What's most interesting about Step Ahead is just how un-French it really is. 1982 was a boom time for creative French progressive rock groups festering in the underground. Step Ahead is none of that. I think understanding that will help one digest this album better. As others have suggested, Step Ahead taps more into the burgeoning New Wave of British Prog Rock that was just about to launch. Whether Step Ahead were involved - or influenced - by that, it's hard to say, though I would expect not. Yes of course band leader Christian Robin spent much time in England, but what I hear is someone who took the same inputs as Marillion, IQ, et al, and spit out a similar conclusion. When one hears the vocal style (sounding every bit like an early 80s FM radio crooner), and some of the compositions, it's not a real stretch to hear bands like Asia in the mix. And really, if one listens closely, Step Ahead clearly had the stuff to make a radio hit in those days. The album needed more polish and editing, and some of the music is just too proggy for its own good - at least if commercial ambition is in play here. The gatefold cover is quite lavish, and it actually looks like Japanese anime to my eyes. A bizarre juxtaposition of themes on display. Is it prog, is it AOR, is it American, English, or Japanese? Nope. It's a French neo prog album, without any influence of its own culture like Ange, Magma, or Atoll. One of a kind, and better than I remembered.
Personal collection
LP: 1987 RCA (Japan)
For years I thought this album was released for the Japanese market, given the anime styled gatefold cover. But alas, no, it was in fact released 5 years earlier only in France. Must have sold 30 copies too. And the bizarre thing is the original is not that rare.
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