Fleur du Mal

There aren't too many bands out there that can say they have been around for a decade, let alone a quarter of a century. For those few that manage to hit the twenty five year mark, some sort of celebration is usually in order. Some might go on a world tour and appeal to their aging fanbase, while others may record an album or release a collection of shelved demo tracks for the diehard followers to eat up. Of course, Therion have never been known to follow in the footsteps of others. Although the operatic symphonic metal style is all-too common in current metal culture, Therion carved out their own niche, unshackling from their death metal roots and taking a more sophisticated and experimental approach to the symphonic style. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Therion didn't decide to celebrate things the regular way; instead, they went ahead and did an album of 1960's French pop song covers…

Born in Leuze (Hainaut) around 1430, Johannes Martini was initially active in Konstanz, then in Milan and Ferrara, where he died on 23 October 1497. Closely connected with the d’Este family, he was paid in 1479 for the production of a large volume of vocal music for the ducal chapel of Ferrara. He is also the key contributor to the Casanatense Chansonnier, which was compiled for the marriage of Isabella d’Este to Gianfrancesco II Gonzaga in 1490. Thanks to these collections, we can for the first time present a glimpse of the immense output (motets, psalms, mass movements, chansons, instrumental chansons) of one of the most refined composers of the generation before Josquin’s.

French band formed in 1968 by former Pingouins lead singer Jacques Mercier. In the early 1970s they released two eponymous albums covering a wide variety of psych, prog, blues-rock and experimental styles, and also had some success with few pop singles…

The debut studio album by Princess Stéphanie of Monaco was originally released as "Besoin", "Stephanie" (untitled) and "Live Your Life", depending on territory. All versions include the same 9 core tracks, but track sequence varies and different combinations of French/English versions are included. CD's also include remixes. Later CD re-releases were retitled ("L'Album D'Or", "Rendez-Vous", "Ouragan", "Dance With Me") but include the same tracks as the original 1986 CD's. Besoin reached number six at the French Albums Chart and the Swedish Albums Chart, number twelve at the German Albums Chart, and number 59 at the Austrian Albums Chart. It reportedly sold in approximately 1.5 million units, and achieved gold status in France for over 100,000 units. Despite the success of her first album, Stéphanie did not make a follow-up for five years until the release of Stéphanie in 1991.