[2009-10-20] Official Site Updates / Easter Eggs!

[ALS]

The high heels situation was more of a safety issue on stage than anything else. Sure she looked good wearing them but at what cost if she got injured while performing. I was the first one this board who went off over those heels at the Moscow show. The Alan Chamfort Duet was one performance where only high heals would have worked.

I also agree one problem with the last CD was that it was all over the place in different styles. I liked it but I'll be the first to admit I like that kind of thing. Most fans have preconceived expectations of what an artists CD should sound like.

Alizée is spreading her wings and finding a style she is comfortable with. From her interviews in 2007 she seems to lean toward the Techno Pop style. The little bit of Chateau Marmont I've listen to on youtube it seems she is leaning towards that style on this next Cd.

Every successful band I have ever heard interviewed all said don't write music that you think will sell, write music that you like, and it will sell.

Perfect example: Put up by Jon Bon Jovi was the song Living on a Prayer.
They almost didn't include it on the album because they thought it wasn't something their fans would like. They included as a filler just to take up space. The song ended up being major hit. Jon said they didn't think people would like it even though he and the band loved it.

[Euphoria]

Lmao, safety issue are you kidding me? Women perform in high heels all the time. They dance, they kick, whatever. I thought she looked great. Anyways, I definitely agree with Roman. She really does seem to be having some sort of an identity crisis. Lately, it just looks like she's trying too hard to be trendy and get away from what she was. I don't think there's anything wrong with changing. Entertainers reinvent themselves all the time, but she just seems to be trying too hard to be different.

[lefty12357]

You may be right, Euphoria. I hope Alizée has sorted all this out for herself. It could make a significant difference when she reenters the spotlight and starts promoting her new music.

[Deepwaters]

Well, Euphoria, I half agree with you. Get away from her prior persona, yes. Trendy, no. And I don't think she's having an identity crisis, either, if by that you mean uncertainty about who she is. OTOH, she does seem to be trying to decide which part of her highly eclectic musical tastes will best appeal to the public. That may have been the idea behind Psychédélices, or part of it: throw it all out there at once and see what sticks. (That and, "Oh, I like this, let's include one of those.")

Ben and I both liked the variety, it seems, but she needs to appeal to more than just the two of us.

BTW, if you want to know what the album sales were, just go to Wikipedia and enter Psychédélices. There's an article on that album. According to that, the sales were 50k in France, 150k in Mexico plus another 50k for the tour edition, and 10k in Russia. That leaves out sales in other countries besides those three, and I know for certain that she sold at least one copy in the U.S. But 260k is probably not much of an understatement; I doubt the grand total rises much if any above 300,000. Still, that's not bad. By contrast, MCE sold 200k in the first 3 months after release.

Whether you or Roman will like the new album remains to be seen. I'm reasonably certain I will because I like both electronica and Alizée and the combination will surely appeal, but the point of doing a non-smorgasbord album is to target an audience that likes a particular style, rather than trying to be all things to all listeners. That means for certain some people will not like it. But those who do will like it without reservation.

[lefty12357]

I also think Alizée knows exactly who she is, but I was thinking more of her "stage persona" so to speak. I think during Psych it certainly was a somewhat confusing image she projected, at least in the beginning. I also really liked Psych and still listen to it frequently, more so than her older music. My favorite album is still MCE, which I still listen to occasionally as well.

[Roman]

Personally, I thought the diversity of the album was a good tactic at first. It seemed to me that Alizée had the possibility of ushering in a new style of album development. Maybe I'm naïve, but it seemed like a cool idea. I agreed that I felt the same when she talked about liking all different kinds of music and as she was not the musician, but rather a facilitator or producer, it seemed like a good way to diversify herself and open up more opportunities rather than pidgeon-holing herself and making it more difficult to ever break away from something that either isn't working or that she didn't like anymore, not to mention just more fun for someone in her position.

I don't think Alizée had a strategy for Psychédélices. I think it's just what she said, she was trying to create her own album and just wanted to represent what she herself liked. Nothing wrong with that. But... it does reveal the apparent fact that she didn't have a strong sense of what she wanted to share with the world. There are bands that say, here's the music that was living inside us, like it or don't. That's all they have the ability to do. With Alizée, I think it was different. She was trying to assert herself in the world rather than continuing to always do what other people told her to do. So, she simply was trying to return to singing and wanted to be the one to create her own album. I really get the sense that she did what she did for herself without really knowing another way of doing it, though clearly there was thought at some point about how the world would take it. Since Alizée did not have a background of being the creator, but rather the performer, it didn't bother me that much to think that she'd simply dress up something that she chose from someone else. We loved it before, why not again? But maybe there are problems with that too.

