Search - Bottine Souriante :: J'Ai Jamai Tant Ri

A decent album - though not their best

James Feenstra | Mississauga, Ontario Canada | 12/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, this is LBS's first album since the massive shake-up where Yves and Michel went off to do their own thing, and it goes without saying that the band is different since they left. The sound is similar - foot stomping and traditional instruments superimposed against backdrops of jazz, and even some funk in this case - but it seems to lack the direction other albums have had. The first two tracks Tiguidou pack-sack and Paye la traite are promising but then it drops off a little. There two songs that could be classified as gems: Ma femme est morte which borderlines on storytelling, and the rollicking Si l'hiver peut prendre, which LBS says captured the mood of the group during recording. All in all J'ai jamais is a good solid album, but not the best. My personal opinion is that the best album LBS has done to date is En Spectacle (1996). The first 6 tracks are worth the price of the album alone. Still, this album deserves 4 stars."