The important thing to remember about Magma is: don't start with Merci! Pretty much anything else in their catalog, it's like shooting the broadside of a barn with a sawed off shotgun.
Merci is the Magma equivalent of 90125, the eponymous Genesis record, etc. And it's very 80's sounding too, with drum machines on several tracks. I happen to love the album, but, to borrow a line from an early 90's Oldsmobile ad campaign, "This is not your father's Magma!".
Oh yeah, and I guess I should also warn you about Retrospektïẁ (Part III), a live album Magma put out in 1980. Actually, rumor has it it's studio recordings with faked audience nosie added to the mix, but anyway, side one is largely a rather strange piece of music, by Magma standards anyway. It's almost like a funked up zeuhl version of a showtune (based on themes that were heard on the Attahk album). And it's 18 minutes long. The last five minutes or so sound like the zeuhl we know and love, but up to that point, it's very different. And it has a bit in the middle where one of the girl singers does her Janis Joplin impression. Again, I love it, but these may not be the droids you're looking for.
But yes, do get MDK, Köhntarkösz, Üdü Ẁüdü, KA, Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré, and Reims Opera House 1976 (a GREAT archival release, with a super version of Theusz Hamtaahk and also my favorite version of MDK).
And after you've exhausted all possibilities, then get Merci and Retrospektïẁ (Part III).
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