SANDROSE progressive masterpiece FRENCH ORIGINAL MINT

$

300

Well this is one of french most beautiful ever progressive LP. And it's the rare french original pressing, much rarer than the UK one (ref Polydor 2393 030) gatefold-open sleeve featuring french genius guitarist JEAN PIERRE ALARCEN. sleeve is in TOP MINT CONDITION as new! record is 98 % mint (don't worry : the other 2 % is mint minus you have to pen BIG your hears to listen to a tiny tiny surface oise a couple of timles during the perfect 40 minutes of the LP!!) Music is fantastic a bit like french King crimson/Beatles. I've included now some articles on the web on this record. Payment is cash or paypal thank you. A wonderful early French prog band, SANDROSE were formed in 1971 by guitarist Jean Piere ALARCEN. The other members of the band were Christian CLAIREFOND on bass, Michel JULLIEN on drums and Henri GARELLA who played organ and Mellotron. Vocals were supplied by powerful female vocalist Rose PODWOJNY singing with English lyrics. Let's notice some beautiful dialogues between the majestic guitar soli and the splendid keyboards sonorities into the progressive field. SANDROSE's debut and last was considered as one of the top 5 French progressive album. Some superb melodies are lightened by an excellent female vocalist, by masses of keyboards and guitar to keep you happy. In the 70's, this album was hard to find and quite expensive like this album. A MUST HAVE FOR EVERY FAN!!!!! Le guitariste Jean-Pierre Alarcen est à l'origine de quelques aventures musicales particulièrement intéressantes et originales dans le paysage progressif français des années 1967-1978. La musique de Sandrose, bien qu'assumant de glorieuses influences (Beatles, King Crimson, Moody Blues, jazz-rock et musique classique) est immensément originale et incroyablement novatrice. Son cachet particulier réside dans une alchimie sonore très au point. Au jeu éblouissant de Jean-Pierre Alarcen, guitariste subtil, d'une grande finesse mais également capable de faire parler la poudre dans de gigantesques passages ultra-puissants, se conjuguent les envolées majestueuses de Rose Podwojny dont la voix, à la fois claire, chaude et puissante, rappellent Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention) ou Ruth Copeland. Les vocaux en anglais sont chantés avec une grande élégance, sur des paroles ravissantes, tantôt romantiques, tantôt nostalgiques, toujours émouvantes et propices à la rêverie. Le travail d'Henri Garella aux claviers est basé sur une grande sobriété technique qui privilégie les nappes emphatiques de mellotron ou les délicats arpèges à l'orgue Hammond. On verra cependant que Garella laisse par moments parler sa virtuosité, dans des passages à tendance jazzy qui mettent à l'honneur sa dextérité à l'orgue Hammond. La section rythmique est elle aussi très impressionnante, à la fois puissante et subtile, mettant un point d'honneur à toujours faire prévaloir son grand sens de l'à-propos et ainsi créer des ambiances, souligner la finesse d'un passage ou au contraire, faire basculer le groupe dans des passages d'une puissance et d'une violence inédites. The major attraction within the line-up no doubt is that of vocalist Rose Podwojny, who constantly balances between the raunchy approach of a Grace Slick and that of an authentic Jazz diva. Others have placed her voice in between that of Linda Hoyle and Julian’s Treatment singer Cathy Pruden. Based around the talented guitarist Jean-Pierre Alarcen, Sandrose rose out of the ashes of another French cult band called Eden Rose. Whilst mellotron and Hammond are to be found throughout the lengthy instrumental passages, most of the attention goes towards Rose Podwojny, who has often been compared to Dutch singer Jerney Kaagman, whilst from a musical perspective Sandrose was often compared to Earth & Fire, Kaagman’s band. To my ears, Rose’s voice sounds much more trained, with more vibrato and able to shine in many other musical styles, something we can’t say from the rather limited voice of Jerney Kaagman. Also, from the point of view that this concerns a French band, Rose’s prononciation of the English language is perfect. No doubt the highlight of this album has to be the unrivaled prowess of "Underground Session," which really contains every single element from the book of symphonic rock highlights. This track alone is worth the money of the entire album. It nicely alternates calm passages and more heavy outbursts in order to create the true identity of authentic prog. The dreamy "Summer Is Yonder" could well be an outtake from Focus or Pulsar, once again not being obtrusive in any way and fully composing the arrangement in favour of Rose’s high pitched vocals here. Although the song has a slight medieval feel at times, it’s mainly the Akkerman-like guitar from Alarcen combined with the organ that delivers the Focus likeness. When Rose isn’t singing, the rest of the band most definitely prove that they are also outstanding musicians, leaning heavilly towards jazz and fusion as demonstrated during the rhythmic "Metakara," displaying the typical Hammond from the seventies. All in all, this still is a wonderful album to listen to even though it has been released more than thirty years ago. Some of the sounds may be dated but the way the compositions are made still vouch for great creativity. Chauvinistic as they are, the French rate this album as being one of the world’s top ten progressive albums of all time. I wouldn’t go as far as saying top ten but it most definitely merits a place in the world’s best 100 prog albums of all time, and that alone is a fantastic achievement, knowing there are thousands and thousands of albums out there whilst Sandrose only made this single debut