France is not very famous for its progressive rock, the country’s most prominent offerings on this front being MAGMA and Gallic contingent of GONG – yet one must not forget about Cyrille Verdeaux’s CLEARLIGHT whose recordings featured the members of the latter ensemble as well as David Cross, fresh out of KING CRIMSON fold. First, Verdeaux’s ivories-based albums were created in the company of friends, and then he proceeded to a full band, but after a few platters issued in the ’70s, the project fizzled out only to get reformed in the ’90s and deliver sporadic longplays afterwards, created by Cyrille on his own and with SPIRITS BURNING. It’s about time, then, to remember those forgotten gems.
That’s why March 27th a five-disc box set titled “Symphonies” will be released, the collection including four old albums, padded out with multiple bonus tracks, and 2014’s "Impressionist Symphony" which saw Verdeaux welcome back Steve Hillage, Tim Blake and Didier Malherbe who played on his band’s debut “Clearlight Symphony” in 1973 and, as Cyrille says, “concluded forty years of fight to find money to stay independent and free” – a noble cause. The rest of the collective’s discography, he remarks, is not known enough to be considered classics.
Symphonies
CD 1 – Clearlight Symphony:
1. 1st Movement
2. 2nd Movement
CD 2 – Forever Blowing Bubbles
1. Chanson
2. Without Words
3. Way
4. Ergotrip
5. Et Pendant Ce Temps La
6. Narcisse Et Goldmund
7. Jungle Bubbles
bonus tracks:
8. Sweet Absinthe
9. Without Words (mellotron mix)
10. Flute Aquatique
11. Overture
12. Vibrato
CD 3 – Les Contes Du Singe Fou:
1. La Clé
2. A Trip to Orient
3. Lightsleeper’s Despair
4. Soliloque
5. Time Skater
6. Prelude
7. Cosmic Crusaders
8. Rivers of Time
9. Return to the Source
CD 4 – Visions:
1. Spirale D’Amour
2. Messe Caine
3. Au Royaume Des Mutants
4. Full Moon Raga
5. Raga (Coda)
6. Songe de Cristal
7. Paix Prodonde
bonus tracks:
8. Guitare Elevation
9. Crystal City
10. Shanti Louis
11. Heymae
12. Visions Nocturnes
13. O Rage, O Espoir
14. Songe De Cristal (remix)
CD 5 – Impressionist Symphony:
1. Renoir En Couleur
2. Time is Monet
3. Pisarro King
4. Degas De La Marine
5. Van Gogh 3rd Ear
6. Gaugin Dans L’Autre
7. Lautrec Too Loose
8. Monet Time Duet
