Alcest: Best album to start with?

[Vamos]

Just as with Agalloch. I've been intending to check out Alcest for a while given all the great things I've heard about them but have never gotten around to it. So, I was wondering what would be the best of their albums to start with for someone who has never heard their music before.

Thanks in advance.

 

[King Richard]

Start here tbh.

 

[Vamos]

Start here tbh.

Sure there is that, but aside from getting a conversation going about the band with this thread, I like to listen to full albums when first starting with a band, hence me asking for other's people's views on which one is the best to stat with.

 

[Onder]

Gay fairytale folk rock.

 

[PhlegethonVeins]

Écailles de Lune probably captures their overall sound to the greatest extent.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I like Ecailles de Lune, especially the first three songs, but the album before and after it sound like a metallic, French John Mayer. Pretty overrated band with a few really nice moments. Saw them live on the Enslaved tour last year an wasn't really impressed by their live show either.

 

[Vamos]

Not much positive opinion about Alcest I see, unlike with Agalloch.

Well I guess that Écailles de Lune is where I should start with to get a feeling of their overall sound.

Thanks.

 

[The Butt]

Souvenirs D'Un Autre Monde

Also Alcest is excellent. Fuck the haters.

 

[Pyro Stick]

tbh theres only 3 albums so just choose any and you will be fine. I would recommend their latest if i had to choose one.

 

[CF87]

I like Ecailles de Lune, especially the first three songs, but the album before and after it sound like a metallic, French John Mayer. Pretty overrated band with a few really nice moments. Saw them live on the Enslaved tour last year an wasn't really impressed by their live show either.

Hopefully I never hear this band.

 

[Krow]

I love alcest. The first album and le secret are best. Escailles de lune is their worst, imo.

 

[Vamos]

I love alcest. The first album and le secret are best.

They seem to have two albums called Le Secret. Apparently they re-recorded it and in the newer one offer both versions of each song?

 

[Krow]

Yea the version with both is worth buying. The originals have more black metal moments, the rerecording loses them. It's definitely interesting.

 

[Allfader]

Ecailles, then the last one (Voyages)

 

[LuminousAether]

Souvenirs is the best, but I should warn you, it's not very "metal." A good description would be Justin Broadrick from Jesu playing Red House Painters inspired music with French lyrics. It's very muchso shoegaze and very littleso metal.

There's not too much from Alcest out there. Tristesse Hivernale, the demo, is almost unlistenable in terms of recording quality. It makes Towards the Sinister (MDB) or All Faith is Lost (Anathema) sound like high quality studio recordings. Le Secret, Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde, Ecailles de Lune, and Le Voyages de L'ame are pretty much it. The split they had with Les Discrets has one non-album song Circe Poisoning the Sea but it's a mellow acoustic number. Still worth listening to.

If you do like Alcest, Neige has some much more "metal" releases such as Vastiia Tenebrd Mortifera from the band Mortifera (Neige + that fat piece of shit Noctu), the Ameseours releases (Ruines Humaines and the self titled full length) which mix post punk, shoegaze, and black metal, and the Lantlos releases Agape and .neon which are post black metal, Agape has some sludge too.

Here's a good example of a more metal song from Neige:

 

[Vamos]

I've listened twice to Ecailles de Lune and just finished listening to Les Voyages De L'Ame and I really didn't like Alcest. Found the music boring/uninteresting. It is not "bad" per se but it just doesn't seem to "do" anything...it's just there, meandering and simply fails to captivate.

I didn't go into Alcest expecting metal or even something heavy, but I wasn't expecting a snoozefest either. Oh well...back to Agalloch it is.

 

[LuminousAether]

Interesting. I have no personal problem with songs that meander and don't "do" anything. Music to me is largely appealing due to emotional reactions. If something I am listening to makes me feel, then I am happy with it. I don't need any sort of intellectual stimulation from music. That's the opposite of why I listen to music.

 

[TheInsane]

I started out with "Ecailles de Lune" and it worked wonders for me. However it took several listenings for me to really appreciate it. When an albu takes its time to develop in my mind it usually emans that there is more quality to it than experiences Ive had where the reaction has been immediate.

 

[LuminousAether]

Yeah, TheInsane. I agree completely. If I immediately love an album on first listen, I get very wary because I'm almost assuredly going to end up getting bored of it very quickly, no matter how much or how little I listen to it. For an example, The Ghost Album from Wyrd.

 

[Vamos]

I started out with "Ecailles de Lune" and it worked wonders for me. However it took several listenings for me to really appreciate it. When an albu takes its time to develop in my mind it usually emans that there is more quality to it than experiences Ive had where the reaction has been immediate.

Sure but normally when this happens there is something you like about the album and you are compelled to listen to it again and again and as you do you start to better appreciate it. You are intrigued by the music in the album. This didn't happen to me with Alcest, yet it did happen to me recently with The Mantle from Agalloch.

If something I am listening to makes me feel, then I am happy with it. I don't need any sort of intellectual stimulation from music.

That right there is perhaps the reason why I didn't enjoy Alcest and you did. Not so much that i need any sort of intellectual stimulation from music, just that I seem to connect better to music that actually does that for me.