Alizee's "5". Your review.

[Ali]

Now, that most of have received your Alizee’s “5” CD, I am wondering what are your guys thoughts on it?

I listened through the entire album from beginning to end after receiving it over the weekend and I think this is her best solo album yet! I am glad I got this autographed CD instead of the Une Enfant Du Siecle album (which I didn’t really like).

I definitely liked the diversity she has in the songs, from pop to a bit of soft rock like in “10 ans”. With up tempo songs like “Le dernier soufflé” to the nice guitar string in “Mon chevalier”. Not to mention very melodic song with a nice piano piece in the background in “Jeune fille “ and the nice soft ending in “Dans mon sac.”

I would also like to add that she still has that cute voice from 10 years ago although it’s a bit mature. :)

I think after her experimental album (her words) that she had with Une Enfant Du Siecle, I think Alizee is finally figuring out what type of music she wants to make and the direction she wants to take her career in with respect to the type of music she wants to produce.

So, I would give it 4 and ½ stars out of 5. Only thing that is preventing me from giving a full 5 is comparing this to her previous album with Mylene Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat like in MCE, which I think is slightly a step above. Yes, I know it may not be fair comparing her to people who has 10-15+ years in producing and making music, while Alizee has only been solo for 5 years or so. But that’s just what I feel.

Regardless, I really like the entire album, as I stated, it’s easily her best solo album. Really glad got the autographed version. If you were to tell me that I would have gotten an autograph of her 7 years ago when I first came across Alizee, I would have smacked you! :p

Lastly, as a James Bond fan really like the “Bond” vibe that she had with “A cause de l’automne” in both the music and the video. She would make the perfect Bond girl. ;)

So, what would rate this album? How would you compare it to her previous two solo albums?

PS. Sorry if there’s already a review thread, I only logged in about a week or so ago, so I may have missed a “review” thread.

[Fall]

A man after my own heart :beer:
I agree with almost everything you said dude. I must admit, for a while now I've been having an inner conflict of sorts, trying to decide whether my favorite album is still Psych or is now 5. As far as her best album solo album, I do agree that it is 5. But when it comes to my favorite, I think for now I'll leave it as a tie, because I really do love those two. I said to someone before, I'm not sure to whom, that this is the album that she should have followed MCE with. But I am happy for her, that she explored other sounds before striking gold with 5. :wub: :thumb:

[Ali]

A man after my own heart :beer:
I agree with almost everything you said dude. I must admit, for a while now I've been having an inner conflict of sorts, trying to decide whether my favorite album is still Psych or is now 5. As far as her best album solo album, I do agree that it is 5. But when it comes to my favorite, I think for now I'll leave it as a tie, because I really do love those two. I said to someone before, I'm not sure to whom, that this is the album that she should have followed MCE with. But I am happy for her, that she explored other sounds before striking gold with 5. :wub: :thumb:

Yes sir!

I totally agree with your last statement. I think it's important for artists to experiment before deciding what works for them. It's kind of like someone who graduated from College and doesn't know what to do with their lives and tries different things and finally settles on something they like.

I can speak confidently that she likes the direction of her album based on what I heard. I don't anticipate her to go back to making an Une Enfant Du Siecle type of album ever again. And frankly, I think this album has a garnered more positive reviews. Her single even topped the iTunes top 10 chart in France.

I am really happy for her. :)

[Rocket]

Since her 'Lolita' days I was worried that Lili would fade away from public. Then came Psychedelices. I think I liked this album because I was so anticipating for this to come. I liked a few songs on it but, somehow, I missed the old style. Then came Une Enfant Du Siecle. The first time I heard it I sorta liked it, but after that, I didn't care to hear it anymore. Today it sits on my CD shelf collecting dust. And now we have 5. I love this album. My two favorites are A cause de L'automne and Mon Chevaliar. I play this album in my car and get my bass on! :D I hope to hear more of this style from Lili. Either that or some smokey jazz numbers like Temptations. But, for right now, I think she found her niche.

[DannyMac524]

5 is a good album. It is the best of the listed in the poll. She definitely has gone back to her roots in this album. For me Gourmandises is still my all time favorite.

[Un-rêve]

I dunno.. I truly lived and breathed the old days with GMD and MCE.. but if I was a new fan just discovering Alizée right now I guess would be on top of the world with 5.

There's always some magic.

