A lost masterpiece
Brian Husar | phoenix, az United States | 10/10/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been serching years for this c.d. Thank god for amazon. My grandfather accadently bought this on 8-track tape in 1980. He thought it was a classical piece (IT IS but not what he was use to) He had me convinced it was made by computers. When 8-tracks went out I became obsessed in finding this and learning more about Cyrille Verdeaux and more about the musicians. It was not made by computers but by real musicians and a real composer. I had to find this again.
This music is beautiful, scary ,sad, uplifting all at the same time. Verdeaux has created a masterpiece in melody and mood that rivals only Mike Oldfield that also worked in this field. The part that always gets me is 4.00 minutes into the 2nd movement (sequenced as track one) when the music gets fast Tim Blake's synth bubbles are bubbling every where, and than it breaks into a waltz with Steve Hiliage providing a destorted melody and Didier Malherbe sounds like he is trying to play a melody on the sax and then all madness breaks loose. A free form of mellotrons synths, guitar and sax ending with the loud sound of thunder.
I wish more people new of this i'm only the third reviewer here. This music along with alot of great bands like Wilco seems to not get noticed. The melodys will stay in your head a long time. This is a modern classical masterpiece."
More great prog rock
BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 08/09/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is incredible. Clearlight was basically the brainchild of French keyboardist Cyrille Verdeaux and whatever musicians he could find at the time. Clearlight Symphony is the first of four albums by this band (five, if you include the 1975 album under the name of Delired Cameleon Family), originally released in 1975 on Virgin Records. If you're a Gong fan, there's a big reason why you need this album, because on side one (on the LP, that is - the album is divided by two side length cuts, or just simply Part 1 and 2 on the CD), Tim Blake, Steve Hillage, and Didier Malherbe appear. Don't expect the music to resemble Gong. This is totally symphonic prog rock with Verdeaux supplying the Mellotron, piano, and organ, Blake supplying us his trademark EMS synth bubbles, Hillage on guitar (but he seems more restrained than with his works on Gong, particularly You, or his solo efforts) and Malherbe supplying the occasional sax. Side two (the second half) is recommended if you're a Lard Free fan, particularly the fact Gilbert Artman of that band makes an appearance here, on drums, with Martin Issacs on bass and Christian Boule on guitar. This half of the album is far less synth dominated, letting the piano and Mellotron dominate. It also tends to be a bit jazzier as well. Regardless, this album is a big reminder of what Virgin Records was all about before they sold themselves to corporate rock. If you're a Mellotron or you're a symphonic prog rock fan, you can't go without this album."
A good album of instrumental space rock that features Gong m
Jeffrey J.Park | Massachusetts, USA | 06/11/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This 1973 album of instrumental space rock is the brainchild of French composer Cyrille Verdeaux and was released under the name of Clearlight. Being a keyboardist, the album is extremely keyboard heavy and Cyrille plays grand piano, Hammond organ, mellotron, VCS3, and mini-moog (I think).
Joining Cyrille on this album are members of Gong including guitarist Steve Hillage, saxophone player Didier Malherbe, and synth player Tim Blake. Members of French prog band Lard Free are also on the album and include drummer Gilbert Artmann. Guitarist Christian Boule and bassist Martin Isaacs also appear alongside Gilbert and Cyrille.
I should note that the folks over at Spalax went to great lengths to explain that they preserved the original running order by including the Lard Free "lineup" on Side 1 (1st Movement) and the Gong "lineup" on Side 2 (2nd Movement). Well for reasons that completely elude me (there are only 2 tracks), they somehow managed to screw this up such that the Gong "lineup" is on Side 1 and the Lard Free "lineup" is on Side 2. At any rate, just don't bother looking at the Spalax track listing because it is wrong.
Overall, this is a great album of instrumental space rock and is very mellotron heavy. As a huge Gong fan I was excited to hear Steve, Didier, and Tim on the album and they put in some good performances on the 1st Movement. The 2nd Movement (20'40") is pretty good although a little heavier in comparison with the spacier material on the 1st movement (20'37") - the full drum kit makes a huge difference. In general, Verdeaux is an OK player and a good composer.
This album is recommended along with You (Gong, 1974)."
Track Listings (2) - Disc #1
