THE DRAGON

The prior « Vangelis » albums left me pretty cold but they were released more than forty years ago, so?This "Dragon" effort is quite different though. The long title track has some "Bolero" flavours: hypnotic, repetitive, Oriental influenced. On top of this, the percussion work is quite good and the heavy groove is quite convincing as well.

In all, this is my favorite track from this artist so far (while in solo). Fine violin play as well is worth a mention. Quite good in every aspect: it is a fine surprise after all.

I wouldn't say that the other two tracks are on par with this excellent epic: "Stuffed Aubergine" is more on the symphonic jazzy way; it takes a long time to really kick off (if ever it does?). Some good acoustic guitar parts are highlighting this song during the second half which is another fine moment actually.

The culinary recipes seemed to inspire "Vangelis": the last "Stuffed Tomato" is alas not on par with the other two songs: it is some sort of a disparate folk song. It features some good acoustic guitar again (with a fine Greek flavour). After a long intro of the same treat, the song evolves towards some heavier notes which are more of my liking.

This album is quite decent and I rate it with three stars.