What a strange album. I'm in a class that studies French culture through their music, and Serge Gainsbourg thus far is easily the most interesting. A Jew who was a child during German occupation, forced to wear a yellow star, grew up to be a popularly considered ugly, yet adored womanizing cynic obsessed with societal taboo's like statutory rape? Yeah, he's interesting, alright. The first bit of his music we heard was his sarcastic reggae cover of the French National Anthem titled "Aux Armes, et cætera" (or "To Arms, etc.), and it didn't really hook me.Then we listened to his jazz-pop hit about a suicidal ticket guy, and the music reflected the feeling of claustrophobia and chaos. Again, I didn't really like it, but I was interested. My professor made an off hand comment about an album we wouldn't be listening to that was his take on Prog Rock. As a fan of the British Proggers, I was intrigued, and looked this highly acclaimed album on Spotify. A quick read on wikipedia and rolling stone informed me that this album was about, wait for it, an aged man who falls in love with a fifteen year old, who dies in a plain crash shortly after they meet, and he obsesses over her. Weird, huh? The rankings Wikipedia listed had a pretty unanimous 10/10 star, with maybe one exception of the 9.5. So, I was pretty pumped to give it a go.
Why, Beck?
Now, let me just say, I don't speak a lick of french, and maybe that changes the whole thing, coz' there's very little vocal melodies. It's mostly just Gainsbourg (I think it's him performing it) talking while some fairly intricate music plays in the back. If this is Prog (sorry france), the brits to it better. The tracks aren't structured well at all, they just kind of drag on in this lull. The first and final tracks are nearly identical, minus a choir overdub on the latter. Everything on this record just feels effortless, in a bad way. The bass, although playing intricate lines, is dull. I must admit not really being hooked to any of the album.I knew Beck was influenced by this stuff, but I feel kind of bad at just how influenced he is. Paper Tiger from Beck's amazing release riffs on the first and last track from this record, in fact, it almost flat out steals from it. That being said, it steals from it, but makes it fun and exciting. In the context on this record, it just sounds like a sad version of an interesting musical idea, that's filled with anti-depressants that aren't working, in fact, they're doing just the opposite.
This album is just a bunch of ideas that almost come together but just fail. I can't speak to the lyrics, as I don't speak french. But for one of the worlds most celebrated icons, I'm just not seeing it.
2/10.
