Francis Cabrel:
Samedi Soir Sur La Terre
(1994)

Genre: French Pop/Singer-Songwriter.
Produced By: Gérard Bikialo.
Record Label: Columbia.

Another French dude. Francis Cabrel's music is somewhere between pop and singer-songwriter and again, I probably wouldn't be as fascinated by him if I didn't have this passion for France. Still, the music is actually pretty fantastic, and in the same way C.V. Jørgensen has it in Denmark and Jackson Browne has it in the US, Cabrel possesses this certain gift to lyrically describe France and French people. In other words, he's a great storyteller. And there's something very French over the music too. In his production, this is probably the most mature and laid back album so far by Francis Cabrel. There is something very appealing and reassuring over the way he tells his tales. Anyway, Cabrel is really big in France (they haven't got that many decent artists anyway) and could be elsewhere too if it wasn't for the language problem. Mind you, his music can also be enjoyed without understanding everything he sings about. So bring out the dictionaries and indulge yourself...

Overall Rating (on a scale from 1 to 10):9

Jackson Browne, Marc Cohn, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Françoise Hardy, Renaud.