En Concert (Mylène Farmer album)

En Concert
Live album by Mylène Farmer
Released 4 December 1989
Recorded October 20 and 21, 1989 in Brussels
Genre Pop, synthpop
Length 1:49:39
Label Polydor
Producer Laurent Boutonnat
Mylène Farmer chronology

Ainsi soit je...
(1988)		 En Concert
(1989)		 L'Autre...
(1991)
Singles from En concert
  1. "Allan"
    Released: December 1989
  2. "Plus grandir"
    Released: 12 May 1990

En Concert is the first live album by Mylène Farmer, released on 4 December 1989. It retraces her two first albums, Cendres de Lune and Ainsi soit je... and contains a cover, "Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes", originally sung by Marie Laforêt.

Background

From May, 1989, Farmer began a series of concerts through all France, which was successful. After these performances, a live album, mixed by Thierry Rogen, was eventually recorded on October 20 and 21, 1989 in Brussels. The photos, made by Marianne Rosenstiehl, illustrate the booklet with images from various shows of the singer on stage. The album was released on December 4, 1989. It was the last album edited by Bertrand Le Page for Mylène Farmer, because he was later dismissed.[1]

A video of the concert, released in May, 1990, was directed by Laurent Boutonnat who added to the concert some rather morbid sequences, such as satanic monks and cemeteries, giving thus to the video the look of a film. The editing was produced over a period of one year[2] and was criticized, because certain scenes were re-filmed without the audience.[3]

Two singles were released to promote En concert - what was rather rare at the time for a live album: "Allan" and "Plus grandir", which had a minor success, but were much aired in nightclubs. The album also contains the live version of a song which didn't appear then on Farmer's albums, "À quoi je sers...", and a cover version of Marie Laforêt's song, "Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [4]

En concert was generally well received in media. For example, The Mag stated that this album is "a beautiful technical and musical performance".[5] TV Hebdo considered that this album is "loan of emotion".[6] La Voix du Nord qualified it as "real present", containing "the most successful songs" of Farmer, with a "very class presentation" and a booklet of photos.[7] As for France Soir, it said that it is a very "beautiful object".[8] However, according to French journalist Caroline Bee, "the production, a little bit smooth, does not pass on completely the emotion and the strength which emanated from the blazing show".[9]

Chart performances

The album debuted at number 18 on 3 January 1990, on the French Album Chart. It was then number 15, then number nine, which was its pick position. It remained in the top ten for two months and in the top 20 for seven months. It fell off the top 40 after ten months.[10] and was certified Double gold album by the SNEP for over 200,000 units sold. On 18 March 2005, the album, then released in a digipack version, re-entered the chart for four weeks, peaking at number 106 (top 200).[11]

Singles

Year Title Date of release Physical sales
(France)		 Certification Peak position
FR BE (WA) FR BE (WA) SWI
1989 "Allan" December, 1989 80,000 — — 32 — —
1990 "Plus grandir" May 12, 1990 80,000 — — 35 — —

Formats

Audio

1 Does not contain "Déshabillez-moi" and "Mouvements de lune (Part I)"

Video

Track listings

CD / vinyl audio
CD 1
  1. "Prologue" (6:00)
  2. "L'Horloge" (4:30)
  3. "Plus grandir" (4:50)
  4. "Sans logique" (5:06)
  5. "Maman a tort" (6:20)
  6. "Déshabillez-moi" (3:45)
  7. "Puisque..." (8:15)
  8. "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" (8:58)
  9. "Allan" (6:50)
CD 2
  1. "À quoi je sers..." (5:05)
  2. "Sans contrefaçon" (6:10)
  3. "Jardin de Vienne" (5:30)
  4. "Tristana" (8:00)
  5. "Ainsi soit je..." (7:42)
  6. "Libertine" (12:00)
  7. "Mouvements de Lune" (Part 1) (4:22)
  8. "Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes" (4:12)
  9. "Mouvements de Lune" (Part 2) (5:00)
VHS
  1. "Prologue" (6:00)
  2. "L'Horloge" (4:30)
  3. "Sans logique" (5:00)
  4. "Maman a tort" (6:00)
  5. "Déshabillez-moi" (3:45)
  6. "Puisque..." (5:00)
  7. "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" (8:00)
  8. "À quoi je sers..." (5:00)
  9. "Sans contrefaçon" (6:00)
  10. "Jardin de Vienne" (5:30)
  11. "Tristana" (8:00)
  12. "Ainsi soit je..." (7:40)
  13. "Libertine" (12:00)
  14. "Je voudrais tant que tu comprennes" (4:00)
  15. "Mouvements de Lune" (5:00)

Does not contain "Plus grandir and "Allan" (they are added on Les Clips Vol. III).

Credits

  • Musicians:
    • Keyboards: Bruno Fontaine
    • Drums: Yves Sanna
    • Percussion: Philippe Drai
    • Guitars: Slim Pezin
    • Bass: Christian Podovan
    • Cello: Jean-Philippe Audin
  • Background vocals: Carole Fredericks, Beckie Bell
  • Sound: Thierry Rogen
  • Mixed by Thierry Rogen
  • Mastering and engraving: André Perriat / Top Master
  • Photos: Marianne Rosenstiehl / Sygma
  • Design: Jean-Paul Théodule

Certifications and sales

Country Certification Sales
France Double gold (CD/Vinyl/Cassette)[12]
Diamant (VHS)[13]		 600,000 (CD/Vinyl/Cassette)
100,000 (VHS)

Charts

Chart (1990) Peak
position
French SNEP Albums Chart[10] 9
Chart (2005)2 Peak
position
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart[14] 48
French SNEP Albums Chart[11] 106

2 Re-edition

References

  1. ↑ En concert Mylenefarmeriscalled.net (Retrieved April 1, 2008)
  2. ↑ L'Intégrale Mylene Farmer, Erwan Chuberre, 2007, City Ed., p. 116-117 (ISBN 978-2-35288-108-7)
  3. ↑ Le Dictionnaire des Chansons de Mylène Farmer, Benoît Cachin, 2006, Tournon Ed., p. 210
  4. ↑ Allmusic review
  5. ↑ Le Mag, 1989, "Mylène Farmer en concert", Eric Joffo Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 31, 2008)
  6. ↑ TV Hebdo, December 31, 1989, "La libertine sur scène" Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 30, 2008)
  7. ↑ La Voix du Nord, December 24, 1989, "Mylène Farmer : sorcière" Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 30, 2008)
  8. ↑ France Soir, December 23, 1989, "Mylène Farmer En concert" Devant-soi.com (Retrieved March 30, 2008)
  9. ↑ Mylène Farmer - La part d'ombre, Caroline Bee, Antoine Bioy & Benjamin Thiry, 2005, Archipel Ed., p. 362
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Albums trajectories on French SNEP Albums Chart Infodisc.fr (Retrieved April 1, 2008)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 En concert, 2005 version, French Albums Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 1, 2008)
  12. ↑ French certifications, by SNEP Chartsinfrance.net (Retrieved September 6, 2008)
  13. ↑ Mylène Farmer videography Mylenefarmeriscalled.net (Retrieved April 1, 2008)
  14. ↑ En concert, Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved April 1, 2008)