Elohim - Mana Perdu... 1983 France

Start with Seven Stories Into Eight era IQ (that is to say... the beginning), then toss Peter Nicholls out of the band, and invite instead Christian Decamps or Dominique Le Guennec. Now Tim Esau, time for you to leave, and we'll bring in Bernard Paganotti. Well, not Paganotti himself, but maybe a first year student of the master. Paul Cook - yea I think you're probably too good, and we'll just bring in some bum from the street to play drums. Holmes and Orford, you get to stay, though Martin you need to keep the palette of keyboard sounds to a minimum.

OK then.... Mana Perdu!

There's something incredibly charming about these old early 80s amateur prog bands. I first heard this album on LP in 1988, and it did nothing for me at the time. Now I hear it as something of a classic. Funny how that works... You really need to be a fan of the genre though, or otherwise this is not likely to resonate at all.

BTW - vocalist Jean-Paul Trutet went on to form Hecenia, whose second album La Couleur Du Feu is something of a modern masterpiece.

Personal collection
CD: 2000 Musea

For some reason the CD changed the band moniker's font. I like the original better (as pasted here).