Forty Years of Magma in One Great Box
J. Branson | Houston, TX | 12/09/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For fans of progressive rock and Zeuhl music in particular this box set celebrating 40 years of Magma is a real treasure. I'm not going to go into any detailed descriptions of Magma's music; I recommend that those new to Magma check out reviews of the band's individual releases elsewhere on Amazon. Here I'm going to describe exactly what you get in this wonderful box set containing a total of 12 cds with accompanying informative booklets for each individual release.
CD 1 - Kobaia (1970) (2 cds) with 48-page booklet
CD 2 - 1.001 degrees Centigrades (a.k.a. Magma 2) (1971) with 32-page booklet
CD 3 - .M.D.K. (Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973) with 36-page booklet
CD 4 - Wurdah Itah (musique originale du film d'Yvan LaGrange 'Tristan et Iseult') (a.k.a. the second movement of the Theusz Hamtaahk triptych) (1974) with 32-page booklet
CD 5 - Kohntarkosz (1974) with 32-page booklet
CD 6 - Udu Wudu (1976) with 32-page booklet
CD 7 - Attahk (1977) with 32-page booklet
CD 8 - Merci (1982) with 32-page booklet
CD 9 - K.A. (Kohntarkosz Anteria) (2004) with 32-page booklet
CD 10 - Archiw I & II (2 cds) with 48-page booklet
The contents on CD 10 are:
Disc 1 - 1. La Foule (4:38) 2. Blues de v. (6:30) 3. Fete foraine (2:47) 4. Pascale (2:42) 5. Ourania (8:48) 6. Kalimouna (extrait) (0:43) 7. Africa Anteria (7:03) 8. Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (34:35)
Tracks 1-7 are from the film '24 heures seulement' recorded July 27-30, 1970 at Europa Sonor studio. Track 8 is an alternate recording of .M.D.K. with only the core group of Christian Vander, Jannick Top - bass guitar, Klaus Blasquiz - vocals and percussion, and Jean-Luc Manderlier - keyboards from April 11-15, 1973 recorded at Manor Studios in England.
Disc 2 - 1. Kobaia (8:53), 2. Aina (5:20) 3. Malaria (3:49) 4. Sckxyss (2:47) 5. Aurae (9:47) 6. Thaud Zaia (5:55) 7. Nau Ektila (13:46) 8. Muh (final) (1:09) 9. Eliphas Levi (9:35)
Tracks 1-8 are alternate recordings of 8 out of the 10 compositions from Magma's first album recorded at the studio des Dames in April 1970. Track 9 is an alternate version of Eliphas Levi from the Seance album 'Merci' recorded in 1983.
This box includes all of Magma's studio recordings up to the present date. Every disc comes in its own digipack sleeve recreating the original album cover art (1.001 degrees Centigrades uses a silver cover with the Magma symbol in black in place of the volcano cover art) and the digipacks come housed in a nicely designed box. Collectively, the booklets add up to 356 pages of text and rare photographs from different periods of the band's history. Every booklet first has the text in French and then its English equivalent. The text is written by Christian Vander going into great detail about the beginnings and evolution of Magma from its inception.
My only disappointment is that no booklet containing the lyrics was included, but otherwise this is an excellent box set that definitely belongs in any true Magma fan's collection. There's a sticker on the shrinkwrap indicating that the box is a limited edition; I don't know how many have been made, but I'm assuming that it's a small quantity so pick it up while you can. The end of 2008 sees Magma with a new revised line-up and hopefully a new studio recording in the cards. Until then 'Studio Zund' provides more than plenty to keep fans occupied."
I have seen "De Futura", and it will BLOW YOUR MIND!
John H. McCarthy | Archbald,PA | 01/11/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The only things better than this set are the four volume "Mythes Et Legendes" DVD's recorded in 2005 at Le Triton. If you think that they must be too old to play these pieces, be prepare to be AWED!!! The interplay between Christian Vander and Jannick Top on "De Futura" will leave you absolutely breathless! There are also a wealth of classic MAGMA live performances from throughout their career on YouTube. A final word to the cash-strapped fan in these recessed times, go to tower.com, it's currently (as of 1/11/09) $84 with free shipping..."