And yeah, I didn't mean that Alizée has a problem about knowing who she is, but rather that she was iconic at one time, but then just became seen as the young woman formerly known as Alizée (if you take my meaning) and since Mademoiselle Juliette wasn't a big hit, there was little to point at and say, yeah, that's Alizée. Now that I think about it, it seemed like the strategy was to promote MJ as the image of Alizée and that they really tried to keep pushing that, hoping the attempt would eventually stick, but it didn't really. It may simply be that it was unable to overcome the enormity of her previous image. So much for strategies, eh?

And I'll just add that I think Psychédélices was a really cool album name. I can't imagine a better name for the album. If it had gone really big and a new image had solidified for Alizée, Psychédélices could have been iconic for the new age of Alizée. I guess it sort of is, but maybe we have too much whining and moaning about sales, shoes, dresses, dancing, bla bla bla, Alizée being out of circulation for well over a year to particularly notice or celebrate it. Maybe it's just all "longhand" for saying, hey, it could have been better and her whole comeback could have been better. It's just a shame that there was a lot of good stuff that we don't remember as much as how much we wished for the phenomenal success of our reluctant queen, if I may wax grandiloquent.

Oh and [sarcasm]<sarcasm> if Wikipedia says it's so, it must be so! [/sarcasm]
</sarcasm>

[lefty12357]

Good stuff, Roman. And I agree, Psychédélices is a great name.

I think when Alizée returned onto the scene with Psych, a lot of fans didn’t get what they expected. And yet I remember fans not being able to define what they really had expected. Therefore we got into endless discussions about somewhat trivial matters that really didn’t get to the heart of it. The fact is, I don’t think a lot of fans new what they expected, but they knew it wasn’t what they got (if that makes sense.) All Alizée could do was continue to do what was within her ability to do. I can’t imagine what she could have done to make everyone happy, but I think she might have been able to do some things that would have made it better. The expectations of fans were enormous, but not clearly defined.

Personally, I was very relieved that I liked Psych. I didn’t want to end up to be one of the disappointed fans. But all this has still taught me a lesson to appreciate what gifts are given to me. I am looking forward to Alizée’s new album with that frame of mind.

[Deepwaters]

I like the name Psychédélices, too, but at first it wasn't one of my favorite songs from the album. Actually I didn't much like it at all until I took the time to really understand the lyrics. Not easy for a non-native-francophone! I can understand French, sure, but those words are cryptic, not straightforward French that's easy to understand. At this point, though, having understood what the song is communicating, I find it magnificent. Magnificent poetry, anyway.

I felt that Alizée was a bit insecure in her comeback. Those early performances showed considerable hesitation, and she seemed to have a little difficulty dealing with things like the rumors about her and Mylène. She's stronger now, so between that and the greater focus, I'm confident the new album will do better. Although, again, I personally like Psych the best of the three she's done.

Wikipedia has of course been known to make mistakes, but there's no particular reason to doubt those sale figures. If you feel like doing some research to verify them, be my guest.

[edgar93]

ahem... actual news/rumour about the upcoming album:

http://www.i-actu.com/index.php?2009...-album-a-venir

French:

D'après des rumeurs insistantes, l'album disponible en janvier 2010 s’inspirera de la vie de l’actrice Edie Sedgwick… il contiendra une chanson en espagnol ( pour les fans mexicains de l'artiste ) et la même en français. En attendant, le teaser:

Translation by Cheeky:

As the constant rumors say, the disc is going to be relased on january 2010 and is going to be inspired by the life of the actress Edie Sedwick...

One of the songs in the disc is going to have two versions: one in french and another in spanish (for her méxican fans).

[Roman]

Not exactly news and there are things that are wrong or common forum believe has debunked (that is, don't believe everything said), but if you want my translation:

Alizée, "a child of the century", new album to come?
A bit of mystery for the next album from Alizée, and for the first single that should be released next November.

Since a few days ago, the site, Une Enfant du Siècle, has revealed a strange teaser.
It would seem that the singer, ex-muse of Mylène Farmer, has decided to work with the group Château Marmont or her next CD. After a second album which did not have the same success as the first, the young singer (though already a mother!) is going to present us with works of a style which should have more than one surprise.

According to persistant rumors, the album, available in January 2010, will be inspired by the life of the actrice Edie Sedgwick... it will contain a song in Spanish (for the Mexican fans of the artist) and the same in French. While waiting, the teaser:

By the way, again people, just in case, you better go watch the movie Factory Girl that came out a few years ago, about the life of Edie Sedgwick.