GERARD MANSET (ABO#152)

GERARD MANSET
L'HOMME SANS VISAGE
(1968-2008)

(understand 'The Man Without A Face')
The title of this compilation simply explains what and who is Gérard Manset : Since 1983, the man has completely vanished from television. As the Buggles sang it, Manset thinks that video killed the radio stars and that everything now relies on the image the artist displays.
Because of this quite unusual choice, Manset never reached the heights of the french charts but sometimes came pretty close thanks to a strong fan-base.
Quite the consistent kind, Manset never roamed quite far from his orginal music style allowing us to choose another order than the easy, and rather boring, chronological one. Transitions between old and new songs are not as shocking as they might be with other artists and the selection here displayed flows pretty well.
Probably travelin' around the world, his favourite occupation besides music, Manset saw his discographic career slow down a lot in the 90s but it seems that, lately, he is is back in business with albums released in 2002 (Le Langage Oublié), 2006 (Obok) and 2008 (Le Manitoba Ne Répond Plus).
As you might have guessed, Manset is an artist unlike others, one that deserves your attention even if, or maybe because, of the relative lack of media coverage. Enjoy "L'Homme Sans Visage".

Extracts :
Chaînes

Il Voyage En Solitaire

My Gérard Manset Top3 (or 4) :
1. La Mort D'Orion (1970)
2 ex-aequo. Comme Un Guerrier (1982)
2 ex-aequo. 2870 (1978)
4. Y A Une Route (1975)

My Gérard Manset Bottom3 :
1. Matrice (1989)
2. Prisonnier De L'Inutile (1985)
3. Revivre (1991)