[Ray4AJ]

I'm going to pick 5 here as her best solo album. It seems to be the most thought out and planned. It flows from one song to the next, and seems to be one neat package. I enjoy listening to all of the songs on it. Before it released, I had hoped that she would sing with all she has in at least most of the songs, the way she did during the Goldman special when she sang part of his song La vie par procuration. I think that would have made the album more popular, but that's just my thought. Still, I enjoy listening to her sing just about anything, and knowing that for the most part that she chose the songs to include on her solo albums makes them seem more special to me.

But there are songs on all of her other four albums and performances on the En Concert CD that really enjoy listening to as well. So I don't have a favorite album.

[SpanishFan]

Maybe I am the only one, but my vote is for Psychedelices. The potential to be very successful was there, but poor decisions ruined it.

5 is a better product, it is being supported by Sony, there are more work and attention to details and better sound and production than in Psychedelices. What I am trying to say is that 5 is probably as good as it could be, all the potential is out there and in a proffesional way.

That was not the case with Psychedelices. In my humble opinion:

-For me, the best song of both albums is Par les paupieres. But it was not even a single in Psychedelices, that hurt at the time.

- I consider Psychedelices the last album where Alizée did dance and choreographies. But they could have been way better. I never understood how someone who is a dancer, a good and a goodlooking one, does not make a better use of that aspect, when nowdays it is an important visual part of any show. She does not need to dance around semi naked, but she should use the dance to make her product, her image, her brand, bigger, better and especially when you don't play an instrument or have Adele's voice...

-Image: She looks very good now, great choice of make up, dresses, shoes, hair style, etc... It was not the case in Psychedelices, she could look so much better... but she had this kind of "I don't care" way of dressing that it was not a good match with her album at the time...

She is wiser now and has Sony help backing her for 5, which maybe is her best solo album but I still prefer Psychedelices hence my vote. She probably learned a lot from it, too.

Sorry about all the offtopics, but I felt like writing about those things:D

[lefty12357]

Maybe I am the only one, but my vote is for Psychedelices. The potential to be very successful was there, but poor decisions ruined it.

5 is a better product, it is being supported by Sony, there are more work and attention to details and better sound and production than in Psychedelices. What I am trying to say is that 5 is probably as good as it could be, all the potential is out there and in a proffesional way.

That was not the case with Psychedelices. In my humble opinion:

-For me, the best song of both albums is Par les paupieres. But it was not even a single in Psychedelices, that hurt at the time.

- I consider Psychedelices the last album where Alizée did dance and choreographies. But they could have been way better. I never understood how someone who is a dancer, a good and a goodlooking one, does not make a better use of that aspect, when nowdays it is an important visual part of any show. She does not need to dance around semi naked, but she should use the dance to make her product, her image, her brand, bigger, better and especially when you don't play an instrument or have Adele's voice...

-Image: She looks very good now, great choice of make up, dresses, shoes, hair style, etc... It was not the case in Psychedelices, she could look so much better... but she had this kind of "I don't care" way of dressing that it was not a good match with her album at the time...

She is wiser now and has Sony help backing her for 5, which maybe is her best solo album but I still prefer Psychedelices hence my vote. She probably learned a lot from it, too.

Sorry about all the offtopics, but I felt like writing about those things:D

I agree with just about everything you said. I went with "5" because for me, personally, I think it has the edge over Psych. I still think Psych is a very good album. And I agree wholeheartedly that Par les paupieres has probably been the best song from her solo albums. As a matter of fact, I think it rates right up there as one of her best from all her albums.

[woohoo]

I just got my box and got to listen to the album and I love it. I think 10 ans is my favorite for now. Just love the way she says 10 ans. I think this album is better than Une Enfant Du Siecle but on par with Psychedelices. There are just more songs that click with me on 5 that Une Enfant Du Siecle.

[RadioactiveMan]

Psychedelices was good, Une Enfant Du Siecle was much better, and 5 is better still. I'm far, far happier with it than I allowed myself to expect. I'd probably put Une Enfant Du Siecle as second favourite behind Gourmandises and Mes Courants Electriques and Psychedelices in final place.

[LaCandida95]

I havent bough the CD yet, but, Ive listened to all the songs. I love them all! My most favorite is A Cause De L'Automne. I love the use of orchestral instruments in her new album. I was so anxous to her the new album! Im very satisfied, and I think the critics agree. But, I do love Une Enfant Du Siecle out of all her albums. Its the first album I listened to when I discovered Alizee, and my first song was Les Collines. Its unique from all the others.

