Customer Reviews

Guerilla & It's Only Rock N Roll

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 1993 Cuneiform Records release of two albums originally recorded in 1974 - 1975 is extremely well packaged, if a little bit confusing. I say well packaged because the music included is very similar in recording quality (or lack there of), musical maturity (or immaturity) and compositional consistency (or inconsistency). I also say confusing because these 2 CDs were originally released as Heldon's first and third albums (their second, and far superior, Allez Teia, has been released separately on CD by Cuneiform Records).

All three of Heldon's first albums were recorded on home equipment and, therefore, suffer in sound quality but this release of Heldon I and III (Electronique Guerillas and It's Always Rock 'N' Roll) seems to suffer much more than Allez Teia. Unfortunately, Heldon I/III does not suffer only from poor recording quality. True, they lay down the groundwork for the large catalog of albums Heldon and their lead composer/guitar player, Richard Pinhas, would release over the following two decades but they also contain much that is unpolished, unprofessional and downright cheesy.

Heavily influenced by the contemporary works of Robert Fripp (King Crimson), and especially Fripp's collaborations with Brian Eno, Richard Pinhas went on to become one of France's most influential electronic and Progressive Rock musicians. Pinhas's own impressive style of distorted guitar improvisation definitely grew up on a diet of Fripp but he rapidly applied this talent to musical directions all his own. Heldon fanatics will here find the early beginnings of what became the band's musical archetypes but, with a few exceptions, those archetypes are not stated cohesively enough to be very interesting from anything other than a historic point of view.

Among the highs of this release are Back to Heldon, in which we first encounter what would become a standard Heldon synthesizer stylization: warbling, bubbling synthesizer patterns overtop a bass drone, topped off by a meandering distorted guitar. Unfortunately, this 8-minute piece effectively ends 5 minutes into the song, then unwisely continues with cheesy synthesizer noodles for 3 additional minutes. Cocaine Blues delivers another Heldon archetype, the brooding dark analogue bass with sparse, repetitive melody overlaid by a shimmering sequencer line and intermittent sound effects. This is possibly the most typically Heldonesque piece on the CD and, set aside from the rest of the album, is rather pleasing. Virgin Swedish Blues and especially Ocean Boogi are explorations of Fripp & Eno style compositions and are by far the best works on these two CDs. They display the personal emotive sensitivities Richard Pinhas would later transform into the classic Heldon sound, while simultaneously making reference to the masterworks of Robert Fripp.

The worst of this 2-CD set offends with incomplete thoughts, immature compositions and musicianship, overly long, boring or uninteresting musical ideas. The worst of the bunch is Zind Destruction, which is simply a painful and embarrassing excursion into stoned living-room improvisation. If you went to college in the '70s and knew any musicians at all, you've heard it all too many times. This song is nothing but an electric bass and guitar blues-rock influenced improvisation being gated on and off and then further processed through musically unappealing delay and reverb. The effect it ugly and disgusting, especially after the previous track, Ocean Boogi, which, as stated above, is a wonderful and sensitive piece, very reminiscent of the best tracks on Heldon's second album, Allez Teia.

If you're a die-hard Heldon fan and really want to experience how much this band and its chief songwriter progressed and matured over the years, this CD is for you. Otherwise, start you Heldon investigations with Allez Teia and go on from there. For wonderful hidden gems like Ocean Boogi, I give this CD 2 stars, with a 3rd tacked on simply for Cuneiform Record's dedication to preserving the complete history of Heldon, a band which has too often been ignored by listeners investigating European electronic music from the 70s.

Heldon must be one of the most underrated bands in the field of progressive rock. This is perplexing given the quality of the
group's music, especially on this set. Electronique Guerilla/It's Always Rock `n' Roll is nothing short of amazing. This
two-CD set compiles Heldon's first and third albums. They compliment each other well, so the continuity from one to the next
is nearly seamless. The music on these two albums is groundbreaking even by today's standards. In the early `70s, it must have
sounded as if it came from outer space. In fact, it is tempting to lump these albums in with the "kosmiche" or space music
genre of progressive rock typified by German bands and artists like Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel or Klaus Schulze. It
seems likely that these exerted at least some influence on Heldon's main man Richard Pinhas, but there are other forces at work
here which make Heldon unique.

