Pulsar - Görlitz (1989)

Revivimos el disco "Görlitz" de los franceses Pulsar, un disco con opiniones encontradas pero que a muchos les resulta exquisito, un trabajo de una banda que tuvo como política la de nunca rendirse a la tendencia musical dominante, sea cual sea. Siempre llevado a su lado más artístico, "Görlitz" suena como Pink Floyd, desplegando psicodelia y sinfonismo desde un sonido más moderno y casi en el Neo Prog, con mucho sintetizador atmosférico, guitarra espacial y excelentes voces muy cálidas y en francés junto con una agradable explosión ecléctica bien interesante. Para quienes aún no los conocen y para quienes quieran revivir un gran disco que es casi un clásico del progresivo francés, aparece nuevamente el disco del trencito en el blog cabeza.

Artista: Pulsar

Álbum: Görlitz
Año: 1989
Género: Rock progresivo, rock psicodélico neo-progresivo
Duración: 39:49
Nacionalidad: Francia

Pulsar fue la primera banda francesa que firmó con un sello inglés, llamado "Kingdom Records". Su primer álbum, Pollen, se publicó en 1974. En 1975, Philipe Roman dejó el grupo. Al año siguiente, publicaron su nuevo álbum, The Strands of the Future, en el que se incorpora al bajo Michel Masson. Le siguió Halloween, considerado un clásico del rock progresivo francés.

En los primeros ochenta, Pulsar puso música a la adaptación que hizo Bruno Carlucci de una historia breve del novelista austríaco Peter Handke: "Bienvenue au Conseil D'Administration!". La formación que grabó este musical consistía de Gilbert Gandil en la guitarra y el bajo, Victor Bosch en la batería, Jacques Roman en los teclados, Roland Richard en la flauta y el saxofón y Louis Paralis, que sustituyó a Michel Masson.
Entre 1974 y 1989, sus álbumes fueron producidos por CBS. Más tarde, se hizo cargo de ellos Musea, un sello francés que compró los derechos de distribución.

En 1989 la banda se reunió de nuevo para publicar un disco, Görlitz. Su álbum más reciente es Memory Ashes, producido por Cypress Music.

En 2008, la revista Goldmine Magazine incluyó Halloween entre los 25 álbumes más destacados del rock progresivo.

Hasta ahí el comentario de nuestro amigo Migual, vamos a copiar algunos otros comentarios en inglés, la única mención en castellano que encontré dice esto:

Pulsar es un grupo frances legendario, promocionados muchas veces como los Pink Floyd franceses, en definitiva es mucho mas, aunque en sus ultimos discos, este y el Memory Ashes si se acercan en demasi al sonido de PF, no por ello deja de tener originalidad y genialidad en su musica. Sus albunes han estado siempre plagados de sinfonismo y de psicodelia (recuerda mucho al Eloy de los inicios o al Pink Floyd de estos ultimos años) pero en definitiva el manejo musical y el enfoque son de primerisima calidad, definitivamente imperdibles en imprescindibles...

Melomano

I find it hard to believe that this was previously rated with one star! I have all the Pulsar albums , which happen to be all of irreproachable quality and made their mark in Prog history. Yes, Gorlitz is very different from the three other symphonic monuments but it reflects a different time in the late 80's when Prog was for all intended purposes almost non-existant except for a few courageous artists, who later would pioneer the Prog Resurgence or RenaissanceThis is a great piece of nostalgic music , the title cut referring to the collapse of East Germany (and the Eastern Bloc as a whole) and the ability of these famously devoted Iron Curtain prog fans to finally obtain the right to travel wherever they would want without a damn Stalinist government telling them " NO". The themes expressed evoke both great sadness and utter joy , with grand musicianship led by Gilbert Gandil's heaviliy "Hackett" influenced playing abd Victor Bosch' steady, militaristic drumming. This stunning record fits very nicely with another East German bashing opus, the whimsical "Stationary Traveller" by Camel, one of Latimer's crowning achievements, equally critisized by some progfans. Hey! I am a history buff too, which explains my love for Prog and even Al Stewart's at times proggy recordings like "Time Passages" ," Last Days of the Century" and "Russians & Americans".
To each his own, after all instead of thrashing iffy prog albums, look at all the pop garbage out there that deserve one or no stars ! We could spend 24/7 getting all our frustrations and inner demons unleashed with choice words for the Spears, 50 Cents and all the other MuchMusic/MTV crap millionaires out there. Give this record a chance and you will be rewarded .
4/5 stasis

Thomas Szirmay

As someone who did not know Pulsar the first time around, I can say objectively (?) that Gorlitz is actually better than Halloween. Halloween is roughly 40 minutes long, with about 15 of those being mood setting, and a bunch more being almost unlistenable, all supposedly in the name of placing atmospherics and arrangements ahead of flashiness, but please. Gorlitz appeared a decade later and not only avoided most of those pitfalls but produced several stronger melodies, most notably of course in the long title cut, but also in "Autour de Toi", while "Fin de Voyage" was a direct descendent of those early yawners, and, unlike Halloween, manages to avoid sucking all the air out of the room. The production is also impeccable. Buy if you like melodic prog, period.

