Magnifique!
T. Ivie | Bountiful, Utah USA | 01/20/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is the French version of "Chrysalis", Anggun's second album, though "Desirs" was released first. I was a little apprehensive at first about what this album would sound like after Anggun's first album "Snow On The Sahara/Au Nom De La Lune", which knocked me over with Anggun's originality, beauty and talent. I was very pleasantly surprised, but I also secretly expected this album to be good. The standout tracks are "Un Geste D'Amour" with its slow sensual beat and Anggun's magnificent voice diving and soaring throughout; "Une Femme" with its fun musical mix of rock and techno building into a whirl of energy; "Derriere La Porte" with its simple, bittersweet melody; "Tu Mens" with a driving, catchy, playful beat and lyrics, and "Tu Nages" a beautiful piece of music which has Anggun singing with only a piano as accompaniment. Two tracks which don't appear on "Chrysalis" are "Marcher Sur La Mer" and "Brume", which is so beautiful and peaceful. When compared to her singing on "Chrysalis", "Desirs Contraires" sounds more natural, as most of the lyrics were originally written in French. One major difference between "Snow/Au Nom" and "Chrysalis/Desirs" is that although the music is the same on each French/English version of each album, the lyrics translate much more directly on the first album. All in all, a very satisfactory follow up to an unforgettable debut."