L' APOCALYPSE DES ANIMAUX (OST)

One of my favorite Vangelis albums. Side One of the original LP sounds somewhat like his later solo work (this is one of his first post-Aphrodite's Child releases), with some gently- flowing electric piano, and even some laid-back trumpet(!). Side Two consists of two long drone pieces which pre-date the whole "New Age" drone genre (think Brian Eno, Steve Roach and a host of other "Music From the Hearts of Space" artists) by more than ten years. These two pieces simply blow me away. I can't think of anyone before him who did anything like this, so I'd have to give him the award for starting the genre. Prog fans may be put off by the static nature of drone music, but I have a large collection of the stuff. I guess I appreciate the sounds themselves as much as the notes being played. Great music to "zone out".

Yep this has some definite new age tendancies but also has some startlingly good melodies especially La Petit Fille De La Mer.Most of it is acoustic.Vangelis didn't start using synths until 1975 so anything released pre Heaven and Hell is very different to that or subsequent albums.Not that interesting overall so probably not worth more than 2.5 stars but I'll be generous and round up.

I know about 15 Vangelis albums. L'Apocalypse des Animaux is the best CD of his work. When you listen it you are taken to mystery of the Universe. You can hear the Genesis of the Earth, mystery of life. You can sweam in the ocean and fly to the stars.The best of all is La single bleu.

The New Age didn't even exist when Vangelis recorded this record.

With very few resources, Vangelis delivers a really moving album. Mellancolic and suggestive. Really beautiful. A bit far from his trade mark synth sound from the 70's.

Nice to find that Vangelis' his great output has at last been spotted by progarchives.com! L'apocalypse is actually one of my all time favourite albums. The music is a bit different from what Vangelis made afterwards, and if you take a look at the front cover you have the music rendered in the image of the lonely bird soaring in the grey skies.This might be actually one of the first ambient albums, years before Eno came out with his Music for Airports.

The music is sad, poignant, melancholic and emotional. When Vangelis composed the best known track from here, La Petite Fille de la Mer, he cried. This track is truly a classic with its delicate melody and ambient atmosphere. Next is an almost 8-minute-long track with Vangelis playing the electric piano, and the real trumpet solo painting blues-tinged and melancholis soundscapes. Yet another great tune. La mort du Coup and L'ours musicien are sgorter tracks, wghich make me think of Goran Bregovic and Air respectively.

The flipside of the album contains music which sounds a lot like what Tangerine Dream would be making in a few years time. So Vangelis on L'apocalypse des Animaux is very innovative, with the sound far ahead of its time.

This album, although of only 35 minutes length, is a masterpiece and is a great addition not only to a progressive fan's discography. Great music for chillout and relaxation.

Despite the record is not very well recorded, it contains good songs. The overall moods are floating and melancholic, and the whole is very accessible. The trumpet on "Singe bleu" is quite relaxing. It is a smooth album that will probably generate emotions inside the listener. The tracks are relaxing, non linear and non monotonous. If one thinks about the origins of New Age, then this record should seriously be taken in consideration.

Rating: 3.5 stars

This is a very dark album. The cover art suits it well, and when listening, it becomes easy to contemplate the dysfucntional side of human existence. Sad and melancholy, particulary "La Petite Fille de la mer"

Why does everyone keep on using that dratted "New Age" term for music like this...

As far as I am concerned that goes for post date hippies meditating on the sence of a hard boiled egg...

This was a soundtrack to a fantastic documentary series by Fréderic Rossif... As a child I saw the whole series and the opening theme of the album has always haunted me. The whole side one is fantastic, especially "Le singe blue" with an ambiance you can hear on Miles Davis "Kind of blue"...

Side two is about the most picturesque music I've ever heard... This with "Opera Sauvage" and "China" AND "Beaubourg" is - where I am concerned - the very best Vangelis ever.

If you want to feel the depth of your own soul i will advice you to do some adjustments: I prefer this CD without the second track (La Petite Fille de la Me) Make your streo room quite for 29.28 min (after removing the 2nd track) then just press play and sit back. In other words this album is very unique with the ability of creating infinity space in the ears of the listener.

This is a great early soundtrack album from Vangelis and shows the composers abilities at creating diverse sounds without the banks of synthesizers that he would later acquire from Heaven and Hell onwards. In fact on the album you can hear just the Fender Rhodes electric piano, the Clavinet, a heavily disguised and treated Hammond organ and a wide variety of percussion instruments played by Vangelis. There are also some uncredited guest musicians on the album, including an acoustic guitarist (possibly Silver Koulouris of Aphrodites Child) on La Petite fille de la mer and La Mort du Loup, and some beautiful trumpet playing on Le Singe Bleu.

The album is the soundtrack to the wildlife series L'Apocalypse des Animaux produced by Frederic Rossif, and is the first of four collaborations between Rossif and Vangelis in this genre; the two would later work together on La Fete Sauvage, L'Opera Sauvage and Le Sauvage Bleu. The series, produced in 1970, was in six episodes each of which concentrated on different aspects of wildlife. For this soundtrack album, only three out of the six episodes are excerpted. The opening track is the title music to the program and features in its instrumentation; marimba, piano, organ, drum machine, percussion and very eerie sounding voices. Track two, La Petite fille de la mer is without a doubt the most well known composition on the album, and is also probably the albums highlight. This track comes from the final episode of the program, and is a beautiful track built around Vangelis' celestial sounding Fender Rhodes piano together with his heavily treated hammond organ, and acoustic guitar. The whole sound is strangely spacey and icy, yet delicate at the same time. A comparison can be made with Vangelis's later composition that was used as the title music for Carl Sagan's Cosmos program - from the Heaven and Hell album.

