C'est tres tres belle

You don't need to know French to know what that means and you don't need to know French to know how good this music really is as it is as powerful as you can get. Worth having in your collection. Bon ecoutant mes amis ( good listening my friends )

Infinitely Great Brel Compilation with 5 Unpublished songs

"'Infiniment' était un mot qui lui ressemblait"

"Tu leur Diras" Maddly Bamy

Come on, all you French majors, you students of French from beginner to advanced, put down your boring grammar books, your homework, your dusty old Ronsard and actually enjoy yourself. Treat yourself to one of the most thrilling singer/songwriters that ever walked the planet and his latest CD compilation, 25 years after he dropped the body.

The five unpublished songs, outtakes of his last album, are here at last. The whimsical "La Cathedrale" where the anti-clerical Brel finally finds a use for a Cathedral--he dreams it into a sailing ship, sees the world and finds it beautiful. " Mai 40", where to the swinging sound of 40's Big Band music, he recalls the war's destruction and the awakening of his Belgitude. "L'Amour est Mort" which the French press satirized as a song so depressing it might incite suicide, actually reminds the lovers for whom the wine has gone sour that they once loved and enjoyed each other. "Sans Exigences" is another song of love gone bad, somber in tone with an organ behind it. The narrator in the first person is treated with contempt and indifference by his partner, is not bold enough to complain, and is finally deserted. Brel wanted this piece on his last album but somehow it didn't get there. "Avec Elegance" has a wryly satirical ring to it like "Les Paumés de Petit Matin. " These 50-ish people are despairing, but always with elegance, as if despair is some kind of fashionable pose.

.The other songs are a "best of" available on many other albums with the exception of the gorgeous ballad L'Enfance written for the last film he directed, Le Far West. It's great to have all these songs together in one place sounding so clear and true in the new High Definition CD. Chilling to hear Brel draw breath into his remaining usable lung as he sings of the heartbreak of the parting lovers in "Orly" Exhilarating to hear the majestic brass that builds the intensity of this masterpiece. You hear things you never noticed before. "Orly" is still "Orly" only more so.

In sum, this is a great set. You won't regret owning it whether you already have a lot of Brel or not.

Thank you famille Brel!

On Brel's last record there were 12 songs, five more were completed but not released. I knew they exist somewhere because the lyrics are in my 'Tout Brel' -book. And 26 years later, finally, they are here! 'L'amour est mort' is already a new favourite song for me : )All the songs are remastered and the sound is clear and crisp like winter's day, which is already a good reason to release a new collection from Brel's recordings. So my thanks to Brel family for giving these!

Note: The list of songs given above isn't right: 'Fanette', 'Grand Jacques', 'Les remparts de Varsovie', 'L'ivrogne' and 'Une ile' don't exist on my record - which is a shame, since 'Fanette' is one of his most beautiful songs, 'Une ile' absolutely euphoric and 'L'ivrogne', a very theatrical, wonderful song.

Instead there are 'La ville s'endormait' (and that's good, it really is a wonderful song and Brel's voice sounds really beautiful), 'La bi?re', 'Le diable' (also a good choice from the early years), 'Il nous faut regarder' from the same time as 'Le diable', and 'Je suis un soir d'?t?'.

The most important thing is, that there are the good ones: 'Amsterdam' as the live recording, 'Ne me quitte pas' really beautifully remastered, 'Madeleine', 'Vesoul', 'La chanson des vieux amants', 'Le dernier repas', 'Les bourgeois' and so on and so on. I suppose two early recordings have been included to give a fuller picture of Brel's production. And they sound good, much cleaner than on another record I have. But if one can hope... From the late 50's I would have wanted 'Sur la place' or 'S'il te faut' - and of course 'Seul' and 'La tendresse'. And I do have a weakness for Brel's tangos, such as 'Rosa' and 'Knokke-le-Zoute'. Well, I'm a Finn, after all... But if this record starts a passion - and it very well might do it! - you can find collections of these early recordings ('Grand Jacques' and 'La valse a mille temps') and be pleasently surprised as I was today, when I got this record.

This is absolutely nine stars ***** ****! If I could have changed just a couple of songs, it would be ten, but as it is it's still above the usual five stars given for good records and movies. This is immortal!