"ELSEWHERE": Vangelis albums

It is impossible to review or comment on albums without giving an opinion. Although these descriptions attempt to be as "general" as possible, please bear in mind that all tastes are different and consider any opinion stated in the usual "IMHO" context.

Later albums

Opera Sauvage (1979) Another album with music for Frederic Rossif's documentary work. Opera Sauvage was a series on French television focussing on all things exotic such as foreign cultures as well as wild life. The series contained a lot of ethnic music, but almost all episodes included some or more new original music by Vangelis. Contrary to most other Vangelis' soundtrack releases, the album contains actual pieces from the series, not having been rerecorded. Although it was probably remixed in stereo for the album release, considering that most Rossif's work was produced with mono sound. The album contains some Vangelis classics: both "L'Enfant" and "Hymne" are favorites among fans as well as cover artists, no doubt because of their uplifting romantic melodies and rich synthesizer orchestrations. "Hymne" is probably Vangelis' most used track at wedding ceremonies and became famous in the States during the eighties when a rerecorded version was used in a TV commercial. This boosted the sales of "Opera Sauvage" as an album as well, being rereleased to cash in on the song's succes. In general he album has a consistent overall melodic quality. Being one of the early albums to feature Vangelis' landmark instrument, the Yamaha CS-80, the sound of this album seems to bridge Vangelis' "sound" of the 70s and that of the 80s. Jon Anderson is featured again, this time however not singing but playing the harp, on "Flamant Roses". 1 Hymne 2 Reve 3 L'Enfant 4 Mouettes 5 Chromatique 6 Irlande 7 Flamant Roses

China (1979) Vangelis portrays great flexibility here again, being able to combine Eastern influences with his own modern ideas and techniques. A very diverse album. Featuring old pall Michel Ripoche on the violin. A promotional video was made featuring a compilation of music from the album, with images of Vangelis in London and in his studio recording the music. 1 Chung Kuo 5:31 2 The Long March 2:01 3 The Dragon 4:13 4 The Plum Blossom 2:36 5 The Tao Of Love 2:44 6 The Little Fete 3:01 7 Yin & Yang 5:48 8 Himalaya 10:53 9 Summit 4:30 Most of the original LPs however had a different split between the first tracks, and when looking at the title of the "Long March" single that was released for the album in '79 it is easy to assume the CD has the timings wrong. The LP lists a time of 1:43 for Chung Kuo, refering to the opening effects and decending notes, and a time of 5:50 for "The Long March" refering to the recognizable slow sequence and moody melody, including the short piano variation, which is called "The Long March" on the CD. The 7" single was called "The Long March" and indeed did not feature the soundeffects. The piano part at the end however was cut off.

Beaubourg (1978) An work of expressionism, consisting almost exclusively of strange, unearthly sounds. Ring modulators, noise and weird LFO effects are unleashed in wide stereo spaces. The album is often referred to as being anti commercial, because of its non melodic - even consonant - nature. This caused speculation that perhaps Vangelis submitted these recordings as his final RCA album to get rid of his contract. Vangelis however spoke with great affection about this piece in several interviews and his engineer says Vangelis took it very seriously, while recording it. The "Beaubourg" is in fact a street in Paris and as such also refers to the "Centre Pompidou" building in Paris which functions as a center for innovative modern (mainly abstract) arts. This CD was printed in two variations of quality. The first German pressing was poorly mastered, with a strangly fluctuating pitch, something that was hard to pick up because of the nature of the album. The flaw was however corrected in later prints. Unfortunately the Windam Hill print in the States (1997) used the early master, hence is of bad quality. Search on for later European pressings if you like this kind of music. 1 Beaubourg Part 1 17:50 2 Beaubourg Part 2 20:43

Spiral (1977) One of the great classics, this album features separated tracks (with pauzes), amongst which are the memorable "To The Unknown Man", "Dervish D" and the title track "Spiral", probably being among the most famous of Vangelis' pieces... With revolutionary sounds, fast sequencing, great melodies, rich atmospheres and great performances, this album is recognizable and more accessible than its more raw predecessors. . Many of the tracks ended up being used by TV stations throughout the world, and are sometimes still being used today. Some European editions of the single of "To The Unknown Man" featured on its B-side a track called "To the Unknown Man part 2", which was not actually used on the album. The tital track Spiral contains spectacular arpeggiator effects, with Vangelis playing along in a rather orchestral style. Balad is slow and slightly melancholic, with the "Ding dong" singing being performed by Vangelis himself, processed electronicly to accomplish this peculiar sound. 1 Spiral 6:55 2 Ballad 8:27 3 Dervish D 5:21 4 To The Unknown Man 9:01 5 3+3 9:43

