| Fantaisie militaire | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 January 1998 | |||
| Recorded | Studio Miraval Studio Davout (strings) Studio Pierce Entertainment (mixing) [1] | |||
| Genre | French rock, alternative rock | |||
| Length | 50:38 | |||
| Label | Barclay Records, Universal Music Group | |||
| Producer | Ian Caple | |||
| Alain Bashung chronology | ||||
| ||||
Fantaisie militaire(Military fantasy) is the tenth studio album by the French rock musician Alain Bashung, released in January 1998 by Barclay Records.
For this album, Bashung worked with the English record producer and engineer Ian Caple and with artists such as the Valentins, Rodolphe Burger, Joseph Racaille and Adrian Utley of Portishead. Most of the songs were written by Jean Fauque.
The song "Samuel Hall" is a drum and bass reworking of the folk song "Sam Hall".
The album reached #1 on the French charts. It is one of Bashung's greatest successes, helped by the successful single "La nuit je mens".
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
Fantaisie militaire marked a turn in Bashung's career. He was awarded three Victoires de la musique awards in 1999: Male Artist of the Year, Best Album of the Year, and Video of the Year for the single "La nuit je mens". In 2005, the Victoires ranked it the best French album since 1985. The Belgian rock historian Gilles Verlant included the album in his book La discothèque parfaite de l'odyssée du rock, [3] lauding it as a "chef d'œuvre" and the "shining diamond of the winter of 1998". He added that the album showed "Bashung mix the sounds and his inspiration with a perfect mastery of studio incidents" and that "its precision is that of a goldsmith, a jeweler, a maniac watchmaker". [3] In 2010, the French edition of Rolling Stone magazine named Fantaisie militaire the ninth greatest French rock album ever made. [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Malaxe" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung / Les Valentins | 4:33 |
| 2. | "La nuit je mens" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung / Les Valentins | 4:25 |
| 3. | "Fantaisie militaire" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 4:48 |
| 4. | "2043" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 3:45 |
| 5. | "Mes prisons" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 4:07 |
| 6. | "Ode à la vie" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung / Jean-Marc Lederman | 4:16 |
| 7. | "Dehors" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung / Les Valentins | 3:29 |
| 8. | "Samuel Hall" | Olivier Cadiot / Rodolphe Burger | 5:05 |
| 9. | "Aucun express" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 4:05 |
| 10. | "Au pavillon des lauriers" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 4:43 |
| 11. | "Sommes-nous" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 3:56 |
| 12. | "Angora" | Alain Bashung / Jean Fauque – Alain Bashung | 2:07 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| France (SNEP) [9] | Platinum | 300,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
French rock is a form of rock music produced in France, primarily with lyrics in the French language.
Alain Bashung was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country as the most important French rock musician after Serge Gainsbourg. He rose to prominence in the early 1980s with hit songs such as "Gaby oh Gaby" and "Vertige de l'amour", and later had a string of hit records from the 1990s onward, such as "Osez Joséphine", "Ma petite entreprise" and "La nuit je mens". He has had an influence on many later French artists, and is the most awarded artist in the Victoires de la Musique history with 12 victories obtained throughout his career.
Victoires de la Musique is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz versions are the Victoires de la musique classique and Victoires du Jazz.
Vilain Pingouin is a rock band from Quebec, Canada.
Adrian Francis Utley is an English musician and producer, and a member of the band Portishead.
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Carole Bienaimé, is a commissioner and board member of Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, an independent agency of French government that regulates communications by radio, television, and internet platforms across France and all its territories. She was nominated by the president of the French Senate, Gérard Larcher, in 2017. Bienaimé-Besse used to be a television and cinema producer and a director. She used to be an executive at April Snow Films & Capital. Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres promoted by French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot and Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite French order of merit by President Emmanuel Macron, Bienaimé Besse was a board member of the fund Compte de Soutien de l'Industrie de Programmes Audiovisuels at Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée. She was also vice-president of Producers Guild in France and a board member of French Producers Society.
Vincent Ségal is a French cellist and bassist.
Roulette russe(Russian roulette) is the second album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1979 on Philips Records. The album was reissued the following years with a couple of songs dropped and the two songs from his breakthrough single, Gaby oh Gaby, added.
Pizza is the third album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1981 on Philips Records.
Live Tour 85 is the first live album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1985 on Philips Records.
Passé le Rio Grande(Passed the Rio Grande) is the sixth studio album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1986 on Philips Records.
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Chatterton is the ninth studio album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1994 on Barclay Records.
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La Tournée des grands espaces(The wide spaces tour) is the fourth live album by Alain Bashung, issued in 2004 on Barclay Records. It documents the 2003-2004 tour which followed the album L'Imprudence.
Bleu pétrole(Petrol blue) is the twelfth studio album by the French rocker Alain Bashung, released in March 2008 on Barclay Records. It was the last studio album released during his lifetime.
"Gaby oh Gaby" is a song first published by Alain Bashung. Written by Boris Bergman with music by Bashung, it was initially published as a single in 1980 on Philips, with "Ell' s'fait rougir toute seule" as the B-side. The single became a huge hit in France, and therefore the song was included on the album Roulette russe in a reissue nicknamed Nouveau couplage, and then on the CD reissue of the next album, Pizza.
Ian Caple is an English recording engineer, record producer, programmer and mixer.
Chloé Mons is a French actress and singer.
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