Almost complete: The Young Gods

Surely you heard of The Young Gods. I don't think I need to inform you all of these guys. I discovered them in 1988 or 1989 with their 12" single "L'Amourir", which was followed by their self-titled debut and then the excellent "L'eau Rouge". I saw them live at Foufounes Électriques back in 1990 or 1991 (with a duo calling themselves The Iron Fireman as an opening act - very interesting to say the least!) which was after the release of the "Play Kurt Weill" album, but I am not certain if "T.V. Sky" was out yet or not. Probably as that was the period which they broke through to the USA (American) market and toured almost worldwide. Anyway I already was a fan and the show was nothing short but absolutely spectacular: how can a band where 2/3 of its members are stuck behind a drumkit and a keyboard/synth/rackmount module be as overly active? The sheer power of their material. Anyway...


Point is that last night I almost completed my discography. I sort of got rid of all my "industrial" collection back in the late 90s / early Y2K to make room (and gain store credit) for other musical adventures, but now I regret that decision since I seem to be sort-of wanting to return to some of those roots once in a while. After the "T.V. Sky" album from the Gods, I sort of began to lose interest since I wasn't getting into their "KMFDM"-"NIN" hyper-guitar sampled infused material. Yes, "L'Eau Rouge" is a masterpiece and the sampled guitar work on that is phenomenal, but "T.V. Sky" sort of felt as though they were catching the wave of this brave new sound, coupled with the exploding grunge scene of 1990's Teen Spirited Nirvana Smell. I also wasn't sure about that "The Doors" direction they were sort of hinting at, even though that proved to be one of their strengths for that period. Point is, after "T.V. Sky" I began switching off, heading more towards noise-drone-experimental and techno music, slowly phasing out the industrial side of things.


Somewhere in the early Y2K a friend gave me a promo copy of their "Second Nature" album and I enjoyed it. While keeping some of the frantic-ness of earlier Gods, they also were exploring deeper electronic textures, almost veering towards some of the effective-brutal minimalism of Panasonic (which were at the time my all-time favorite outfit). The title "Second Nature" seemed to imply that they took time off around the same time I switched off, further reading revealing that a new drummer had joined the band. Yet I still was not convinced about these aging Gods, since even with such a strong album, I thought they were still too "mainstream" for where my tastes had gotten to.


What happened? Sometime maybe about 3 or 4 years ago I accidentally discovered they had released an album called "Everybody Knows", and the few excerpts I heard was enough to convince me of just how continually slef-reinventing themselves they were. The album had seen the Gods evolve to a point where I felt the expériences of their past had come almost full circle and they were starting to progress yet into deeper experimental territories. So I hunted down their material since, but it was no easy feat since quite a lot of their earlier material was out of print, and this new album (by my perspective) was near impossible to find at a reasonable price. After purchasing a CD copy of that one, it got the ball rolling and slowly I began re-purchasing the discography with the help of my wife who would get deals supreme with her own online researches.


1987: "The Young Gods" (self-titled debut)
Raw and primitive even at the time compared to other artists who had elevated the art of industrial sampling to heights unabtainable by the non-proffesionals. And yet with all brutal primitivism, they managed to get their point across. The CD album also contains the 3-track "Envoyé" EP.


1989: "L'Eau Rouge"
Considered by many as their masterpiece; they elevated the art of combining "classical"-influenced samples with hardcore fast guitar riffs and frantic drums. People who heard the Gods but were unaware of them never imagined that there were no guitar players in the band. CD version includes the "L'Amourir" 2-track EP.


1991: "Young Gods Play Kurt Weill"
I recall buying this one at the downtown HMV store (before it begame the mega-store which closed down earlier this year) and unfortunately selling it for store credit. I still did not hunt down a copy of the CD yet (one of my next hunts).


1992: "T.V. Sky"
I brobably bought this one at HMV as well but I don't really remember. Again, this was their breakthrough album which basically took what they had done so far, pumped it up a notch or two to be heavier than grunge, and began singing in English. America was introduced to the Gods and they got massively popular. My wife found a new copy of this CD last X-mas.


1993: "Live Sky Tour"
I had bought this one but didn't keep it and I am in no hurry to re-purchase it since I'm not a fan of live recordings (generally speaking) and it didn't feature my favorite pièces from the outfit.


1995: "Only Heaven"
I never knew of this album because as I said, by the time it was released, I had already moved on to other pastures. My wife ordered it for me and it arrived yesterday, brand new and scealed. Apparently it was as big as "T.V. Sky" at the time but already began to see the musical shift of the band towards a slightly more "toned down" approach. This time lyrics in both french and English, and "Moon Révolutions" is quite the maniacal trip.


1996: "Heaven Deconstruction"
Long-time drummer Use Hiestand quit the Gods after the "Only Heaven" tour which created a lull or a break for the band. Franz Treichler took the opportunity to craft a highly "experimental" album without lyrics, song structure, and barely any rhythm with this one, which was again given to me by a friend, but this time I kept this one due to its unconventional format. Alas, somewhere in my travels the CD cracked rendering the last 1/3 of the CD unplayable, and last time I checked, it was now completelly unplayable. Last May when in Germany I found a copy of this disc which is now part of my collection.


2000: "Live Noumatrouff, 1997"
Another live recording which I was unaware of and am not yet intrigued by, for reasons expressed earlier.


2000: "Second Nature"
The "return" of sorts for the Gods with new drummer (but long-time drum tech) Bernard Trontin; as mentionned I was given a copy of a promo version which has been with me ever since. A couple of stand-out pièces, an overall stronger electronic offering with a more techno-flavored feeling for the most part. "Lucidogen" remains one of my favorite pièces.


2004: "Music For Atificial Clouds"
Here is another "experimental" album from the guys, more ambient and textured than most of anything they had done before, but not quite as impressive as some of what more "full time" ambient explorators would come up. I heard the album but was left slightly unimpressed, and again I am in no real hurry to hunt down a copy of this one.


2006: "Truce Diaries"
I never knew what to make of this one as it did not seem to be considered an official album per se, more of a collection of tests, live bits, incidental audio, and mostly unclassifiable material. A very rare collectible but not on my list of priorities as I do not consider this one to being an official release.


2007: "Super Ready / Fragmenté"
The Young Gods return in full force, this time going back to their guitar sampling but to a more "hard rock" end than the "metal" genre they had explored in the past. This one is in fat the closest to a "rock" album these guys had done thus far. Credit my wife for finding a new copy (scealed CD) online for me!


2008: "Knock On Wood - The Acoustic Sessions"
Again I don't consider this to being a real LP from the Gods since it is new recordings of old songs done entirely acousticaly. However my wife enjoyed the new bluesy "Gasoline Man" version and ordered the disc from a seller online. We got it yesterday. And there's a cover/re-interpretation of Suicide's "Ghost Rider" which never hurts.


2010: "Everybody Knows"
As I said, the one which reconciliated with The Young Gods. I love this one, consider it one of their strongest, and is the first time they wrote and recorded as a quatuor instead of their long-running "power" trio format since their beginnings. Fans of the earlier material may ot find much common ground on this album, but it shows the band growing and moving into other directions, which is never bad for any band.


Since that album, Al Monod, the keyboard player since 1991's "Kurt Weill" period, left the band to concentrate on his solo sitar explorations and photography. Fourth member Vincent Hanni who was there for "Knock On Wood" and "Everybody Knows" also left the band, and co-founder/original sampler player Cesare Pizzi returned after a 20+ year absence. They've done numerous collaborations and shows since then, and apparently have been working on new material for the last couple of years. I can't wait to see what they come up with next,