Gainsbourg was an artist who experimented with all styles of music. Through his career, he put together a great number of fantastic singles. But this album is his great masterpiece.There aren't any megahits. The most well known tracks: 'Ballade de Melody Nelson' and 'Ah, Melody' are first rate songs, but it's absolutely criminal to separate them from the rest of the album.Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, "Histoire de Melody Nelson" flows as one poignant tale of Melody Nelson. The music itself was far ahead of it's time; listen to these songs and then listen to Air and Beck. While the great orchestrations and melodies should be enough to sate the appetite of many non-francophone listeners, it is truly the lyrics that lift this album to timeless stature. Gainsborg was a poet to French song the way Dylan is to American song. This album is his finest hour, not to be missed by anyone interested in greatness in popular music.