The Harmonic Tremors of Magma's "Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh": Prog Review #24

Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

There's a musical statement here: a garbled, manic, exuberant statement.

Is it worth the effort to decipher? Probably not. Magma's Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh (1973) provides the levels of weirdness I expected from Zappa. I do enjoy the cacophony of instruments. There's also seamless transitions between songs, and you know I love that. The epic choral vocals, symphonic swells, and complex arrangements would be appropriate for the battle scenes score of a Lord of the Rings film—if that film were a melodramatic parody. It's not bad, but man is it exhausting.

After a while, the operatic chanting and percussive keys become quite compelling. Nevertheless, this is all too much for me. There's a lot of stuff I'm excited about coming up, so I'm taking a pass and quoting Rolling Stone's comments below. On to the next album I guess.

With Magma, French drummer-composer Christian Vander literally created a new musical language—"Kobaïan," named after a planet he also invented—melding manic opera, Coltrane-influenced free jazz, thunderous avant-rock, and extra-terrestrial lyrical themes into a self-styled genre known as "zeuhl." Vander perfected his particular brand of insanity on Magma's third LP, a barrage of choral shrieks and tricky time signatures that ranked Number 33 on Rolling Stone France's 100 Greatest French Rock Albums. Mekanik's expansive explorations are basically "prog" at its purest, pushing conventional rock structures into strange new territories. But Vander rejects any such definition. "'Zeuhl' music means 'vibratory music,'" he told The Big Takeover this year. "It is definitely not a subset of prog, and Magma isn't a prog group. Magma is an institution." R.R.

Rolling Stone Rankings                       

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

2. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

3. Rush - Moving Pictures

4. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

5. Yes – Close to the Edge

6. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

7. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

8. Can - Future Days

9. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

10. Yes - Fragile

11. Rush - Hemispheres

12. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

13. Pink Floyd - Animals

14. Genesis - Foxtrot

15. King Crimson - Red

16. Gentle Giant - Octopus

17. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

18. Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

19. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

20. King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

21. Camel - Mirage

22. Rush - 2112

23. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

24. Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
    
    

ASK Rankings

1. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

2. Genesis - Foxtrot

3. Camel - Mirage

4. Yes – Close to the Edge

5. King Crimson - Red

6. Gentle Giant - Octopus

7. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

8. Rush - 2112

9. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

10. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

11. Rush - Moving Pictures

12. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

13. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

14. King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

15. Pink Floyd - Animals

16. Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

17. Yes - Fragile

18. Rush - Hemispheres

19. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

20. Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

21. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

22. Can - Future Days

23. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

24. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here