''Bleu pétrole'' ''(Petrol blue)'' is the twelfth studio album by the French rocker

Alain Bashung Alain Bashung (, born Alain Claude Baschung; 1 December 1947 – 14 March 2009) was a French singer, songwriter and actor. Credited with reviving the French chanson in "a time of French musical turmoil", he is often regarded in his home country a ...

, released in March

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Barclay Records Barclay is a French record company and label founded by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Eddie Barclay was a bandleader, pianist, producer, and nightclub owner. With his wife, Nicole, who was the vocalist in his band, he started Barclay. The catalogue inc ...

. It was the last studio album released during his lifetime.

Production

Great expectations surrounded ''Bleu pétrole'' after '' L'Imprudence'', issued in 2002, and the live album '' La Tournée des grands espaces'', issued in 2004. Bashung took time to work on it, before deciding finally to not work with his lyricist

Jean Fauque Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

, choosing instead to work with

Gaëtan Roussel Gaëtan Roussel (; born 13 October 1972, Rodez) is a French singer-songwriter and composer. Roussel is the former lead vocalist for the bands, Louise Attaque and Tarmac. Roussel embarked on a solo career and began recording an album in 2009. H ...

Louise Attaque Louise Attaque () is a French chanson/folk rock band founded in 1994. Several of the group's albums were produced by Gordon Gano, lead singer of Violent Femmes, a band whom Louise Attaque often cites as an influence and for whom their own band is ...

and

Gérard Manset Gérard Manset (also known as Manset; born 21 August 1945 in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French singer-songwriter, painter, photographer and writer. He is best known for his musical work. Since 1972, the covers of his albums state his name ...

. After the more experimental works of the 2000s, Bashung decided to go back to a more traditional rock-sounding album, closer to his works of the 1990s. The album is dedicated to Mick Larie, a member of Bluegrass Long Distance, who died in July 2007, the

mandoline A mandoline used for slicing a carrot A mandoline (US, ) or mandolin (British, /ˌmandəˈlɪn/, /ˈmandəlɪn/, /ˈmandl̩ɪn/), is a culinary utensil used for slicing and for cutting juliennes; with suitable attachments, it can make crinkle- ...

player and friend of

Marcel Dadi Marcel Dadi (; 20 August 1951 – 17 July 1996) was a Tunisian-born Jewish French virtuoso guitarist known for his finger-picking style which faithfully recreated the instrumental styles of American guitarists such as Chet Atkins, Merle Travis an ...

and

Patrick Sébastien Patrick Boutot (born 14 November 1953 in Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze), better known as Patrick Sébastien, is a French television host, producer and media personality, radio host, singer, writer, producer, director, impressionist entertainer ...

. The first single from the album was "Résidents de la République" ("Residents of the Republic"). Bashung began touring to promote the album and sang "Comme un lego" ("Like a lego") by

as the opener of his concerts. On 7 July 2008, an expanded vinyl collector edition of 1,000 copies was issued. ''Bleu pétrole'' was Bashung's last studio album;, who died on 14 March 2009.

Reception

Critical reception

In 2010, the French edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine named this album the 46th greatest French rock album (out of 100). The French magazine ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock and roll, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though ...

'' called the album an "''immense chef-d'œuvre''" (a huge masterpiece).

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Alain Bashung - vocals *

- acoustic guitar,

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Wai ...

- electric guitar, banjo *

Arman Méliès Arman (November 17, 1928 – October 22, 2005) was a French-born American artist. Born Armand Fernandez in Nice, France, Arman was a painter who moved from using objects for the ink or paint traces they leave (''cachets'', ''allures d'objet'') to ...

- electric guitar, banjo *

Mark Plati Mark Plati is a New York–based musician, record producer, and songwriter, best known for his work in the 1990s with David Bowie. Plati also has worked with Spookey Ruben, The Cure, Duncan Sheik, Hooverphonic, Robbie Williams, Joe McIntyre, D ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, drum machine * Simon Edwards - bass guitar *

Shawn Pelton Shawn Pelton is an American drummer and percussionist. He has recorded with a wide range of artists and has been a first call player since moving to New York in the late 1980s. Shawn has recorded with artists such as Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, ...

- drums *

Martyn Barker Martyn Barker (born 14 September 1959, Merseyside, England) is an English drummer, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, best known as the drummer for Shriekback. He has also been a member of King Swamp, and worked with R ...

- drums, bongo * Tahar Boukhlifa - drums *

M. Ward Matthew Stephen Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 19 ...

- electric guitar, acoustic guitar * String section : **

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s - Marian Tache, Erik Sluys, Dick Uten, Bart Lemmens, Tatjana Scleck, Christophe Pochet, Cristina Constantinescu, Annelies Broeckhoven **

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

- François Grietje **

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

s - Hans Vandaele, Karel Steylaerts ** Strings direction - Mark Steylaerts

Production

* Jérôme Witz, element-s: cover art and graphisms * Ludovic Carême: photos

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleu petrole 2008 albums Barclay (record label) albums Alain Bashung albums albums produced by Mark Plati