Like the rest of continental Europe, French progressive rock bands were initially influenced by the British progressive rock pioneers. However, French bands quickly carved a niche within progressive rock that gave them a local flavor.
Unlike central and northern European bands who had a tendency to sing in English, most French bands used the French language and were influenced by French poetry and theater and in some cases by French traditional music.
Pioneers
Ange was the most important French progressive rock band during the 1970s. They had a long and prolific career. Led by the charismatic Christian Decamps, Ange was a popular band in the rock festival circuit. Moreover, Ange made heavy use of the Mellotron.
One of the most influential bands during the 1970s was Magma. The group, led by Christian Vander, became legendary inside and outside France. Language was not a problem as they used their own made-up language. Their explosive mix of progressive rock, jazz, operatic vocals and avant-garde classical musical influence made it a magnet for some of France’s best musicians.
Atoll was a notable group that featured keyboards, guitar and violin, combining symphonic sounds and fusion. They released some of the highest regarded French progressive rock albums: Musiciens-Magiciens (1974), L’Araignee-Mal (1975) and Tertio (1977). Rock Puzzle came out in 1978.
One of the most original bands was Asia Minor. The group included Turkish and French musicians. Vocals were primarily in English and the music combined British-style progressive rock with Middle Eastern influences. Asia Minor released Crossing the Line and Between Flesh and Divine.
Acanthe was a little known band that existed from 1973-1977. They recorded an album that was discovered years later and released in 2009 on CD.
Other notable early French progressive bands include Carpe Diem, Clearlight, Halloween, Arachnoid, Shylock, Wapassou, and Mona Lisa.
In 1984, Francis Grosse and Bernard Gueffier published the book La Discographie du Rock Français. Although the book covered different types of rock music, there was a big emphasis on progressive rock. This popular book has had several subsequent editions in 1986 and 1994.
Grosse and Gueffier also started the leading progressive rock label in the 1980s, Musea. The label reissued numerous out of print progressive rock gems along with recordings by new French and international artists.
(headline image: Magma)
French group XII Alfonso released a series of spectacular concept albums starting in 1996, including The Lost Frontier (1996), Odyssées (1999), Claude Monet – Volume 1, 1883-1889 (2002), Claude Monet – Volume 2, 1889-1904 (2005). In 2012, XII Alfonso released the boxed set concept album “Charles Darwin”, a 3-CD set and 76-page color book about Darwin’s life, concepts and works. XII Alfonso was formed in Bordeaux.