Histoire de Melody Nelson

Serge Gainsbourg | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 24, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: LIGHT IN THE ATTIC
• ASIN: B001Q8FRMQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,674 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #20 in Music > Pop > Euro Pop > French Pop
  • #37 in Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > France

Editorial Reviews

1998 reissue on Mercury of his 1971 album for the label thathas a strong Velvet Underground feel to it throughout. A 20bit digital remaster, it features the original cover art &all seven of the original tracks. Digipak. 1998 Mercuryrelease. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Je T'aime, Gainsbourg., September 21, 2003

By 

D. Stewart "duglas" (Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Histoire de Melody Nelson (Audio CD)

I don't speak or understand the French language, I stopped drinking alcohol 20 years ago and don't approve of smoking BUT Serge Gainsbourg (almost as famous for his boozing and smoking as his music) is one of my great heroes. I love his music so much I got a tattoo of his face on my arm ...and for me Histoire de Melody Nelson is his finest 28 minutes. It's mystical, sexy, seductive, dirty and even a bit vulgar. A concept album about doomed love for an English teenage girl, played by his greatest muse and partner Jane Birkin on the record and the glorious record cover. Birkin stands teasing in just blue jeans clutching a cuddly monkey to her [chest]. Jane told me that she placed this monkey in Gainsbourg's coffin with him when he died. The beautiful iconic cover would be worth the price of admission alone but the music is even more mesmerising. During the 60s and still in in 1971 when this album was originally released most people were content to make variations on a theme created by The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson... but what Serge offered, his brand of pop, had a completely different and individual voice. The gophic bookend tracks of the album Melody and Cargo Culte sound extraordinarily modern even today. There is great tenderness and melancholy in Ballade de Melody Nelson and Ah! Melody. Witness the sound of Jane Birkin laughing hysterically over the grooviest of 70s psych-grooves on En Melody. Birkin was actually being tickled by her brother Andrew while Serge had a tape running on record under her bed. Don't be put off by the short running time, length doesn't matter, it's what you do with it that counts.
Histoire de Melody Nelson is ultra cool, ultra sexy and ultra modern music.
Je T'aime, Gainsbourg.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Zenith of French Popular Music, September 4, 2003

By 

nowhereman (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Histoire de Melody Nelson (Audio CD)

Gainsbourg was an artist who experimented with all styles of music. Through his career, he put together a great number of fantastic singles. But this album is his great masterpiece.

There aren't any megahits. The most well known tracks: 'Ballade de Melody Nelson' and 'Ah, Melody' are first rate songs, but it's absolutely criminal to separate them from the rest of the album.

Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, "Histoire de Melody Nelson" flows as one poignant tale of Melody Nelson. The music itself was far ahead of it's time; listen to these songs and then listen to Air and Beck. While the great orchestrations and melodies should be enough to sate the appetite of many non-francophone listeners, it is truly the lyrics that lift this album to timeless stature. Gainsborg was a poet to French song the way Dylan is to American song. This album is his finest hour, not to be missed by anyone interested in greatness in popular music.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Coolest Album Ever Made!! Son fantastique!!, July 14, 2004

By 

Aaron (Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Histoire de Melody Nelson (Audio CD)

Add my praise to the many comments here. This has GOT to be the coolest album ever recorded. It was so ahead of its time its not even funny. Gainsbourg is a superb artist, anything you can find of his is worth listening to, but Melody Nelson is his masterpiece. Its by turns funky, haunting, leering, dirty and beautiful beyond description. The coolness factor on this one is sky high. J'taime ce des disques, son merveilleux!!!