La Fete Sauvage (1976) This album was reportedly recorded only three months after "Heaven and Hell" in 1975. Vangelis had recorded quite a few scores for Frederic Rossif's films and series, so even though Vangelis had moved to London and build his elaborate studiot here, Rossif asked him to compose the music for his latest wild life film, released as feature length cinema production. The music includes a lot of African chanting and drumming, performed by a number of musicians who were invited by Vangelis to perform in his studio. The rest of the music is mostly quite calm, and presents a typical seventies sounds, especially the disco-like opening titles piece. This album was released on CD, but very hard to find in most countries. Beware: there was also a 1992 CD edition (on the CAM label) which divided the album in two tracks and featured the last half of "Ignacio" in stead of the first half of "La Fete Sauvage". A new release later on changed the order of the tracks but still got the Ignacio part wrong. CAM finally corrected their mistake with a 1992 rerelease, which would currently be the best choise to buy for sound quality. See for a table with all the earlier the CD versions the (June 16 1998 update) of the lastest news section on this site. As for tracks, the original LP was not given any track names or clear indexing, reflected on the CD versions as either 1 track for the entire album or 2 tracks, one for each LP side. 1 La Fete Sauvage 38:34

Albedo 0.39 (1976) One of Vangelis' most famous albums. Vangelis had become pretty famous in the UK at the time and was expected to be the future of progressive rock. It's jazz rock fusion meets early new age approach was very hip at the time, and although it may sound rather dated nowadays, it's still as much a surprising experience as one could expect from an album that became such a classic. Pulstar was released as a single in some European countries and appeared on many cover version compilations. Alpha might be even more famous, and was used as back ground music in all sorts of productions, perhaps most famously in Carl Sagan's Cosmos series. Director Costa Gravas created a short film showing the grand canyon around this piece. Other parts of the album had a more rough approach, including the energetic electronic fusion pieces call Nucleogenisis 1 and 2, which were intercut with some very orchestral sounding interludes. The captivating title track features a hypnotic voice reading astronomical data over cosmic background music. Vangelis' studio engineer Keith Spencer-Allen performed the reading thinking it was a try-out but Vangelis insisted on using his take. 1 Pulstar 5:45 2 Free Fall 2:20 3 Mare Tranquillitatis 1:45 4 Main Sequence 8:15 5 Sword Of Orion 2:05 6 Alpha 5:45 7 Nucleogenesis (Part One) 6:15 8 Nucleogenesis (Part Two) 5:50 9 Albedo 0.39 4:30

Ignacio / Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer (1975) Ignacio was originally released in 1975 as "Can you hear the dogs barking?" and "Entends-tu les chiens aboyer?". (Click here for an interesting LP sleeve design) A 1977 re-release introduced the name "Ignacio", after the main character in the film). This album represents the soundtrack to the Mexican film "No Oyes Ladrar Los Perros?" by French director Francois Reighenbach. Vangelis was sloppily credited as "Vangiles Papathalnassiou" in its titles. The film tells the story of a poor Mexican farmer from a small village who travels across the country with his son - the fatally ill Ignacio - hoping to find a doctor who can help. Intercut are the stories and fantasies the father tells Ignacio about his adulthood. A potential future, showing him as musician, leader of the village and as hopeful immigrant in a big city. The title refers to a traditional story, which says that a long time ago, dogs were smart and could talk. If something was stolen or woman had sinned, they always knew who did it and told the victims. But dogs misbehaved themselves and as punishment they lost their ability to speak. As usual with Vangelis soundtracks, not all of the music on the album is present in the film and a number of small passages in the film contain cues not released on the album. The film also contains some traditional music heard on location. The album consists of two recurring main themes, both rather sad but romantic. They are completemented by some very diverse passages, like a thundering (electronic) church organ, a very fast rock piece full of synthesizer solos and an abstract collage of unusual percussion. Some gentle piano playing and dreamy landscapes (typical for Vangelis) contrast the fast and darker pieces. Throughout its diversity it still manages to sound coherent. Released on CD, first by Barclay, later re-released several times on the CAM label. The first CAM editions however mistakenly contained the first half of "La Fete Sauvage" instead of the last half of "Igancio". CAM finally corrected this problem in their final rerelease in 2002. For a table describing the various CD versions and some more information about this, see the (June 16 1998 update) of the latest news section on this site. In most countries this album is rather hard to find. 1 Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer? 39:04

