Cendres de lune
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Cendres de lune is the debut album by the French singer/songwriter Mylène Farmer, released on April 1, 1986. The album was precedeed by the hit single "Libertine", and the album was rereleased in 1987 preceded by the song "Tristana". This album, which was Farmer's sole one written and composed by Laurent Boutonnat, achieved moderate success in France when compared with her later albums but it helped to launch her career.
Background
After the moderate success of the first four singles ("Maman a tort", "My Mum Is Wrong" [the English-language version of "Maman a tort"], "On est tous des imbéciles" and "Plus grandir"), Farmer decided to release her first album. At the time, she had signed a contract for two albums with the recording company Polydor, which reserved the right to break the contract at any time. Fortunately, in 1986, the success of "Libertine" brought Farmer her first big hit and allowed her to produce Cendres de lune.
The vinyl release of the album contained only nine tracks, including "Maman a tort", "Plus grandir" and its B-side "Chloé", plus six other songs. Polydor did not procure the copyright for "My Mum Is Wrong", "On est tous des imbéciles" and its B-side "L'Annonciation" from RCA, the label Farmer released those tracks on. However, in 1987, with the increasingly prominence of the Compact Disc, the album was reissued with a total of 12 titles: "Tristana", the 1987 hit written by Farmer, and two remixes ("Libertine" [remix special club], "Tristana" [remix club]) were added to the track listing.
The album was also released in Canada and Germany. The cover, in black and white, was produced by Laurent Boutonnat and shows Farmer in profile, apparently sad, putting on a hat.
Lyrics and music
The lyrics were written by Laurent Boutonnat who claimed to have had difficulty in composing them.[1] However, "Plus grandir", "Tristana" and "Au Bout de la nuit" were written by Farmer herself (from "Tristana" onwards, she wrote all the lyrics of her songs), and "Maman a tort" by Jérôme Dahan. Generally, the lyrics deal with themes that would recur in Farmer's future albums, namely death, violence, suicide, sexuality, sadness and fear of aging.[2] Therefore, the bases of the singer's universe were laid with this first album whose darkness contrasted greatly with the optimistic songs of the time.[1]
Except for "Maman a tort" and "Libertine", the music was produced by Laurent Boutonnat who used mostly synthesizers and acoustic keyboards and was inspired by the new wave.[1]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Cendres de lune was generally well received by critics. It was considered as an "excellent" album (Gaipied),[4] a "success" (Podium),[5] "a first album rather masterly" (La Provence),[6] "in the area of the variety, one of the most beautiful things of the moment" (Les Gran).[7] "Full of little marvels" (Charente),[8] it contains "hits having an wholesome impertinence" (Télé Poche)[9] and "provides a real insight of [Farmer]'s talent"; [the singer] carries us with her crystalline voice and strange texts, out of time and out of the standards" (Le Républicain).[10] "The songs of Mylène fill the air with an atmosphere alternately naughty and sad but very engaging" (7 à Paris).[11] "Mylène's voice is exquisite and her accomplices made her sing little ordinary things" (La Dépêche).[12] "[Farmer] seduces with sensitive texts, almost surreal, tenderly erotic" (Le Télégramme).[13]
Chart performance
In France, Cendres de lune charted for the very first time in April 1989, after the success of the second album, Ainsi soit je.... It peaked at number 39 and has sold 367,500 copies to date.[14][15]
Track listing
# | Title | Length | Writer(s) | Composer(s) | Comment, performances on tours and TV[16] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Libertine" | 3:49 | Laurent Boutonnat | Jean-Claude Déquéant | |
2 | "Au Bout de la nuit" | 4:21 | Mylène Farmer | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
3 | "Vieux Bouc" | 5:38 | Laurent Boutonnat | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
4 | "Tristana" 1 | 4:35 | Mylène Farmer | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
5 | "Chloé" | 2:35 | Laurent Boutonnat | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
6 | "Maman a tort" | 4:04 | Jérôme Dahan | Laurent Boutonnat & Jérôme Dahan |
|
7 | "We'll Never Die" | 4:15 | Laurent Boutonnat | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
8 | "Greta" | 4:48 | Laurent Boutonnat | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
9 | "Plus grandir" | 4:04 | Mylène Farmer | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
10 | "Libertine" (remix special club) 1 | 5:53 | Laurent Boutonnat | Jean-Claude Déquéant | |
11 | "Tristana" (remix club) 1 | 7:10 | Mylène Farmer | Laurent Boutonnat | |
12 | "Cendres de lune" | 1:47 | — | Laurent Boutonnat |
|
1 Only on the second edition of the album
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Credits
|
|
Releases
Date | Label | Country | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
April, 1986 | Polydor | France | CD | 831732-2 |
LP | 829127-1 | |||
Cassette | 831732-4 | |||
Polydor | Canada | LP | TFX8720 | |
Cassette | ||||
Polydor | Germany | LP | 829127-2 | |
April, 1987 | Polydor | France | CD | 831732-2 |
LP | 831732-1 | |||
Cassette | 831732-4 | |||
1995 | Polygram | France | CD | 831732-2 |
1998 | Polygram France | France | CD | 831732-2 |
2005 | Polydor | France | Digital | — |
2006 | Universal | France | CD - Digipack | 982826-3 |
2013 | Universal | France | LP - Picture Disc (limited edition 2000 copy) | 374725-7 |
Formats
- 12" (first version)1
- 12" (second version)
- CD (first edition)1
- CD (second edition)
- Cassette (first edition)1
- Cassette (second edition)
- CD - Digipack (released in 2005)
1 9 songs, without "Tristana" and the two remixes
References
- ^ a b c L'Intégrale Mylene Farmer, Erwan Chuberre, 2007, City Ed., p. 71-72 (ISBN 978-2-35288-108-7)
- ^ Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Tournon Ed., p. 67-68
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Gaipied, August 1, 1986 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ Podium, 1986, "Mylène Farmer - Bonjour l'humour noir", Robert De Laroche Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ La Provence, August 1, 1986 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ Les Gran, 1987, "Mylène Farmer, un je-ne-sais-quoi en plus" Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ Charente, October 14, 1986, "Embrasons-nous", Jean-Louis Mathieu Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ Télé Poche, June 2, 1986 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ Le Républicain, September 14, 1986, "Une chanteuse "libertine"", Christine Hiquet Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ 7 à Paris, April 23, 1986, "Passionnément" Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ La Dépêche, June 29, 1986, "Libertine, la petite Mylène qui monte..." Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ Le Télégramme, April 16, 1986 Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 25, 2008)
- ^ a b "Les "Charts Runs" de chaque Album Classé" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- ^ "Les Meilleures Ventes de CD / Albums "Tout Temps"" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
- ^ Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Tournon Ed., p. 45,68,74,75,113,114,263-266
- ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1989 par InfoDisc" (in French). InfoDisc. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
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