CHARIOTS OF FIRE

I have never been a big fan of Vangelis nor of electronic music in general, nor have I seen the film for which the present album is the soundtrack. But who can possibly have missed the famous title song? Even if this album was released in the same year as I was born, I have certainly heard the title song many times (even if I don't remember where and when, but I think it was used as a theme tune to some nature program on TV). The album as a whole ranks somewhere in the middle between Vangelis' best and worst works.

While Electronic Prog lies far outside of my area of expertise, I cannot say with some confidence whether this will be appreciated by fans of that genre, but it certainly doesn't have anything at all to do with Prog if we by that term understand progressive Rock. There is nothing here that might be called Rock in any sense. Rather, it lies somewhere in the middle of New-Age and Classical. As such it is soothing, relaxing and occasionally a bit dull even if pleasant at times.

To my ears, there is little that distinguishes the different tracks from the others. Two tracks stand out, however, the aforementioned Titles and Vangelis' own version of the hymn Jerusalem (that contains the words 'Chariots of fire'). This version is considerably less dramatic and bombastic than Emerson Lake & Palmer's version of the same that opens their excellent Brian Salad Surgery album.

The last piece is a 20 minute "epic" that revisits some themes from earlier songs of the album. Again, I find this pleasant, but not very exciting in the end.

I recommend this album to people with a special interest in the man and his music.