Merci [Import]

Magma | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Original Release Date: 1984
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Seventh
• ASIN: B000A2A4MM
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,662,413 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Rare CD issue of the final Magma album recorded by Christian Vander before he began work with the band Offering. Tracks: Call From the Dark (Ooh Ooh Baby), Otis, Do the Music, Otis (ending), I Must Return, Eliphas Levi, The Night We Died.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite with ATTAHK., March 31, 2007

By 

H.M. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merci (Audio CD)

I couldn't disagree more with the previous review. I give 5 stars to this album which is the missing link between Vander's work with MAGMA and his next musical project called "OFFERING". Yes it's easier to listen to than any previous album. So what ? It's his best production value to this day. The sound is crystal clear and it highlights the vocal and arrangements work of the Band. Check the brass section and also the drums ( yes, the drums, no matter what says the previous review ): they're all very good. Vander wanted to change his musical direction : I think he succeeded.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Merci iss da stinkin, May 11, 2006

By 

M. Demattei "libanus93" (SF Bay Area, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Merci (Audio CD)

You're a Magma fan, right? If you weren't, you probably would not be reading this review. If you are, the odds are good that you've heard rumors of how bad this album is and have kept your distance.

Well, the rumors are all too true.

This album is the unfortunate result of "Magma, Phase II" that was announced with the release of their previous studio album Attahk. It attempts to break Magma into the pop scene, and falls completely on its face.

What does it sound like? Think early eighties pop, reminiscent in one place of Super Trooper era Abba (Super Zeuhler?), mixed with spastic pseudo-jazz and bizarre repetitive keyboard drones, sung mostly in English and French with occasional Kobaian. The album begins with some cheesy synthesizer, a drum machine, and Stella Vander singing "Ooh ooh baby." And it gets worse from there.

With all of the amazing music that Magma has created in the past, I still cannot believe how low they sunk with this album. There is nothing even remotely interesting here. They could have taken the Magma vibe and added pop elements to it to make something at least somewhat interesting. With Merci, Magma disconnected completely with all of the elements that made them great in the past. They ended up with an album that was a failure in all ways: too weird and uninspired to be pop, and too weird and uninspired to be Zeuhl.