SERGE GAINSBOURG - Histoire De Melody Nelson
On this, the first-ever French concept album, Monsieur Gainsbourg alternately murmured and crooned the story of a doomed love affair between a middle-aged man and an adolescent girl, Melody Nelson. Setting the tragic tale to an instrumental accompaniment that perfectly combined bracing hard-rock guitar and funked-up rhythms with sumptuous orchestration, the record didn't sell very well upon release but still wound up becoming a classic, with everyone from Beck to Air having been influenced by the beauty of Melody. This isn't the first re-ish of Gainsbourg's 1971 masterpiece, but the Light In The Attic label has done an absolutely bang-up job with packaging that includes the original French lyrics translated into English, a detailed look at the making of the album, and an early-'70s interview with le grand Serge himself.
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