Les Marquises (English: The Marquesas) is Jacques Brel's fourteenth and final album. Also known as Brel, the album was released 17 November 1977 by Barclay (96 010). This was the singer's first album of new songs in ten years and was released a year before his death from lung cancer. The album's themes include death ("Jaurès", "Vieillir", "Jojo"), parting ("Orly") and in several songs Brel evokes his career in the 1960s ("Les F..", "Jojo", "Knokke-le-Zoute Tango", "Vieillir"). The album was recorded live in Studio B at the Barclay Studios on Avenue Hoche, Paris. With his health failing, Brel was only able to record at most two songs per day. Brel returned to the Marquesas Islands shortly after the recording sessions.
| Les Marquises | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio albumby | ||||
| Released | 17 November 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 5 September – 1 October 1977 Studio Hoche, Paris | |||
| Genre | Chanson | |||
| Length | 66 minutes | |||
| Label | Barclay/Universal | |||
| Jacques Brel chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
The album was treated with great secrecy before its release and was delivered to reviewers in a reinforced metal box with a timed, electronic padlock to stop them listening to it before its release date. No airplay of the album was allowed and no singles were released until after its release, and there were no interviews or promotion given by Brel regarding the album. Despite this, the album reached number one in France and earned Brel a gold record for selling 100,000 albums in 1978 and went platinum in 1981.
The album was reissued on 23 September 2003 under the title Les Marquises as part of the 16-CD box set Boîte à bonbonsbyBarclay (980 817–7).[2][3]
| Track | Title | Translation | Composer | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Jaurès" | Jaurès | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-24 |
| 2 | "La ville s’endormait" | The city was falling asleep | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-08 |
| 3 | "Vieillir" | Ageing | Jacques Brel, Gérard Jouannest | 1977-09-29 |
| 4 | "Le Bon Dieu" | The good Lord | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-23 |
| 5 | "Les F..." | The F... | Jacques Brel, Joe Donato | 1977-09-22 |
| 6 | "Orly" | Orly | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-05 |
| 7 | "Les Remparts de Varsovie" | The ramparts of Warsaw | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-23 |
| 8 | "Voir un ami pleurer" | Watching a friend crying | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-21 |
| 9 | "Knokke-le-Zoute Tango" | Knokke-le-Zoute Tango | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-27 |
| 10 | "Jojo" | Jojo | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-05 |
| 11 | "Le Lion" | The lion | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-24 |
| 12 | "Les Marquises" | The Marquesas | Jacques Brel | 1977-10-01 |
| 13 | "Sans exigences" | Without demands | Jacques Brel, François Rauber | 1977-09-24 |
| 14 | "Avec élégance" | With elegance | Jacques Brel, François Rauber | 1977-09-24 |
| 15 | "Mai 40" | May 40 | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-24 |
| 16 | "L'amour est mort" | Love is dead | Jacques Brel, Gérard Jouannest | 1977-09-24 |
| 17 | "La Cathédrale" | The cathedral | Jacques Brel | 1977-09-24[3] |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | — | 100,000[4] |
| France (SNEP)[6] | Platinum | 1,000,000[5] |
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