[battousai]

I love 5 but still love Psychedelices just a bit more. Maybe if 5 didn't have so many short songs I would love it more.

[Rictor]

This is by far my favorite Alizée solo album. I didn't feel that way the first time I heard it, but lately I've noticed that out of every album that I own, this one puts me into a relaxed state of mind. It's her best work yet, which surprised me because I was kind of disappointed with Psych and UEDS. (That doesn't mean there aren't songs on those two albums that I like, it just means that overall, I wouldn't find myself listening to the whole album like I do for "5.")

Every single song on "5" relaxes me, and I think the album as a whole fits very well together. On Psych and UEDS, there were songs that I would only listen to maybe once or twice a year, such as "Factory Girl". But I've been listening to the "5" album in its ENTIRETY for the past few weeks and haven't gotten sick of it. In fact, I've liked it even more than I did before.

Also wanted to add that I think I have a greater appreciation for her voice and musical style now than I did before. I think once I got over the "oh my god I'm in love with her" phase, I can finally focus on just my love for her music rather than on "crazed fan" type stuff.

I do miss the old Mylene days where she was all cute with her awesome dancing and sensual pop songs, and those days will always be an important chapter in my life, but I'm glad she moved on and is finding her place in the industry. There's a chance she will continue to improve.

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

[MYGOGT]

I must say that I was unsure of this album as I first listened to it. I skipped many songs the first several times as I searched for her higher pitched voice as in PTB. I just couldn't get past some of the opening "Talk/Sing" lines. Well, Last week I took a long road trip and I could concentrate on the album at a much higher cruising volume. What a difference! I listened to all of the albums, yet I kept coming back to 5!
Boxing Club is my favorite for cruising down the highway. A Cause De L'Automne comes in 2nd for me. Then Mon Chevalier. As I recall I had to listen to Psych and UEDS several times at different volume settings to appreciate them. I'd have to say 5 is a 1.

[Wizard]

Old thread, but even so, I thought I'd offer my 2 cents worth on this topic, as one of the more recent members of this forum and new fan of Alizée. It's hard for me to pick a favorite album- they all seem so different from each other, and they are each very good albums. I may be in the very small minority here, but I really like Psychédélices (particularly- Par Les Paupières, Lonely List, Idéaliser) and Une Enfant Du Siècle- (especially- Limelight, La Candida and Mes Fantômes). Both are dramatically different from all her previous work- her voice just seems to haunt you with her rich tones. When it came to 5, it took a while for it to grab me. It took some time, but over the course of the last few weeks, I started listening to all the songs on 5, paying particular attention to the lyrics, and suddenly- it just embedded itself in my brain. I consider 5 to be one the best albums I've ever heard I think she has a real winner here- 5 Stars (out of 5)

[george007]

I think 5 is her best album after she split from MF & LB duo. I Like the choice of instruments (with less electro type music) and my favorites are Le dernier souffle, Boxing club and La guerre en dentelle. I like the flowing rhythms of Le dernier souffle and Boxing club, and I get the feeling that a greater amount of work has been done for this album than previous two.

[Marka]

I think 5 is her best album after she split from MF & LB duo. I Like the choice of instruments (with less electro type music) and my favorites are Le dernier souffle, Boxing club and La guerre en dentelle. I like the flowing rhythms of Le dernier souffle and Boxing club, and I get the feeling that a greater amount of work has been done for this album than previous two.

Before I agreed 100%, but not I am starting to agree 200% with you! I'm liking this album more and more and more!

[ImRawdg]

I think 5 is the best in "absolute" terms, but I place so much sentimental value on Psychedelices that I can't really choose...

[mzracing76]

So what does everyone think of the new album? What song do you like the most? It has been out for roughly 5 months now, everyone has had a chance to analyze it and get a feel for the music. Rate It -

[Scruffydog777]

For me, I think I need more time. I thought the most beautiful song of all 3 albums was PLP, but I don't get the urge to listen to it that often. The one song of all 3 I do like to listen to on a regular basis is Lily town, so at this point, I'd have to rank Psych as the best of the three.

I like both JVB and ACDLA, but several times I've found myself skipping them on my playlists, not so with LT.

[Ray4AJ]

So what does everyone think of the new album? What song do you like the most? It has been out for roughly 5 months now, everyone has had a chance to analyze it and get a feel for the music. Rate It -

As far as "5" goes, I think I like "Le dernier souffle" the most. But I like everything of her's and I never skip any of her songs. I keep finding that I really enjoy a few of the En Concert CD song versions the most though.

