Absinthe: The French Album

Marc Almond

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 5, 1996)
• Original Release Date: 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thirsty Ear
• ASIN: B0000057O7
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #355,156 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
2008 reissue of this solo album from the Soft Cell vocalist, originally released in 1993. Absinthe: The French Album was Almond's sequel to the Jacques album, his tribute to the music of Jacques Brel. Marc Almond initially shot to fame in the early 1980s as one half of Synth duo Soft Cell, whose combination of drama and peep show sleaze set to an electronic beat gave them hits such as "Tainted Love", "Bedsitter", "Torch", "Say Hello Wave Goodbye", "Soul Inside", "What?" and the club hit "Memorabilia". Some Bizarre. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good collection of torch or subdued caberet songs..., November 16, 1999

By A Customer

I feel that I must amend the former reviewers mistakes: this album IS the companion album to the Jacques CD but if you read the liner notes you will see that most of these songs were written for a singer named Juliette Greco, not BY Jacques Brel. This album also includes covers and interpretations of other French singers material. The sound is what you would expect of French torch songs: light percussion, piano, strings, horns, accordion....and Marc has managed to recreate the music with a production that sounds modern (as it should, being modern) rather than just a retelling of other peoples' music in his own voice; it was as if the original artists had just been signed to a recording contract today and then recorded this album.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, December 12, 2002

By	Daniel G. Burke "D. Burke" (CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This CD will transport you...from the lulling ambience of a Parisian cafe to the cheeky trampings of Marc at full tilt. This is a Marc Almond CD I'll keep in my rotation for years to come.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars jacques part ii, July 18, 1998

By	Daniel ([e-mail]) (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This album is not sung in French but rather is a collection of songs in the French cabaret music vibe; most of these songs were written by Jacques Brelle. Almond (who originally was the singer of Soft Cell--remember "Tainted Love"?) has a preoccupation with Jacque Brelle and has covered the singer throughout his career. These songs are not synthy, as most of Almond's CD, but rather are kind simple. The highlights are the amorous "In Your Bed" and the regretful "Yesterday When I Was Young."