Rush may be the only Canadian progressive rockers to win international fame but, just a few kilometers to their east in Quebec, Morse Code were an equally impressive band that just happened to sing in French -they actually started in English as Morse Code Transmission but, failing to get international success, shortened their name to Morse Code and reverted to their native language. Maybe they actually preferred being a "big fish in a small pond" and were apparently very successful in Quebec. Like most prog rockers, they were swept away by the avalanche of Punk and New Wave and virtually forgotten while their albums remained out of print. Meanwhile, the success of bands like Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater in the 90's created a new generation of prog music fans and rekindled interest in classic prog. The buzz on sites like progarchives.com is that the 3 albums they released between 1975-77 fall under the "Hidden treasure" category. (But isn't that what they always say about rare records, just to pique those who cannot afford them?) Capitol Records responded to the demand for the albums' re-release in a way that showed complete lack of faith in the band: Instead of re-releasing the original albums, they re-hashed a 1978 compilation "Les Grands Succès de Morse Code" and released it with the same (lame) cover and different tracklisting. The good reviews and my curiosity about rock from the non-English speaking world motivated me to order this cd from amazon. After listening to it my impression is that they were indeed an unfairly marginalised band. Their compositions and musicianship are on a par with their more famous contemporaries. Their sound is rich, almost symphonic, rather than heavy and reminds of Genesis, Yes, Camel -you get the picture. Opener "La marche des hommes" is an 11-minute mini-epic featuring a lot of piano, mellotron and neo-classical organ ala ELP/ Eloy. "Le pays d'or" is a beautiful ballad on the same style and of excellent quality, same as the next two songs- all from their debut (La Marche des Hommes,1975). The next three come from "Procréation" (1976) and are slightly inferior, although to be fair the supposed highlight of the album, 26-minute "Procréation parts 1-3" is missing. Tracks 8-11 from "Je Suis le Temps" are more AOR than prog. I quite like "Chevaliers d'Un Règne' which creatively steals a small phrase from (Eric Burdon and War's) "Spill The Wine" to incorporate it in an entirely different style -It shouldn't work, but it does. All in all a very good record if you're interested in prog or the 70's, a bit outdated for everyone else...
**** for La marche des hommes, Le pays d'or, Qu'est-ce que t'as compris ?
*** for La cérémonie de minuit, Qu'est-ce t'es v'nu faire ici, De tous les pays du monde, Chevaliers d'un règne, Je suis le temps, Magie de musique, Cocktail (instrumental)
** for L'eau tonne, Sommeil
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