(Review from progarchives.com)

During the boom of Quebec Progressive, Maneige first got noticed by local music scene and press after repeatedly blowing off stage Ekseption on a local tour and were offered a recording contract.

The music on their debut is probably one of the best example of what fusion music can be by blending in classical and folk elements together with jazz tones the whole thing having a very progressive rock ideal and could also fit the chamber rock style.

The lengthy Le Rafiot (the raft) takes up the whole first side, overall it builds impressively from an improvised free-jazz intro into the Rafiot piano motif. The resulting almost classical music Chamber Rock is not only incredibly impressive, but quite entertaining as well even if there are some dissonant improvs and incredible contrast and dynamic movements (the screaming sax, just before the sweetest of flutes). Clearly throughout this album, Gentle Giant, classic Tull, early Soft Machine and Zappa are at the heart of Maneige’s inspirations.

The flipside is made of three shorter tracks, of which “Une Annee Sans Fin” (Never-ending Year) starts of from dissonant onto such a sweet flute/vibe duo underlined by the three man rhythm section. The shorter “Jean Jacques” is again picking up on a piano theme, but soon evolving to a sweeping piano-led full out classical-fusion-jazz. “Galerie III” features Jerome’s brother Vincent on piano, allowing his brother more freedom. The track ends pretty much the same way the album had opened with “Le Rafiot”.

Coming with this edition are two bonus tracks, both with Paul Picard (who had a full-time job in the Hamilton philharmonic orch) on percussion replacing Vincent Langlois. First one, a Langlois piece, Tetdetdetet could have been another highlight of the album. Second is a fairly different version of Jean Jacques.

Line-up:
- Alain Bergeron / keyboards, flute, saxophone
- Jerome Langlois / keyboards, guitar, clarinet
- Vincent Langlois / keyboards, percussion (1-4)
- Denis Lapierre / guitar
- Yves Leonard / bass
- Gilles Schetagne / drums, percussion
- Paul Picard / percussion (5-6)

Track List:
01. Le Rafiot – 21:19
02. Une Annee Sans Fin – 6:40
03. Jean-Jacques – 4:16
04. Galerie III – 7:52
05. Tedetedetedet (Bonus Live) – 6:43
06. Jean-Jacques (Bonus Live Unedited) – 4:31

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