Keneth Levine

I was not really laudatory about " Bienvenue Au Conseil D'Administration", the band's previous album and even if this album is not as strong as their first three albums, some perfume of them can be smelled here.
The central part of this album is of course the the title track. This twenty minutes piece of music is a complex song with different themes. The spacey atmosphere is mixed with harder sounds at times, but the problem is that it will never really kicks off. nor overwhelm the listener like during some wonderful sections of "Halloween" for instance. Pleasant all the way though but too little great passages are featured to make it a great song. Being the vocal or intrumental parts.
"Fin De Voyage" is so close from this mood that it could have been integrated into "Görlitz".
"Pulsar" will even investigate the French rock mood (like "Ange during "Vu D'Un Chien"). Needless to say that it is far from being great. "Naufrage" is the weakiest of all from this album. And I still wonder if bands do it on purpose with the choice of their title. Because naufrage means wreck. I bet you !
More theatric vocals during the acoustic and peaceful "Pour Un Autre Départ". A short and break lacking of inspiration, I guess. Still better than "Autour De Toi" which is similar to "Naufrage" and remains an averagee French rock song.
"Tara" is fully in the ambient style and closes this average album. The band will enter into a looooooong lethargy. They will get back together almost twenty years later for a better release than this one.
If you except "Görlitz", this album has not very much to offer. Two/Five stars.

Daniel

My only experience with PULSAR up to this point was with "Halloween", an album many consider their best and most symphonic. Well I couldn't get into it at all, in fact I agree with kennethlevine's thoughts (second review up) on that one.Their last album before this one was back in 1981, so about an eight year hiatus, although they kept busy in the music industry. What I love about this album is the atmosphere, there is tons of it. There is an eighties vibe as well that I like.
"Gorlitz" is the opening side long track at over 19 minutes. It opens with the sound of this guy talking, then in the background we can hear this sound that gets louder and louder. It's a train ! See album cover. Suddenly we can't hear the guy at all, just the train. Cool. Keyboards take over with some atmosphere, you can hear children playing, then a change as drums, bass and guitar take over. Vocals 4 minutes in. Lots of atmosphere after 7 1/2 minutes as drums and bass throb while the guitar cries out. A more powerful atmosphere arrives 10 minutes in then the guitar fades out a minute later. It turns heavier 11 1/2 minutes in then the guitar starts to solo before 13 minutes. Nice. Vocals are back after 14 minutes. It's heavy again before 16 1/2 minutes as the guitar lights it up. The atmosphere rolls in a minute later as the heaviness subsides. What a great track !
"Fin De Voyage" opens with drums, atmosphere and vocals.I thought of DEAD CAN DANCE right away here. The guitar after 1 1/2 minutes starts to grind away. "Naufrage" opens with pouring rain as keys and atmosphere join in. The guitar comes in as the lightning cracks. We can hear voices and then it kicks in reminding me of ROXY MUSIC. Great sound ! "Pour Un Autre Depart" is a short mellow tune with keyboards and fragile vocals. A touching song. "Autour De Toi" has a good beat with atmosphere. Again "Avalon" era ROXY MUSIC comes to mind. Sax after 2 minutes then the guitar solos beautifully. "Tara" opens with a keyboard soundscape. Sax after a minute joins in. Lots of atmosphere and no vocals.
This has been such a pleasure to listen to over this past week. A solid 4/5 stars.

John Davie

The title track is pure delicious. I love the guitar, the keyboards and of course the sound of the train. Sometimes mesmerizing, sometimes heavy. The other tracks are a bit disappointing, but which song can beat Görlitz? Well done.

Clepsydraakje

Gracias a las colaboraciones de la comunidad por ayudarnos a ampliar nuestros horizontes, muy lindo disco!

Lista de Temas:
1. Görlitz
2. Fin de Voyage
3. Naufrage
4. Pour un Autre Départ
5. Autour de Toi
6. Tara

Alineación:
- Jacques Roman / sintetizador, teclado, mellotron
- Victor Bosch / Batería, Percusión
- Gilbert Gandil / Guitarra eléctrica, voz
- Roland Richard / piano, flauta
- Louis Paralis / bajo