Novice (album)

Novice is the seventh studio album by French rocker Alain Bashung, issued in 1989 on Barclay Records.

Production
The songwriting is split between Boris Bergman, marking is last collaboration with Bashung, and Jean Fauque who would go on to write his four subsequent albums. Bashung said about the album that it was a sequel of sort to his experiments on Play blessures. The album has a dark sound, and did not sell very well. One of the song, "By Proxy", is one of the very few original written entirely in English by Bashung.

The song "Alcaline" is a pun on French pop singer Christophe's song "Aline". In 2011, Christophe covered the song for the tribute album Tels Alain Bashung.

Reception
In a review that was featured in the compilation OpticalSound 3, one reviewer praised Novice as the only Bashung album other than Play blessures that they enjoyed all the way through. Academic Jean Frédéric Hennuy compared the lyrics of "Pyromanes" and "Légère éclaircie" with those of Nick Cave.

Musicians

 * Olivier Guindon - guitars
 * Vic Emerson - keyboards
 * Colin Newman - keyboards
 * Philippe Draï - drums
 * Dave Ball - keyboards
 * Jean-Marie Aerts - guitars
 * Blixa Bargeld - guitars
 * Phil Manzanera - guitars
 * Simon Rogers - guitars
 * Mick Parker - guitars

Production

 * Realisation: Nick Patrick
 * Mixing: Jean Trenchant and Nick Patrick
 * Remix 1992 (12-13): Djoum
 * Photographs: T.Rajic
 * Graphism: Antonietti, Pascault & Associés
 * Graphism: Huart/Cholley
 * Editions: 1,2,3,4,6,8,11 & 12 Polygram Music/Pitchi-Poï; 5,7,9 & 10 Polygram Music