Les  paradis perdus

1973 Side A 1.Avec l?expression de mes sentiments distingues 1.51 2.Emporte-moi 6.00 3.Mama 2.04 4.Du pain et du laurier 3.15 5.Mickey 2.28 Side B 1.Les paradis perdus 6.43 2.Le temps de vivre 4.08 3.Ferber endormi 1.41

This is probably Christophe's first true rock album - the changes are obvious; the sound is raw and hard. Even the cover screams renaissance. The gatefold sleeve also features a photo of him, in a wet look.

Anyway, this is the first record where Christophe cooperated with lyricist Jean-Michel Jarre. The basic theme behind the songs is music itself; Du pain et du laurier (co-written with D. Morrison) is about getting away from this world's routine with music, the title track is a nostalgic anthem about all the great 50's stars  (Christophe never seemed to praise his predecessors enough!), while the last song is some sort of lullaby, but it could be referring to the Ferber studio where Christophe used to record his music. If someone knows more, e-mail me. Of course there is still the ever present reference to a mother (precedented in Maman and Mere tu es la seule), this time accompanied by hard guitar riffs in  Mama. Actually, it?s these guitar riffs that characterize Christophe's turning point in his career: they are used more creatively than ever before. Check out the guitars solo towards the end of Le temps de vivre, how charismatically the sound blends, how  complicated it sounds. Christophe used simple sound effects on his voice for this record, all variations of echo, as far as I can I understand. An example of the experimenting with sound is the second part of the title track, where an almost-out-of-place guitar riff transcends the speakers travelling from left to right and then back again, in a circle. Another curiosity on the record is the brief instrumental between Les paradis perdus and Le temps de vivre; while it seems to belong musically to the latter, there is a considerable amount of silence between them. Then again, as Mama fades, there can be heard the sound of an odd thumping sound, as if someone's tapping on something. It seems I gotta get the cd version soon! Christophe's best performance here is perhaps found in Emporte-moi: while he keeps demanding that he's taken away from where he is during the first part, his voice turns plaintive during the second part, where he sounds pleading and begging ? "Emporte-moi loin d'ici", he keeps repeating in need of a quick change in his life and guess what? he's convincing? The album's first track is not exactly a song, it?s actually a mix of his biggest 60s hits Aline, ...le professeur, Les marionnettes and Maman, but done in such a way that you can?t help wondering whether it's symbolic or not. I interpret it it's his own way to say goodbye to his past image and style for good. And you can't help but detect a sort of irony when the song ends with a needle supposedly "sticking" on the record, playing the same thing over and over :   Aline, Aline, Aline, Aline...

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