Music
Store

I was very lucky to find out about her, quite accidentally last year, when I was introduced to her first amazing album. Although her material is really a product of Mylene Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, it's Alizée's delivery and tremendous voice that makes the music fly. She's a natural, and displays a tremendous amount of charisma.

This album is definitely more mature than her first, and I think that Mylene made a terrific conscious effort to ensure that the music grows with her. These songs stick in your head and heart and never, ever let go. Although I cannot understand a word she is singing, the raw emotion that comes through in songs like "A Contre-Courant" and "J'ai Pas Vingt Ans" is so real.

I got the French import, and have heard the English version of some of the tracks since then, but, although I find the English translations interesting, and I'm glad a direct translation wasn't done, I do prefer the French versions. And although I don't understand it, French fits her performances so much better. It's a more beautiful language than my native English :) Besides, some of the English lyrics border on the absurd -- not most, but a few. Slang used maybe 20-25 years ago in America, and snickered at now -- I mean "boogy-woogy"??? I recommend passing these English versions across someone well versed in the target culture beforehand next time. Despite this, I'm still glad for a non-direct translation.

Now I'm not sure if an American audience exposure was targeted at this time, especially in light of some anti-French sentiments over certain current world events, but ultimately I believe that Alizée could become huge worldwide, including the USA. I have a few reservations, though, about how successful that will be if her mentors continue on the career path they seem to be taking. This is a message to her management team (not that they would ever read this, nor care to):

1) Drop the "French Britney" image, and FAST. Alizée's beauty can stand on its own, without some of the cheesy ways they are presenting her. Yes, I know she's a product of France, and I know the pop music styles in France are still closer to the cheesy 80's of America, but if they want her to become huge worldwide, please realize that people see right through this, at least in my country, and Alizée will just end up as "flavor of the week" if this continues.

2) Take advantage of the charisma factor here. Alizée is that rare performer, who has the potential to connect with her audience at live performances -- IF she is allowed to sing WITHOUT the cheesy (there, I said it again) lip-synch! Now I know she can sing live -- I saw a "Top of the Pops" performance of hers, and she can handle singing live rather well. Let her develop her stage presence, and take advantage of her natural talent, charm, and charisma to connect with her audience. There is a hell of a lot going for her in many ways. Don't stunt the growth of a potential universally huge star. Maybe this will give her enough confidence to start co-writing her own material, unless Mylene and Laurent's intention is to use her as a meal ticket. I'm sure that's not true, since Mylene is a star in her own right. But just in case...

Ok, off my arrogant soapbox ;) Back to the review.

I HIGHLY recommend this album. It is awesome! I hope to see Alizée's success reach worldwide.


Alizée's got the voice, she's got the look, but...   May 23, 2004
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

In 2000 a little-known 16 year-old Corsican by the name of Alizée sold over a million copies of a questionable single entitled Moi - Lolita. Three years, a best-selling debut album (Gourmandises) and several music awards later, Lolitapop idol Alizée dips her toe into the international market with her sophomore offering, Mes Courants Electriques.

Alizée is the protégée of Mylène Farmer (a Gallic cross between Madonna and Cher) and every song on the album bears the distinctive stamp of Mylène and long-time collaborator Laurent Boutonnat: basically a tendency towards musical histrionics. It's hard to treat Alizée as an individual because she seems to want to be just a mini-Mylène: even the school uniform she wears in the photos was designed by the big M.

Musically speaking, this is bubblegum pop at its most petulant and vacuous, with catchy melodies (especially C'est Trop Tard and Moi - Lolita) that worm their way into your subconscious despite some truly infantile lyrics ("I'm fed up with being fed up! Poor me!"). Indeed only an ode to Napoléon (Tempête) redeems the album with its relative maturity. Unfortunately it's immediately followed by adolescent claptrap like I'm Not Twenty and L'E-mail A Des Ailes (a ballad for the IM generation).

Despite attempts to please everyone (some songs are present in both English and French), Mes Courants Electriques is a let-down because both artists are capable of so much more (just listen to Mylène's Innamoramento).

Alizée's got the voice, she's got the look, she's got the gimmick. She just needs to stop letting Mylène palm off her rejected songs and get on with developing her own identity.


She did it again   April 18, 2003
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

I am not so glued to this record as I was (and still is) to Alizee's first album, but I still cannot give it low rating, because Mylene Farmer's music does its magic again on the sophmore album from her fantastic protegee. There are couple songs here that I skip, but every time I hear "J'en ai Marre," it just lifts up my mood. By the way, the single for that song offers some juicy remixes! La Isla Bonita-esque "Hey Amigo" is a great touching tune that always makes me want to slow dance. Ballads are very Mylene style, which has never been bad. If I wanted to criticize this album, I would say it seems like Mylene used some songs here that she scratched out of her own repertoire, because they would sound repetitious. But at the same time it is not Mylene's album, and Alizee sounds beautiful and full of further potential. On the next one, she should have more diverse style, because many songs here have similar arrangements, and eventually it will not fly with general audience. In any case, this one is worth having.


