New album from Carpe Diem (French prog band)

[zeprogmeister]

Saw this on the Musea news feed. Quite the unexpected reunion..

[spacefreak]

Everybody seems to do a reunion the last fifteen years... Most of them though, disappear as quitely as they had returned. I sometimes wonder who can be the potential audience of these bands, when a reissue of their 70s great albums could not sell more than 300 copies.

[calyx]

A good chunk of the album (and for me the best part by far) is re-worked live recordings of two previously unreleased epics from 1978. It's a hybride between a new album and an archive release.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I sometimes wonder who can be the potential audience of these bands, when a reissue of their 70s great albums could not sell more than 300 copies.

Indeed so. And when considering that Carpe Diem according to rumours gained their 70s status as one of the 6-7 "big" names in French progressive rock by apparently selling some 20,000 albums altogether - many of them in Canada. Those two records have held up rather well, though.

[spacefreak]

Those two records have held up rather well, though.

Yes, they did!

[Steve F.]

I sometimes wonder who can be the potential audience of these bands, when a reissue of their 70s great albums could not sell more than 300 copies.

The perfect headliner for Farfest!

Having gotten that out of my system, I very much like their two albums and this sampler sounds pretty aok on one listen.

[interbellum]

This release was mentioned a couple of times in the New Releases-thread (starting from 11-11-2015), but that's such a hard thread to discuss individual releases.

Anyway, here's what I wrote about it:

The last line-up of the seventies were preparing new songs for a third LP in 1978 and 1979, but due to a change in the polici of EMI and a lack of distribution-possibilities there were no studio-recordings made. The band split in 1979.

There were however some live-recordings from those days, which included performances of saxophone- and flute-player Marius David, who died in 1993.
Those recordings formed the base for two long tracks on the new album. Overdubs were done and together with six new songs the album was released.
The sound is more electronic than in the seventies, with a larger role for the keyboards.

http://www.original-musics-colors.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CarpeDiemProgressive/

[Progbear]

Indeed so. And when considering that Carpe Diem according to rumours gained their 70s status as one of the 6-7 "big" names in French progressive rock by apparently selling some 20,000 albums altogether - many of them in Canada. Those two records have held up rather well, though.

Did Cueille le jour get released in Canada, too? I know the first one did (retitled Way Out as the Time Goes By).

[spacefreak]

Did Cueille le jour get released in Canada, too? I know the first one did (retitled Way Out as the Time Goes By).

I never saw a Canadian release of their 2nd...

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

This release was mentioned a couple of times in the New Releases-thread (starting from 11-11-2015), but that's such a hard thread to discuss individual releases.

Anyway, here's what I wrote about it:

The last line-up of the seventies were preparing new songs for a third LP in 1978 and 1979, but due to a change in the polici of EMI and a lack of distribution-possibilities there were no studio-recordings made. The band split in 1979.

There were however some live-recordings from those days, which included performances of saxophone- and flute-player Marius David, who died in 1993.
Those recordings formed the base for two long tracks on the new album. Overdubs were done and together with six new songs the album was released.
The sound is more electronic than in the seventies, with a larger role for the keyboards.

but really it's only the first 3 tunes on the album that are "electronic"/Pop sounding. If one were to get the album, whatever you do, DO NOT play the first 3 tunes or your first impression will be ruined. Start the album on track 4 and it sounds nearly as good as their classic 2 albums.