Customer Reviews

Vallee Des Reputations

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

 

 

Jean Leloup is no more... he's quit the music business and changed his name back to Leclerc. It sucks, but at least he's left us with La vallée des réputations, a strong final album. (Well, it might not really be *final*, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.)

As usual, Leloup enchants with his eloquent and original lyrics, which are really just fables set to music. This guy has a delightful imagination. But what impressed me the most on this album has to be the music... the CD sleeve says that it was recorded almost live, "pour la beauté du geste, contre la froideur" (or something like that) and indeed, the whole thing is infused with bright energy that doesn't go stale no matter how many times you listen to it. the rythms range from jazz to flamenco to blues to rock to folk.

my favourite songs on this album... hard to say, but i'd have to say "je suis parti" for its tapestry of guitars, "le paradis perdu" for its great lyrics and wicked climax (although the instrumental ending is too long) and "cruel song" for is neat opening chords and leloup's cute way of singing it, even though the lyrics are weird (but leloup didn't write them, so it's okay).

i had the chance to see one of leloup's last shows at the national arts center in november 2003, and it was just amazing... he comes off as very funny, cool, smart, and respectful of his fans. so i like him for those reasons, not just for his talent, his originality and his contribution to québec, canada and the french language at large. johnny, we'll miss you.

When I first listened to this I thought Jean Leloup was very arrogant to pass this off as music. But I gave it a chance. Suprisingly, I only had to listen to it twice before concluding that I LOVE this CD. Some of is songs are subtly complex, others just have great melodies, and his singing always compliments his engaging rhythms.

Vrai, cet album diffère énormément de ses deux derniers qui furent plus étoffé côté complexité musicale. Mais comme le disait Leloup lui-même, il a disposé de beaucoup plus de moyens à l'époque. De plus, il a su merveilleusement aller chercher une vaste étendue d'émotion par la simplicité même de ces arrangements.

Les chansons de l'album sont très peu travaillée, enregistrée sans répétition ou presque pour la beauté de l'art et contre la froideur du commercial. C'est ce que dit Jean Leloup en quelques mots près et on ne peut en dire plus, cela décrit fort bien l'album.

Je vous le conseil si vous voulez connaître cet artiste et je vous le recommande fortement si vous êtes un "fan".

What a long wait - but worth it. This is a more toned down album than his previous ones, definitely more on the folksy acoustic side. It took a while for many of the songs to grow on me. The more catchy ones are

Balade A Toronto
La Vallee des Reputations
La Muse et le Museau
Blue Eyes Sky (one of two english tracks)

You can listen to some of the tracks at the record company's webpage...

It's too bad the language barrier makes it hard for him to break through to a larger audience, he really is a musical genius. Le Dome, his previous effort from 8 years ago or so, is fantastic - a real mix of musical styles: folk, hard rock, rap.