Cloux - Full Fool

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Acropoles Records
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 21:08:00

What drives a young man to release a mini-album clocking in at a mere twenty minutes as a debut release? Indeed you have to be as the title of this little effort implies: Full Fool! Living in Le Raincy, France, Cloux mainly delivers hard edged fusion material. Apparently the guy was so keen to have his material out on the streets that he didn't even wait for a suitable drummer to arrive and thus opted for a drum computer instead. Bad move as, especially for this kind of music, you really need a flesh and blood drummer. You need to sense the adrenaline from each individual member, you need to sense the chemistry between the musicians. Instead you get some ideas from the mind of Cloux, ideas which might get a tad further if only extra people were involved. Releasing a mini album with this kind of material is financial suicide, unless of course you have calculated it all to an absolute minimum and are certain that you have a very large fanbase, friends and/or family that will all buy a copy. Personally I would have waited until I had sufficient material for a full length album. But then again, Cloux seems a nice guy full of energy trying to mix the serious nature of the technical complexity of his music with tongue-in-cheek madness as during "Burp." Cloux mixes jazz rock with metal and loads of shredding ending with the kind of material fans of Steve Vai, Joe Satriani or even Planet X will adore. The interesting fact is that his compositions stay around the three minute mark although including every single detail he wants to express himself with. Other similar acts have the tendency to go over the top which takes your attention away from the actual idea. Here as a listener you stay close to the initial concept and start to appreciate the material more after each spin. It would be an absolute lie to pretend this guy is the world's absolute number one when it comes down to guitar playing but when he takes himself a little more serious (let's say "half-full fool"!), and also takes more time to write out his arrangements and get a real drummer on board, then for sure Cloux's next album will be a right winner. As it stands however Full Fool is a wonderful calling card from this 28-year old musician whose great ability it is to mix deadserious chops with a decent pinch of humour. A rare find indeed!

Tracklisting:
Human Being / Full Fool / Burp / Memento / Treacle / Lean On

Musicians:
Sylvain "Cloux" Ducloux - guitar, drum programming
Kengo Mochiziki?- bass
Xavier Zolli?- bass
Simon Fleurry?- voices

Discography:
Full Fool (2004)
Metal Version Vol 1. (2008)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin FR

Added: March 29th 2005
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website:
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Language: english