Pinhas was also under the sway of English bands like King Crimson, Soft Machine and
Matching Mole. The most obvious influence from England is undoubtedly the guitar playing of Robert Fripp. (On the second
Heldon album there is even a piece titled "In the Wake of King Fripp"!) Pinhas seems not the least bit ashamed to mimic
Fripp's distinctive "laser beam" sound and technique, but set against the backdrop of droning and gurgling synthesizers it creates
a completely different atmosphere from just about anything Crimson ever did. However, there is one track on this set, that
sounds as if it was created in an attempt to see how close Pinhas could come to recreating Fripp and Eno's "Swastika Girls"
from the legendary No Pussyfooting album. It's another slice of loveliness for those who wish there was more recorded
Frippertronics available.

Another great piece is "Cotes de Cachalot ala Psylocybine." This eight minute soundscape pits ominous synth echoes against a
wailing, moaning, distant sounding electric guitar solo. Like most of this set, that's all there is to it. No drums, vocals nor a hint
of traditional song structure, just complete electronic mesmerization.

Disc two starts off with the massive "Aurore." This 18-minute piece begins and ends with a drone note melded from an analog
synth and a harmonium. An ultra-mellow synth melody develops and interlaces itself slowly around the constant drone. More
than once this writer has fallen asleep enveloped in this piece's analog cocoon only to be jolted awake by the all out guitar
assault of "Zind Destruction" three tracks later. This is the lone heavy piece on the entire set. Whatever "Zind" is, it definitely
gets completely destroyed by the end. This track foreshadows Heldon's more rhythmic proto-industrial guitar and synth noise
fests found on later albums like Un Reve Sans Consequence Speciale and Interface.

This set is absolutely essential listening for anyone interested in electronic music and is guaranteed to blow away most people's
ideas of what cutting edge music sounds like.

It's pretty well known to every Heldon fan out there that Richard Pinhas is a big Fripp/King Crimson fan. That pretty much gives it away on their second album, Allez Teia where the opening cut was "In the Wake of King Fripp". Robert Fripp liked what he was doing, probably due to the fact he wasn't a Crimson ripoff, but has enough of his own style. After all, King Crimson rarely used synths (the best-known example going to the VCS-3 on Lizard) and Pinhas himself happily used them extensively (starting off with a VCS-3 and later expanding to include Mellotron, ARP 2600, Moog System 55, etc.).

It's really nice to see Cubeiform reissue the Heldon back catalog, and you really get you money's worth when you buy this two CD set, combining their 1974 debut, Electronique Guerilla with their third album It's Always Rock 'n' Roll (1975). Heldon is one of those "like it or you don't act". Sometime the harsh and abrasive style, not to mention the often minimalist approach can drive a few people crazy. Electronique Guerilla is mainly Pinhas on his guitar and an AKS synthi (basically a Synthi A with membrane keyboard and sequencer, the AKS was responsible for Pink Floyd's "On the Run"), with the occasional outside help, including future Happy the Man drummer Coco Roussel. Heldon wasn't quite a proper band at this point, more of a Richard Pinhas project. "Zind" features some strange electronically modified guitar, while "Back to Heldon" features the use of sequencer (from the AKS), before going on to some more trippy synth sound. There is no mistaking the raw and in-your-face analog synth sound you get treated here. "Onais Marchais, Mieux Qu'en 68" is an odd one, almost more psychedelic than anything, with spoken dialog in French. "Circulus Vitiosus" is more or less similar to "Back to Heldon" in that it emphasized the AKS sequencer.

The title to It's Always Rock 'n' Roll might have spoofed the Stones' "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll", but rock 'n' roll in the Stones style this obviously is not. This was originally released as a double album. This really takes the Heldon sound to the next highest plane, some of the music has an even more sinister feel to it, "ICS Machinique" is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. The droning of "Aurore" is certain to divide listeners big time, but I really thought it was a very effective piece. Mellotron appears on "Virgin Swedish Blues" and "Ocean Boogi" (which these pieces are hardly the blues or boogie, but in that wonderful Heldon style), the latter featuring the most effective use of the instrument. While the Mellotron made one two more appearences after this album, on Agneta Nilsson (1976), and Pinhas solo effort Chronolyse (recorded 1976, released in 1978), the Mellotron had disappeared from Richard Pinhas' gear (he probably had that similar problem to his hero Robert Fripp, in which Fripp had once said: "Tuning a Mellotron doesn't"). "Cocaine Blues" might have some blues progression in Pinhas' guitar playing, but done in Heldon style, with that bizarre electronically modified style. "Doctor Bloodmoney" is not unlike "Back to Heldon" or "Circulus" in that it emphasizes the AKS sequencer.

As mentioned, not to everyone's taste, but these are great examples of electronic prog, and I would recommended this to fans of King Crimson, Fripp and Eno, the Italian group Sensations' Fix, or those who like more adventurous electronic music in general.