Above-average follow-up   December 29, 2003
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

And here we have the sophomore album by the teenage protégée of French pop myth Mylène Farmer and her producer, Laurent Boutonnat.

While 'Gourmandises,' Alizée's first album, could be argued to be little but a product that was as coldly planned and calculated as any of Mylène's own work, 'Mes Courants Electriques' ('My Electric Currents') sees Alizée break free from the Lolita image--to some extent--with more personal themes. Thus, 'Courants' is a more conventional album, touching upon subjects that occupy the teenage mind, as opposed to abstract and/or artistic ideals.

But that's not to say that the album is more childish. All the opposite, it actually comes out stronger for it, further developing Alizée as her own persona, her own character. Add in the fact that there's more Alizée than Laurent in the sound--guitars, drums, a flightier atmosphere--and you could even say that it's a more mature work (it's important to note that Laurent has hardly ever strayed from his formula in his twenty-year career).

One thing that remains, however, are the double senses of the lyrics, penned by Mylène. On the surface, they may seem frivolous--even puerile; the bouncy "J'en ai marre" ("I'm Fed Up") regards teenage angst, the Boutonnat-esque "A contre-courant" ("Against the Current") conflict in a relationship, and "Hey! Amigo!" simply comes off like a feel-good song due to the general atmosphere. The truth? "J'en ai marre" makes masturbatory references, "A contre-courant" talks about sexual positions, and "Hey! Amigo!" regards a prostitute in Barcelona who saunters about, pleases everyone, and yet wishes for a better life.

There are your typical teenage trappings, of course. "Youpidou" is the dud of the album, talking about independence the way one speaks to a three-year-old; there's even a sample of a baby voice in it. "C'est trop tard," ("It's Too Late") about the same subject, doesn't fare much better, if only because its heavy electric guitars feel out of place among the rest of the album. "L'email a des ailes" ("The E-mail Has Wings") is the requisite online song that no modern teenage album can go without, though to its credit, it doesn't mope. And "J'ai pas vingt ans" ("I'm Not Twenty") may just be the most inexpedient single in the history of French pop--not to mention that it feels like a cheap stab at rival Lorie and her song "A 20 Ans," ("At 20"), which talks of how at twenty you're on top of the world (you're not kidding anyone, Lizz).

The highlight of the album: perhaps the two songs Alizée probably had the least input in. "Tempête" is a cinematic-sounding piece with strings, synths and marching drums, an ode to Napoleon Bonaparte; Mylène had a desire to express her admiration for the man, and thus decided to have Alizée interpret a song about him. The other is "Coeur déjà pris," ("Heart Already Taken") another Boutonnat string piece, which talks about a lover having found somebody else in his life. This one makes use of piano and reeds to create a subdued atmosphere in which Alizée's voice shines without obstruction. Her mourning is plaintive, almost genuine; when she asks "Est-elle tendre, ses doigts/Sont-ils aimants?" ("Is she tender/Are her fingers loving?"), she puts into words what artists twice her age often struggle an entire career to express.

Unfortunately, Mes Courants Electriques is a bit of a misguided product. At face value, it seems childish, but it's much more mature in its honesty than any of your typical teenage albums out there. The problem? It's been marketed as a child album from the beginning, with "J'en ai marre" releasing as the first single and "J'ai pas vingt ans" as the second. It's difficult to be taken seriously when you sing ostensibly about bubble baths and goldfish and appear on television dancing in a pink or baby-blue dress. By the time things get serious with a third single ("A contre-courant"), it's too late; the public already has a fixed opinion.

So here's to hoping that the third album--whenever it's to arrive, for Mylène and Laurent also have their own careers to run--is a little more savvy in the marketing angle. No doubt the maturity will be there, and perhaps even a smidgen of artistic integrity from Alizée's own end, as opposed to only Mylène or Laurent's. But targeting the five-year-old demographic--even if superficially--will be out of the question if Alizée has any plans to continue her career for the long term.


Best CD of 2003   August 27, 2003
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

If only Americans were open to listening to music (on the radio) in foreign languages. If it were - this album would be one of the biggest smashes of the year. It is truly awesome. I can't add much to the other raving reviews, but if you understand what she is singing about in the first song - WHOA - very grown up subject matter.

It is truly amazing. I love European pop, and this takes the cake.

If you'd like to venture into German - check out ROSENSTOLZ! Awesome group - need to plug them here.