Acintya - La Cité des Dieux Oubliés. 1978 France

Acintya's sole album is square-on instrumental progressive rock, that recalls the symphonic debut album from Carpe Diem mixed with the mysterious Wapassou. String synthesizer along with violin play a major role in Acintya's sound. The production though, is muddy and dull, and takes away all the necessary edges this album needs to be successful. Apparently the original LP on SRC maintains these dynamics, but I only have the Musea LP reissue, so perhaps that's the issue at hand. Therefore I'll seek an original out, as this wouldn't be the first time the reissue was botched to the point of ruin (see Capsicum Red). Because from a composition perspective, the music is quite compelling. None crest the Gnosis 10 / RYM 3.5 mark, but with the right production, half a point could be appended without much thought.

Personal collection
LP: 1989 Musea

Originals come in a single sleeve cover. Not an expensive album, but hardly common either. Your best bet is to scan European sites if in the market for one, as it was never imported to the States. And I think I will be looking for one in short order, as noted below. My first and only copy is the Musea LP reissue that I picked up not long after release. The Freeman's of Ultima Thule say this about the reissue: "The Musea LP reissue of this 1970's French prog gem would seem to be an LP transcription (or from damaged/stretched tapes) with a slight wow/slurring evident on the sustained keyboard tones. This is not so on the original SRC LP pressing. This flaw probably explains why Musea never reissued it on CD." Shortly after they published this, Musea did indeed come forth with a CD reissue. But according to readers of my CDRWL, the sound quality wasn't improved upon. So I've decided to hold off for now, and stick with the LP. I'll be most curious if the sound quality of the original is that much better.