This cult album was no more available since years. Re-released with a new artwork and additional tracks.
In 1976, a self-released LP by Art Zoyd appeared in record stores. At the time, nobody knew Symphonie Pour le Jour où Brûleront les Cités (Symphony for the Day Cities Will Burn) would be the first of many albums from this strange chamber progressive rock outfit. All the ingredients of Art Zoyd's sound for its first decade are here: unusual acoustic instrumentation for a rock band (violin, cello, piano, and trumpet, plus guitar, bass, and percussion), dark and mysterious atmospheres recalling France's Magma and foretelling Univers Zero (formed by Art Zoyd percussionist Daniel Denis), and complex pieces owing as much to contemporary classical as to progressive rock. The lineup for this first offering included Patricia Dallio (piano), Alain Eckert (guitar, vocals), Gérard Hourbette (violin), Jean-Pierre Soarez (trumpet, percussion), and Thierry Zaboïtzeff (bass, cello, vocals).
The album is split in two.
First is Symphonie Pour le Jour où Brûleront les Cités in three parts, an apocalyptic work opening with mad laughter, a vision of the end of the world with percussion clashing, frenetic violin motifs, and the trumpet from Judgment Day. Part one, Brigades Spéciales, is the most striking moment of the album.
Then comes Deux Images de la Cité Imbécile (Two Pictures of the Stupid City), two movements leaning more toward some warped chamber rock conception of the burlesque, especially on Scènes de Carnaval.
