Live 1975 [Import, Live]

Magma | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 22, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Live
• Label: Indie Europe/Zoom
• ASIN: B000059ZDX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,584 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Kohntark

2. Kobah

3. Lihns

4. Hhai

5. Mekanik Zain

Editorial Reviews

'Live' features the highly influential, avant-garde fusion/rock band in concert from 1975. Recorded in Paris, it comprises five extended tracks, including the awesome 31 minute epic, 'Kohntark'. Originally released as a double album, it's now featured on a single disc. Standard jewel case. 2001 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excerpts from the concert double, May 16, 2001

By 

Gavin Wilson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live 1975 (Audio CD)

'Magma Live' comes in two editions: this single CD compilation, and a double CD version, also available on Amazon at the time of writing. For some unexplained reason, the sound quality on the single CD is not as clear.

I saw them in concert in 1974 in the Jannik Top era. Unbelievably, they performed at my Northamptonshire school, and it was one of the most incredible things I've seen. But for me, Magma's masterpiece is the studio album, 'Mekanik Destructiw Kommandoh'.

Rather like Van Der Graaf Generator, Magma went through several incarnations and could sound very different from one album to the next. And rather like VDGG, the band also employed a violinist for a while. The violin is not one of my favourite rock instruments, and I don't feel it enhances this recording.

Magma were a gloriously French band. An English prog group like Yes might toy with a concept, make an album out of it and then discard it, due to a limited attention span. But the idealist Christian Vander went the whole hog with his spiritual/ecological vision, inventing an entire language to describe this odyssey over the course of many albums.

Magma were a wonderful band that made the world a better place for having existed. Snooker World Champion Steve Davis liked them so much that in the 1980s he paid for them to reform and perform a one-off gig in London.

This album is a fair sampler of Magma's 70s output, but it isn't a greatest hits package.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars live Magma!, September 1, 2004

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live 1975 (Audio CD)

This is a musical experience that reaches levels of musical sublimity and spiritual intensity unreachable to lesser bands. And this is the definitive live Magma document in full-on zeuhl mode. Zeuhl, for the uninitiated, is a complex blend of rock, jazz, and classical/opera, where forceful chants constitute the primary melodic device and the basic compositional structures (usually established as chordal motifs on electric keyboards) are highly repetitive but subject to extensive rhythmic and harmonic variation. Bass guitar is heavy and growling, and the drumming of Christian Vander is astonishing.

While deeply entrenched in Vander's zeuhl vision, this album is also a sort of throwback to their earlier jazz-rock beginnings. The band pours forth their fusion chops with even more passion than their spirited early days. The electric keys and violin are quite fusion-esque at times, not to mention Christian Vander is kind of like France's version of Billy Cobham at times. At this point, Vander's musical vision had been more unified and better absorbed by Magma's musicians, and the results are more musically successful. The lineup is three vocalists, guitar, bass, two keyboards, drums & percussion, and Didier Lockwood's spellbinding violin. All involved are uniformly outstanding, but special mention has to go to that violin, since a) Magma isn't a big violin band, for the most part, and b) the violin on this album is nuts.

The live version here of the major composition "Kohntarkosz" (here called "Kohntark") is the main course of disc one. It is a startling, powerful rendition and _definitely_ worth hearing for lovers of the studio version. (One problem: Because of the limitations of vinyl for the original release, the 30-minute "Kohntark" is split into two halves. This kills its momentum when it goes silent between the two. Very annoying.) Lockwood's violin adds _lots_ to this piece, but there are other differences found deeper. There's a mad jazz-rock freakout at the end of it all, too. Another huge composition appears at the end of disc two, the euphoric "Mekanik Zain". These are the highpoints of both cds, but the shorter pieces are also great, from the shimmering, blissful "Lihns" to the meticulous, tense minimalism of "Emehnteht-Re".

To those unfamiliar with Magma, it can be a disconcerting experience because the music is very different. And Vander's passion approaches religious zeal which some people think is just pretentious. But whatever! Vander is one of the true originals of the 20th century, and Magma is one of the greatest bands -- they reward being heard. Those new to Magma should definitely make this their first purchase.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thunderous, July 16, 2007

By 

Jeffrey J.Park (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Live 1975 (Audio CD)

Magma is an incredible French band that made a very unique contribution to progressive rock - in the words of drummer extraordinaire Bill Bruford, "Magma turned heads". One pass through this stunning live recording from concerts held at the Taverne de L'Olympia between June 1 and June 5, 1975 made me understand why - this stuff is intense. Surprisingly though, this music is not as alien as one might think. In fact, the album opens with a somewhat familiar introductory fanfare that would not have been out of place on a Mahavishnu Orchestra album (Birds of Fire from 1973 comes to mind). I suppose shades of mid-1970's King Crimson are present too, although the music of Magma is just so different that drawing parallels with other bands would ultimately diminish it.

The lineup on this album is complex and huge and consisted of bandleader/chief composer and incredible drummer Christian Vander; the remarkable Bernard Paganotti (electric bass guitar); Didier Lockwood (violin); Benoit Weidmann (electric piano); Gabriel Federow (electric guitar); Klaus Blasquix (vocals); Stella Vander (vocals); and Jean-Paul Asseline (electric piano). At the very heart of this album are monolithic slabs of thunderous drumming and excellent bass playing by Bernard Paganotti. Bernard favors a heavily distorted tone on his Fender - much like the tone John Wetton (of King Crimson) would get. There are moments when he hits what sounds like a low "B" - I am not sure if this is different tuning or a five string bass. Bernard and Christian really lead the band and atop this heavy, dark and roiling mass of sound are pleasant violin parts and clean sounding guitar parts. The electric piano fleshes the overall sound out and lends it a somewhat jazzy feel - not too much though. The vocals are what really give this music an alien feel - they are presented in a very unusual fashion and the lyrics are sung entirely in Kobaian (sic). Although there are points when the vocals lapse into a rasping growl, the sections that feature Klaus and Stella singing together are very delicate - the contrast is impressive. All of these musicians are virtuosos and when the band gets going full steam, things really cook.

Musically this album is a toughie - I hear a lot of progressive rock, with some jazz rock, free jazz, post-war classical (Carl Orff), the avant -garde. In short, this is daunting music not for the faint hearted. The five tracks on the album range in length from 4'53" to the massive 31'00 Kohntark suite which is an amazing piece of music. I believe that this lengthy track was originally presented on the studio album Kohntarkosz (1974) (and it was 30 minutes long on the studio album too). There are some excellent rave ups that remind me of King Crimson (circa 1974) at their heaviest. Of course, there are some quiet moments and somewhat melodic tunes on the album too (Kobah is a lot of fun) that present a nice contrast with the heavier material. In short, the performances on this live album are breathtaking and this music is simply amazing!

While this CD replicates the LP track listing (yet combines the two part Kohntark) there is a 2-CD set out there that includes extra tracks, but the sound quality is supposedly not that good. The sound quality on this Charly release is pretty good (most likely taken directly from the mixing boards) and the audience is all but mixed out with the exception of a few track endings where the audience can be heard briefly. In fact, this is more like a studio album than a live album. There is a very skimpy booklet that lists the lineup and track listing but that is about it - there are no informative liner notes.

All in all, this is an amazing album that is very highly recommended along with Udu Wudu (1976) and Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh (1973).