Search - Maxime Le Forestier :: Mon Frere

A flawless collection of hauntingly beautiful songs

David Ljunggren | Ottawa, Ontario Canada | 07/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Daddy, can I listen to your sad French songs in the car?" is a question my daughter has asked me often in the days since I managed to track down this magnificent album on CD. I first heard Mon Frere as an exchange student in France in 1977, immediately bought the record and have kept it close even since. Mon Frere is the title of the devastating first song in which the singer mourns the brother he never had -- just reading the lyrics are enough to bring a lump to my throat. While at least a couple of the songs are light-hearted and enchanting, there is a deep seam of pain and dark nostalgia running right through this work. The album is worth buying for the poetic lyrics alone, although there are no words provided for a bitter little ballad called Parachutiste, which refers to the abominable conduct of the French paratroopers during the Algerian war of the early 1960s. It is no surprise that Maxime Le Forestier's greatest 20 hits album contains no less than seven of the 11 songs on Mon Frere."

The Best

David Ljunggren | 09/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the album that has most affected my knowledge of and affection for French popular music. As an American student in Provence in the late 70's, the music hit a responsive chord in me before I ever had a clue about the lyrics. Understanding lyrics just got me more hooked. (more hooked?)Anyway, this album contains a number of le Forestier classics: the popular "Marie, Pierre et Charlemagne", "Education Sentimentale", and "San Fransisco", the anti-military "Parachutiste", the environmentalist "Comme un Arbre", the wistful "Mon Frere" and "La Rouille" and the angry "Ca Sert a Quoi" - you can't go wrong with this one."

So Glad it's Still Around

teacher girl | Woodland Hills, Ca United States | 08/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Maxime when I was a student in So. France in 1972. I was recently in Paris and purchased his newest CD. His voice is still terrific. The album Mon Frere is what got me hooked on Maxime...the voice of an angel. This is a fabulous album."