Heaven and Hell (1975) The first recording in Vangelis his "Nemo studio" in London. Some parts were actually recorded amongst the mess the constructionworkers had left to use again the following day. Vangelis created a revolutionary sound within the broad concept of the title. Many choirs (the English Chamber Choir conducted by Guy Protheroe) and many synths performing a very unpredictable "fusion meets classical" composition. It contains the very first collaboration with Jon Anderson: a song named "So long ago so Clear". The album soon became a big hit in the UK charts, making it the first commercial success of Vangelis' solo career. It is particularly well known in some countries for its appearances in the TV series "Cosmos". Two small trivia: there is a Dutch LP "De Mantel Der Liefde" which is the soundtrack to a film. This is in fact nothing else than "Heaven and Hell" since it served as stockmusic for that film. Furthermore the LP "Vangelis Radio Special" exists which contains part of the music with an interview. Furthermore, in Japan a version exists, that was remastered with "20bit" technology. This is supposed to be of better sound quality. 1 Heaven And Hell part 1 21:58 (Includes So Long Ago So Clear 4:58) 2 Heaven And Hell part 2 21:16 There are LP versions which feature the following tracklisting: A: Bacchanale Symphony To the Powers B 2nd movement 3rd movement So Long Ago, So Clear B: Intestinal Bat Needles & Bones 12 o'clock Aries A Way And then the Italian '82 "Remastered" re-issue of the LP: A: a) Riff Thing b) Heaven and Hell c) So Long Ago, So Clear B: a) Falcons b) Needles c) Friday Night d) J.F. e) Heavy - Aries - Heaven

L'Apocalypse Des Animaux (1973) Vangelis' first of many contributions to Frederic Rossif's wild-life series is also the oldest solo recording by Vangelis that was rereleased on CD. Having been recorded in 1972 or most likely even as early as 1971, the music preceded early solo albums like Earth, even though it was only made into an album for the first time in 1973. The music sounds exactly as it was used in the TV series, except here it has been mixed in stereo. The series contained a lot more music, most of it in the same quality as the pieces that were selected for this release. A wonderful combination of acoustic and early electronic instruments makes this album sound far ahead of its time. Acoustic and electric guitars, electric pianos, rotary effects and stretched electronic pads from modified organs and other electronic keyboards, it's all there. Vangelis experimented with anyhting he could get his hands on, thus creating dreamy landscapes that others could only produce years later when synthesizers started to become a common good. Perhaps the first "new age" sound ever? 1 Apocalypse Des Animaux - Generique 1:25 2 La Petite Fille De La Mer 5:53 3 Le Singe Bleu 7:30 4 La Mort Du Loup 3:00 5 L'ours Musicien 1:00 6 Creation Du Monde 9:51 7 La Mer Recommencee 5:55

Earth (1973) The "Earth" album contains a wide range of styles and feelings, as if Vangelis was trying to find his style and sound, to follow up the Aphrodite's Child successes with something more of his own. A number of progressive rock songs with experimental and fusion elements are mixed with Greek flavours, and melodies filled with romanticism, seemingly predicting the flair in Vangelis' later output. Contributing musicians include Anargyros Koulouris and Robert Fitoussi, while Warren Shapovitch provided a narration on two songs. Note that Fitoussi - with whome Vangelis worked on other occasions as well, some results released, others not - became famous in his own right as "F. R. David" in the eigties, singing the synth pop hit "Words Don't Come Easy". Note that Vangelis himself actually sang some background vocals for this album. In the eighties, a special edition of the Earth LP was released in Italy called "Superstar", which included a special booklet with Italian texts and photographs. "Earth" was for a long time out of print, not having been released on CD, resulting in a number of bootlegs circulating, especially in the French progressive rock scene. In 1996 the Greek department of Polygram finally released the work officially on CD (Vertigo 532 783-2), but only within the borders of Greece. This CD edition however sounds a bit strange, as if it came from a poor mastertape, since there are denoising artefacts, and additional reverbs were added to the recording. To compare, two tracks are available on a compilation CD called "Greek Pop Classics", in better sound quality and without the manipulations. In the late nineties, the Greek CD was also being sold in large quantities in Germany, but it has since dissappeared from the market, leaving Greece as the best place to look for this CD. A: Come on 2:09 We were all uprooted 6:48 Sunny earth 6:38 He-o 4:09 B: Ritual 2:45 Let it happen 4:20 The city 1:17 My face in the rain 4:19 Watch out 2:50 A song 3:32

