Dionysos - Le Grand Jeu. 1970 Canada-Quebec

Along with Franck Dervieux, Dionysos' first two albums have to be considered Quebec's most pioneering progressive rock works. They mixed psych, electric blues rock, and long track progressive compositions to create some wholly original music for the time and place. Their debut Le Grand Jeu is simply one of the heaviest albums to ever emerge from Le Belle Province. Wicked heavy guitar and some fine Hammond organ define this most auspicious debut. The tracks are lengthy and they put the extra time to good use by adding various musical ideas throughout, with the odd interspersed jam keeping it fresh. They also use the local French language, something that wasn't yet in vogue in Quebec at the time. Apparently 'Suzie''s got the blues, and she got 'em real bad. So I'd just leave her back and let her deal with it - and focus on the rest of the great tunes!

Ownership: LP: 1970 Jupiter. Gatefold

Was reissued as part of a 5 CD box set from Return to Analog in 2022.

7/3/09; 9/14/18 (new entry)