Search - Magma :: Merci

Merci iss da stinkin

Frater L.P. | SF Bay Area, CA United States | 05/12/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"You're a Magma fan, right? If you weren't, you probably would not be reading this review. If you are, the odds are good that you've heard rumors of how bad this album is and have kept your distance.



Well, the rumors are all too true.



This album is the unfortunate result of "Magma, Phase II" that was announced with the release of their previous studio album Attahk. It attempts to break Magma into the pop scene, and falls completely on its face.



What does it sound like? Think early eighties pop, reminiscent in one place of Super Trooper era Abba (Super Zeuhler?), mixed with spastic pseudo-jazz and bizarre repetitive keyboard drones, sung mostly in English and French with occasional Kobaian. The album begins with some cheesy synthesizer, a drum machine, and Stella Vander singing "Ooh ooh baby." And it gets worse from there.



With all of the amazing music that Magma has created in the past, I still cannot believe how low they sunk with this album. There is nothing even remotely interesting here. They could have taken the Magma vibe and added pop elements to it to make something at least somewhat interesting. With Merci, Magma disconnected completely with all of the elements that made them great in the past. They ended up with an album that was a failure in all ways: too weird and uninspired to be pop, and too weird and uninspired to be Zeuhl."