Fais Que Ton Rêve Soit Plus Long Que La Nuit (1972) This extraordinary album ("May your dreams last longer than the night") handles the left winged student-riots in Paris, 1968. The music sounds like a collage of newsrecordings, soundrecordings, folk songs, pianothemes, and indeed: a few early synthesizers used in quit a progressive way for the era. Some lyrics were taken from inscriptions on the walls at the riots. The indication "Poeme Symphonique de Vangelis Papathanasiou" ("Poeme symphonique" is a general term for a musical work based on a non-musical concept) is sometimes mistaken for the title of a separate work in some discography's, which is not the case. A few years after the initial release with black cover a second issue was released with a peculiar orange and yellow cover, followed by a rerelease of the rerelease, with pink in its cover. Unfortunately there was never a CD version of this album. A: 15:32 "C'est une nuit verte Celle des barricades Nuit verte ou rouge ou bleue ou noire Qu'importe mon ami Cela importe mon ami L'espoir de la victoire" B: 15:25 "Le Rêve Est Réalité Jouissez sans entraves Vivez sans temps morts Baisez sans carottes" You can download a short soundclip, faisque.zip (MP3, zipped for server reasons, 300K), of "L'espoir de la Victoire".

The Dragon (1971) An LP consisting of material that was recorded during jam sessions in London's Marquee studio, in 1971. Charly Records claimed it owned the rights and released it in the late seventies / early eighties without Vangelis' permission, to cash in on his achieved successes. Vangelis went to court to have the albums taken off the shelves. He either won or the case was settled (history is vague on this since none of the directly involved parties ever spoke a lot about this in public). However, it seems that in reality no records were actually destroyed, instead they were simply sold off more cheaply. The music could be described as experimental fusion. The other performers where Arghiris, Michel Ripoche, Brian Odger and Mick Waller. There is no (legal) CD-release of this album. The cover is said to depict the elder God named "Cthulhu", who sprung from the imagination of famous horror author H.P. Lovecraft. Read producer Giorgio Gomelsky's memories on recording with Vangelis. A: 1 The Dragon 15:08 B: 1 Stuffed Aubergine 11:33 2 Stuffed Tomato 9:28

Hypothesis (1971) This LP, also with a different cover known as "Visions of the Future", was recorded in 1971 by Vangelis and some other musicians during a jam session in the London Marquee studios. It could be considered a close relative to "The Dragon", as it is was also ilegally released, and officially withdrawn after Vangelis undertook legal actions against Charly Records (see "The Dragon"). The "Hypothesis" album consists of improvisational instrumental music, with a strong experimental jazz/fusion touch. The other performers where Michel Ripoche (who later appeared on the "China" album), Brian Odger and Tony Oxley, with Rock pioneer Giorgio Gomelski producing. There also was a German double LP called "Portrait" which contained both Hypothesis combined with the Dragon. "Hypothesis" was never released on CD. Read producer Giorgio Gomelsky's memories on recording with Vangelis. A: Hypothesis part 1 12:21 B: Hypothesis part 2 16:15

Sex Power (1970) This soundtrack has, due to its extreme rarity, become a VERY expensive collectors item. There seem to be people out there who pay many hundreds of US dollars for it. It sounds rather "early", but not in the way of "Hypothesis" and "The Dragon". Some pianos, acoustic guitars and other instruments are used, but also a few electronic sounds appear every now and then. There are even backing vocals whose distinct sound and vibrato style reveal that only Demis Roussos can be the uncreditted singer. Little is known about the film itself. The director, Henry Chapier, is a famous French journalist. When he was once asked over the phone whether he knew where to find a copy of the film he said he didn't know, and wondered why anyone even cared. The film was featured at the "San Sebastian" film festival in Spain. There are track markings on the LP, but the only tracknames given indicate the both album sides. A single release however contained two cuts from the album with names. The A side was called "Djemilla" and can be found on the album's A side, after the first trackmarker. (the first track is about 30 seconds, the second track is "Djemilla". The B side of the single is called "Third Love" and can also be found on the A side of the album: the 5th track (after the fourth marker). This album was never released on CD. A: 1ere partie 17:00 B: 2ieme partie 17:27 You can download a short soundclip in MP3 format (37 sec, 183KB, stereo, 22KHz, zipped for server reasons) sexpower.zip.