| .......................................THE BAND AND RECORD OF THE MONTH |
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| . | OCTOBER 2002 |
| Comments:
(By
Sergio
Motta)
After
being absent from progressive rock scene for long years, the stunning and
unforgettable german progressive rock band Rousseau is back, and to consolidade
their return, a brand new CD is now out, and as it happened to all of their
previous releases, this new CD whose title is ‘’At The Cinema’’ was issued
once again by the peerless french label Muséa. The CD consists of
14 very fine songs, some purely instrumental while others delightfully
reach the listeners’ ear through gorgeous vocals by Jörg Schwarz who
besides playing the acoustic & electric guitars, also decided to lead
vocals. The CD also features the veteran musicians Ali Pfeffer on the drums
and Rainer Hofmann on the keyboards whose talent has loyally been present
since they debuted with ‘’Flower in Asphalt’’ album far back in 1978. A
new and skilful member is likewise taking part in the band, and his knack
can be promptly checked out upon the new CD, his name is Dieter Beermann,
a gifted bass player who will surely help the band on the accomplishment
of other remarkable musical projects henceforth. And for those who have
already had the chance of listening to previous releases from Rousseau,
I’d surely say this new CD still keeps the very old essence of the band,
that is, creating songs that speak straight to the heart; and such as it
came about in the past, this new work is also entirely able to produce
subtle themes, always joining talent and sentiment; beauty and good taste.
For getting such an affinity with this new work, I’d not like to quote
any highlight because I have really appreciated all the songs by and large.
I’d just like to say that I’m joyous to see the time was not able to erase
the stunning characteristics of the band, so most of them could be appreciated
again. So if you have lately been looking for something, which help you
warm up your heart and to see how marvelous life is, I’d then say that
you have now found it! Oh yes, still concerning the instrumental fertility
of this new CD, it is worth mentioning the band creatively decided to add
to their music, instruments as oboe, viola and accordion, which were sublimely
performad by some guest musicians, so it all surely makes this CD one of
the best releases of the year. Remember Rousseau was absent from progressive
scene for ages, so now you cannot miss the oportunity of checking their
current energy and also their rich musicality of course. ‘’At The Cinema’’
is highly recomended. |
ROUSSEAU
Rousseau was formed in Marl, a city in the north of the “Ruhrgebiet” in 1977 by Ali Pfeffer,Georg Huthmacher, Peter Stutz, Ulla Boos and Christoph Huster. Right from the beginning they had a good response and gathered some loyal fans around them. 2 years later Ulla left the band. She was replaced by Rainer Hofmann on key. Peter Stutz left the band shortly after that. For him, Jörg Schwarz joined the band. After some  rehersals
the band started to play life again and lots of new compositions were made.
During the life shows the band tested the new songs and choose out, which
song could make it to an album. In 1980
Rousseau released their
first LP: "Flower In Asphalt". The new Album was presented life to the
fans in a concert at the Marler theater. The response to the show and the
feedback from radio stations were just great ! Lots of life gigs followed.
In 1983 during the pre productions of their 2nd LP: "Retreat", Jörg
Schwarz left the band. He was replaced by Christoph Maasbaum and on some
tracks Herbert Ruppik joined the band on vocals. Unfortunatly, at this
time the new german wave was the next big thing in germany and stole lots
of attention to another great album. The band started a new project. Fools
fantasy became a life event with dancers and actors .This show was a great
success in germany.
In 1986 the band released their 3rd album "Square The Circle". Christoph Maasbaum played bass and on guitar was Uwe Schilling, Dieter Müller became the new singer. They had a very good response from lots of countries around the world but they still didn´t get the `Big Break´. After that, the band started to write some new songs and for the first time they wrote german lyrics. "Schlaflose Nächte" (Sleepless nights) was only released in germany. Some of the members left the band dissapointed to start new projects and Rousseau seemed to be dead. But in the meantime countries like Japan and Brasil discovered the music of Rousseau and the old releases got great reviews from the press, but unfortunately it was too late to restard. Some years had passed when Ali and Jörg met again. They just sat together, talking `bout the old times and listened to some recordings and demos that Jörg made in the last years, and very quick they found themselves writing new material. Some of the demos were Rousseau at there best and it was easy to start again. The first new song was titeled “If this is heaven”, and was recorded in a studio in Gelsenkirchen with the help of a friend of Ali, Jan Mühldorfer on piano.At this time there was just Ali and Jörg, but very quick Dieter Beermann, an old friend of Jörg, joined the others on bass. Dieter worked together with Jörg since 15 years, and together they wrote songs for different bands and singers. Just a few weeks after Dieter joined Rousseau, Rainer Hofman was ready to come back to the group. First for only one song, but very soon the old chemistry started to work again and the four were absolutely sure, that the time was perfect to give Roussau a second chance. The work together was more compact and more filled with life and emotions than ever before. The sound was pure Rousseau, but this time the sound became more the sound that the band had on stage all the years. The french record company Musea was very pleased with the new material and released the album with the title, “At the cinema”. So just close your eyes, open your heart, and let the music do the talking. “At the cinema” is not a concept album, it´s more a soundtrack to a movie which you have in your head. Right now, the band is recording new material for a forthcoming album, and three new songs are already finished. |
.New
Release
At The Cinema 01)
Welcome to
Rousseau
are:
See also an interview with Jörg Schwarz, the guitar player of the band. More about and order the CD contact MUSEA at musearecords.com/ The first hundred people who order the new album from Musea, can get a limited original Music Cassette (MC) from our first album "Flower in asphalt" for free. |
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