Album: Histoire de Melody Nelson
Artist: Serge Gainsbourg
Release Date: March 24, 1971
Genre: Rock/Avant-Garde
Length: 0:27:57
Label: Philips Records
Producer: Jean-Claude Desmarty
1,001 Album Book: Yes
A superficial story with profound meaning... A fairly short concept album created by French songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg, Histoire de Melody Nelson is considered to be one of the greatest pieces of musical artistry of the French-language. The album is ranked at #4 in the RollingStone France's The 100 Greatest French Rock Albums and #21 on the Pitchfork Top 100 Albums of the 1970s. The album tells a story of none other than Gainsbourg seducing and falling in love with a woman named Melody Nelson. Now this may seem like a typical love album but the major difference is that the way the two met is when Gainsbourg hits Nelson with his car while she is riding her bike. The very first track "Melody" describes this initial meeting, obviously in French, utilizing a spoken word storytelling, a distorted guitar rhythm which consistently plays in the background, a frantic, yet somehow organized pattern from the drums, and a chaotic build up with a string orchestra all to compliment each line of the intensifying lyrics. All of these qualities describe the distress Gainsbourg felt after he hits the love of his life with his car, which carries the weight in both the story he tells and the way the instruments play together to emulate this story audibly. The next few tracks, "Ballade de Melody Nelson", "Valse de Melody", and "Ah Melody" describe the arc Gainsbourg has with Melody Nelson. As Gainsbourg learned more about Nelson, he became more infatuated with her. He quickly realized he wasn't a happy man and that Nelson was his sole source of happiness. He became possessive of her and goes on to describe some questionable things that he'll do if she doesn't tell him the truth. This section of the record provides a nice look at Gainsbourg's character fairly quickly and how he feels about Melody, especially with the various types of melodies (no pun intended) given to the listener with the string section. The fifth song on the album "L’hôtel particulier" describes a hotel in which Gainsbourg and Melody make love to each other. This song features an interesting dynamic with the laid back groove given to us by the guitar and the bass consistently playing a head bobbing rhythm, but is beautifully contrasted by the fierce orchestral score climaxing slowly throughout until the blissful release from the cello's. The next song, "En Melody" adopts a more violent feel with few lyrics to describe the story. The only lyrics in the track describe Melody taking a trip on a plane and the pilot intentionally crashing the plane. The song is filled with the sounds of a woman laughing, assumingly the character of Melody, and the intensity throughout from the instruments shows the love and passion Gainsbourg and Melody have with each other. All of this leads up to the fatal end of Melody and Gainsbourg now has to deal with the fallout. The final song on the album, "Cargo culte" perfectly continues the story. Gainsbourg is now dealing with the fallout of his love's death. The melody of the track is the same as the initial song "Melody" which gives the album a perfect loop, meaning the story will continue over and over. If you are interested in different cultures and the music that comes out of them, I cannot recommend Histoire de Melody Nelson enough. The album is a fantastic bit of storytelling, even though you may not understand the lyrics. The beauty in the musicianship and lyrical style is fantastic enough to know what is going on in the story without explicitly being told. The loop aspect to me means this album is more symbolic than a story, and I interpret "Melody" as Gainsbourg music and how he has an ever-cyclical view of it where he suddenly comes upon inspiration (hitting her with his car), falls in love with what he creates (falling in love with Melody), and then right as his music is at the peak, it fails him (the untimely death of Melody). Now this interpretation may be a stretch, but that is the fun of concept albums, especially ones in French. Do yourself a favor and enjoy the fun of this album, you won't regret it...
Favorite Songs: "Melody", "L’hôtel particulier"
Least Favorite Songs: No bad songs as each song has a purpose in the record to further the story.
Production Quality:
Mix = 9.5/10
Innovation = 9/10
Songwriting Quality:
Arrangement = 8/10
Lyricism = 10/10 (Deep meaning throughout)
Instrumentation Quality:
Vocal Timbre = 5/10 (Consistent spoken word vocal style which serves the album well but can get a little frustrating if you want full singing)
Instrumental Timbre = 10/10
Group Chemistry = 9/10
Overall Likability:
My Personal Rating = 8/10
Overall Rating: 8.6/10
Any confusion on how the rating is weighted/calculated, please look at my "About" page.
Remember this is all my opinion! Let me know if you agree, disagree or have any comments!