[lefty12357]

As far as "5" goes, I think I like "Le dernier souffle" the most. But I like everything of her's and I never skip any of her songs. I keep finding that I really enjoy a few of the En Concert CD song versions the most though.

I also like most of the En Concert CD versions. I like the arrangements, the heavier electric guitar and the impact of the live drums. The only song that I think is weaker than the original recording is JEAM. Alizée's singing was a bit off. It wasn't bad, just not as good as the original vocal performance on the studio recording. There is a lot of energy on the En Concert CD and I especially like to listen to it in the car.

I like "5" a lot, and I love PLP. I think Psyche was a good album and it has that special charm of being the first album after her leaving MF/LB and and after having taken a long break. I remember those times, everyone wondering if she was ever really coming back. The excitement when she first entered the public arena again, her success in Mexico, and the forums were brimming with activity and excitement. Those were great times, and when I listen to Psyche now, all those memories and feelings come rushing back.

[Un-rêve]

As far as "5" goes, I think I like "Le dernier souffle" the most. But I like everything of her's and I never skip any of her songs. I keep finding that I really enjoy a few of the En Concert CD song versions the most though.

Yeah "Le dernier souffle" is my favourite too from 5 as it has been since the first time I heard it. I think it's pretty amazing how she can make a song like this sound so upbeat considering the meaning behind it, but looking back she did exactly the same thing with "JEAM" and "I'm fed up" especially so with her tv dance performances.

Well you can't beat the good old days.. but a performance and vid from "Le dernier souffle" would be nice. :)

[Fall]

I'm still in between choosing favorites, but the first song that came to mind was Happy End. Though Le Dernier Souffle is great too :) Anyone else really dig Si Tu Es Un Homme? That was stuck in my head for weeks after the release! :D

[Marka]

Anyone else really dig Si Tu Es Un Homme? That was stuck in my head for weeks after the release! :D

I do! Si Tu Es Un Homme is a very good song. Overall, it took me quite some time to really come to terms that 5 is a really good album, but now I can finally say, that it deserves 10/10 on my "Alizée scale" and 8/10 on my overall scale (where classical music (such as Strauss's Radetzky March) and pop music is rated alike).

My Alizée scale:
1) MCE & Gourmandises & 5 (all of them have 10/10)
2) UEDS (9/10) & En Concert (8/10 - her singing disturbs me at certain times, but overall a great live album with enormous energy, like Lefty said)
3) Psychédélices (6/10)

[Ali]

Maybe I am the only one, but my vote is for Psychedelices. The potential to be very successful was there, but poor decisions ruined it.

5 is a better product, it is being supported by Sony, there are more work and attention to details and better sound and production than in Psychedelices. What I am trying to say is that 5 is probably as good as it could be, all the potential is out there and in a proffesional way.

That was not the case with Psychedelices. In my humble opinion:

-For me, the best song of both albums is Par les paupieres. But it was not even a single in Psychedelices, that hurt at the time.

- I consider Psychedelices the last album where Alizée did dance and choreographies. But they could have been way better. I never understood how someone who is a dancer, a good and a goodlooking one, does not make a better use of that aspect, when nowdays it is an important visual part of any show. She does not need to dance around semi naked, but she should use the dance to make her product, her image, her brand, bigger, better and especially when you don't play an instrument or have Adele's voice...

-Image: She looks very good now, great choice of make up, dresses, shoes, hair style, etc... It was not the case in Psychedelices, she could look so much better... but she had this kind of "I don't care" way of dressing that it was not a good match with her album at the time...

She is wiser now and has Sony help backing her for 5, which maybe is her best solo album but I still prefer Psychedelices hence my vote. She probably learned a lot from it, too.

Sorry about all the offtopics, but I felt like writing about those things:D

Great post! I totally agree 'Par les Paupieres' was EASILY her best song in the album. And I totally agree, this should have been a single. I would go as far as to say that this was one of her best songs out of all 3 albums.

Interesting thing is when she was making the album she mentions that she drew inspiration from Nelly Furtado. If you look this particular song it's very familiar to Nelly Furtado's "All Good Things Come to an End" from her 2006 album Loose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pBo-GL9SRg

There are a lot of similarities between the two, hence Alizee's inspiration for the song, I think she really likes this song from Nelly and they are both towards the end of the album.

And I do agree about how she dressed during that time as opposed to now. She definitely dresses better now, she even brought back her hair style from 2003. :)