Harmonium – L'heptade

L'Heptade is the final studio album released by Harmonium. One of the most ambitious albums in Quebecois history – apparently the most costly to record to that point in time, it follows a person through seven levels of consciousness during a single day, as reflected in the seven songs composed by founding members Serge Fiori and Michel Normandeau (the three Neil Chotem instrumentals, "Prologue," "Sommeil sans rêves" and "Épilogue," apparently don't count). Interestingly, Normandeau quit the band at the beginning of the recording session, so only plays on one song.

L'Heptade helped garner the band a spot among the pantheon of prog rockers and a spot opening for Supertramp in Europe. It has met with public and critical acclaim:

• selling over 400,000 copies
• ranking twenty-third in CBC Radio's list of the 100 Greatest Canadian Albums and forty-ninth in Bob Mersereau's The Top 100 Canadian Albums
• placing in Éric Trudel's 101 disques qui ont marqué le Québec
• rating four stars from AllMusic.

For its fortieth anniversary, the album was remastered and remixed by Serge Fiori and Louis Valois and released as L'Heptade XL.

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Track Listing

1. "Prologue" (Noel Chotem) – 4:20
2. "Comme un fou" (Serge Fiori, Michel Normandeau) – 7:50
3. "Sommeil sans rêves" (Noel Chotem) – 1:25
4. "Chanson noire" – 8:12
   • "Le Bien, le Mal" (Serge Fiori)
   • "Pour une blanche cérémonie" (Serge Fiori, Michel Normandeau)
5. "Le Premier Ciel" - 11:21
   • "L'Appel" (Noel Chotem)
   • "Le Premier Ciel" (Serge Fiori, Michel Normandeau)
   • "Sur une corde raide" (Noel Chotem)
6. "L'Exil" (Serge Fiori) – 12:54
7. "Le Corridor" - 8:10
   • "Le Corridor" (Serge Fiori, Michel Normandeau) - 6:33
   • "Les Premières Lumières" (Noel Chotem) - 1:37
8. "Lumières de vie" – 14:11
   • "Lumières de nuit" (Serge Fiori, Michel Normandeau)
   • "Éclipse" (Neil Chotem)
   • "Lumière de jour" (Serge Locat)
   • "Lumière de vie" (Serge Fiori, Serge Locat, Louis Valois)
9. "Comme un sage" – 14:03
   • "Prélude d'amour" (Neil Chotem)
   • "Comme un sage" (Serge Fiori)
10. "Épilogue" (Neil Chotem) – 2:52

Personnel

• Harmonium – Harmonium (album)
• Harmonium – Pour un instant (song)
• Harmonium – Harmonium (song)