the band kept the sonic stability of their earlier work and came up with some of their best compositions yet. Ange were quite popular in France, especially in the seventies, but they never managed to conquer the British market, which they were desperate to break into. The main reason for their failure lay in the French lyrics, and it didn’t help that they recorded »Par les fils de Mandrin« in an English version as well, as a one-off. Who knows, maybe the outcome would have been more successful if they’d made that move right at the start of their career. That English version of »Par les fils de Mandrin«, titled »By the Sons of Mandrin« and recorded exclusively for the British market, is a big rarity today. Ange only released it on CD in 2003.
Line-up
Christian Decamps – vocals, piano, percussion, accordion
Francis Decamps – organ, A.R.P. synthesizer, mellotron, backing vocals
Jean Michel Brezovar – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Daniel Haas – bass guitar, acoustic guitar
Jean Pierre Guichard – drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals
Production
Philips Records and Claude Bibonne
Track list
1.Par les fils de Mandrin (4:48)
2. Au café du Colibri (4:02)
3. Ainsi s’en ira la pluie (6:08)
4. Autour du feu (3:06)
5. Saltimbanques (3:36)
6. Des yeux couleur d’enfants (4:20)
7. Atlantis – Les Géants de la 3ème lune (5:05)
8. Hymne à la Vie (9:44)
a. Cantique (4:16)
b. Procession (3:52)
c. Hymne (1:37)
