| # | Artist | Song (click to play) | Album | Year | CD label |
| 1 | Honeyelk | Terres de sagesse (excerpt) | En Quete d'un Monde Meilleur | 1979 | Musea |
| Everyone seems to describe this band as Magma influenced Zeuhl. But, there is a symphonic element to the music that I think overshadows the Zeuhl elements. The vocalist sounds to be influenced by David Bowie and Peter Gabriel. The original album is an incredibly short 26 minutes. The Musea CD re-issue has added an additional 16 minutes of bonus material. | |||||
| 2 | Arachnoid | Toutes Ces Images | Arachnoid | 1978 | Musea |
| Very high calibre. Well crafted songs, with great dynamics. The vocals are sometimes of Ange-like intensity. Crisp fuzzed out guitar tears through the music. Interesting counterpoint between all of the musicians. This is a must have French prog album. | |||||
| 3 | Cyrille Verdeaux - Clearlight | Orage O Espoir | Visions | 1978 | Legend Music |
| This album is sometimes symphonic, fusion, and even space-rock that sounds remarkably like the Ozric Tentacles 10 years later! I have not heard the earlier Clearlight Symphony or Forever Blowing Bubbles records, but, my understanding is that they are very excellent. | |||||
| 4 | Shylock | Ile de Fievre | Ile de Fievre | 1979 | Musea |
| Shylock brings together the best elements of many of the great prog bands that came before. Just in the first song, your can hear elements of Tony Banks styled keyboards, Robert Fripp like guitar lines, and spiced up with bits of Gentle Giant. But, it is all wrapped up in their own original sound. Many people believe that Shylock were an influence on Anglagard. There are some clear stylistic similarities. | |||||