Additional information
Personnel: Alain Eckert (vocals, guitar); Thierry Zaboitzeff (vocals, cello); Gérard Hourbette (violin); Jean-Pierre Soarez (trumpet, percussion); Patricia Dallio (piano). In 1976, a self-released LP by Art Zoyd appeared in Belgian record stores. At the time, nobody knew Symphonie Pour le Jour où Brûleront les Cités (Symphony for the Day Cities Will Burn) would be the first of many albums from this strange chamber progressive rock outfit. All the ingredients of Art Zoyd's sound for its first decade are here: unusual acoustic instrumentation for a rock band (violin, cello, piano, and trumpet, plus guitar, bass, and percussion), dark and mysterious atmospheres recalling France's Magma and foretelling Univers Zero (formed by Art Zoyd percussionist Daniel Denis), and complex pieces owing as much to contemporary classical as to progressive rock. The lineup for this first offering included Patricia Dallio (piano), Alain Eckert (guitar, vocals), Gérard Hourbette (violin), Jean-Pierre Soarez (trumpet, percussion), and Thierry Zaboïtzeff (bass, cello, vocals). The album is split in two. First is "Symphonie Pour le Jour où Brûleront les Cités," in three parts, an apocalyptic work opening with mad laughter, a vision of the end of the world with percussion clashing, frenetic violin motifs, and the trumpet from Judgment Day. Part one, Brigades Spéciales, is the most striking moment of the album -- the band will only reach this kind of intensity again on Phase IV. Then comes "Deux Images de la Cité Imbécile" ("Two Pictures of the Stupid City"), two movements leaning more toward some warped chamber rock conception of the burlesque, especially on Scènes de Carnaval. For a first exposition, Symphonie Pour le Jour où Brûleront les Cités was as impressive as could be and earned the band an immediate cult following. Moreover, thanks to the acoustic instrumentation, the album has aged very well. Symphonie Pour le Jour où Brûleront les Cités was reissued in 1999 on a two-CD set together with Musique Pour l'Odyssée and Génération Sans Futur. ~ François Couture
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