Melody Nelson is probably one of the best serge gainsbourg albums. he mumbles and sings about the fictional character Melody Nelson, a young red haired teenager. the opening track 'Melody' would've almost been enough to fill an entire album with: it's full of bass, violins and soft drums but it never comes across as being over the top. and that's what this album is: perfectly produced, orchestrated and beautiful... beautiful, yet quietly disturbing. "melody nelson" is a defining french album.
06 Dec 02 ·robert[o]: One of the BEST LPs ever, period, end of sentence!
Also - a great lost piece of the UK glam rock jigsaw, I think. Listen to this record, then listen to Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" or "Aladdin Sane", Roxy Music's "Stranded" or "For Your Pleasure", even "The Slider" or "Tanx" by T. Rex. Serge's fingerprints are all over those records.
this song, made by the zappa-esque belgian band, the evil superstars, is more zappa-esque then zappa would ever get.
it feels like a huge record store collapsing and, in the process, blending all kinds of style elements in a composition of pure pop-mayhem. the song sums up a dozen of genres at supersonic rate (such as death metal, rock, crooning and even jazz) but never falls apart. the music is perfect, played by talented musicians who try to sound like it's their first time handling a guitar or drum kit. but, the one thing that makes this whole thing sound like it does are the vocals and absurd (or cheezy?) lyrics by the lead singer mauro pawlowski, for example: "HE IS SOMEKIND OF A BAD GUY BUT WHEN HE READS THE PAPERS NOWADAYS HE HAS TO HOLD BACK THE KEROSINE IN HIS EYES SOMEWHERE IN A FORTRESS HE HIDES HIS MISTRESS I'M TALKING 'BOUT A PLANKTON EATING ROBOTCOW IN A CARDBOARD DRESS"----need i say more? if you want to hear free jazz going pop, then check out this one! nice introduction link: http://www.deadbeattown.com/bands/superstars.htm