La Singe Bleu, coming from the first episode of the series, is probably the most simple piece on the album; a duo of Vangelis on Fender Rhodes again together with an unknown trumpet player. Again the music is delicate, and has a very still, static kind of atmosphere about it. On the LP, L'Ours Musicien comes next. This and the following track appear on the fifth episode of the program. This is a strange piece of music with a vaguely classical feel to it. Vangelis creates yet another unusual sound with his hammond organ, to the point that it could quite easilly be a stylophone. This is backed by yet more celestial fender rhodes. At just one minute in length, it is the shortest track on the album, and even appears to be cut short. La Mort du Loup is a very dark and unsettling piece, as its name suggests. A very simple Clavinet and acoustic guitar melody is backed by more hammond atmospherics.

Side two comprises just two lengthy tracks that would nowadays be described as ambient pieces. Both tracks come from the last episode of the series. Creation du Monde, with an echo-laden Clavinet lead and atmospheric background, gives the impression of a wide open space - this feeling of emptiness pervades the whole album. Likewise, La mer recommencee utilises the same sound tools, coupled with some strange scrapping percussion effects, creating a very unsettling atmosphere. The music on this album is very haunting. And as with many Vangelis soundtrack albums, the music works extremely well even without the support of the visuals. It is also unbelievable how Vangelis managed to create such a diverse collection of sounds with such limited equipment.

If the kind of Vangelis-music you like the most is the melodic material, then this is not really an album to go for. All the tracks contain melodic material, but these melodies are largely buried in the mix, apart from track two. However, if it is the atmospheric side of Vangelis that you like, then this is a interesting starting point. This, and Earth are probaly the best works of his early period, but Vangelis would soon however go on to bigger and better things. As for general prog-rock fans, this music would probably come across as slightly dull and uneventful. A better start would be his mid to late 1970s albums. This album should appeal to new age, ambient and general soundtrack music fans. A good, but non-essential album.

Some great melodic work from Vangelis. Side one comprises more sparse accoustically laden songs but even at such an early stage in his career it was evident firstly of the uniqueness this artist displayed but secondly that he was embarking on breaking new grounds in the New Age genre folds. By doing this he openly challenged boundaries and has done so even into the new millenium with works like Mythodea. L' Apocalypse des Animaux is a makeshift work but all the material is good quality even the minimalist ' Creation Du Monde' playing out towards the end of side 2. Two other great pieces are ' La Single Bleu' and La Petite Fille de la mer. Hints at new horizons. A very good album.

This is one of the weaker VANGELIS albums I've heard, though it has some fine moments. But then again, it's the shortest (34:34) and also the oldest album I've heard (if the dreadful Dragon preceding this one is not counted: my friend played parts of it in '91 to my torture). So in that sense maybe I shouldn't use the word weak but to point out that I get less from this than from other Vangelis albums. It's a soundtrack to a Frederic Rossif film of the same name, a film I know absolutely nothing about, sadly. It seems interesting in the light of its music!

The melancholic track called 'La Petite Fille de la Mer' is often included on Vangelis tribute compilations (by Ed Starink for example) and it's the most melodic one here. The next track, 'La Singe Bleu', is another highlight, beautifully melancholic and calm tune with a breathy, soft trumpet sound. Also 'La Mort du Loup' is OK. The rest is pretty boring stuff. Nearly 10-minute unprogressive soundscape 'Creation du Monde' sounds nice but frankly three minutes of it would be enough.

One could give some extra merit for the album's acoustic nature - which was to change with the seminal Heaven and Hell album in 1975 - and against its time when New Age kind of music wasn't actually born yet. For a fan of VANGELIS it is therefore an album of some importance, but these facts aside, the enjoyment listening to this album remains too little.

Vangelis comes into his own here. After the rock years of Aphrodite's Child and the diverse experimentations of his earlier solo albums comes this soundtrack. The heavily layered lush sound that appeared occasionally before is here in full swing, although the opening piece is very rhythmic. That first minute and a half, however, cedes to atmosphere and delicacy. The trumpet in Le Singe Bleu is an unusual touch but works very well. The second half of the set is one of my all-time favorite segues. Creation Du Monde is one of my favorite Vangelis pieces and goes along with Aegean Sea from 666 and Stuffed Aubergine from The Dragon. This piece, though, is highly ambient. There is not much melody to speak of but there are many sound dimensions. Creation Du Monde suites its subject matter: it is majestic, slow, thematic and dramatic. Deep rich tones start off and permutate through variations while slow crescendos arise, each like its own sunrise. Dark and mystical, this one has proven to be a perennial favorite piece of Vangelis fans. La Mer Recommencee follows. It took me years to realize that there is a normal gap between the two pieces, that's how well they follow one another. That also says something about the impact of Creation Du Monde. La Mer Recommencee is also atmospheric but it builds to a sort of crescendo that is highlighted by the tolling of bells. The tone here is brighter than that of its predecessor and that helps to finish the album on a reflective and hopeful note. My only complaint is that this album is too short at a mere 34 minutes; Creation Du Monde at near ten minutes is also too short and I could use another 34 of this one alone. Besides the magnificence of Creation this is a fine album and every Vangelis fan I know has made it one of their favorites, including myself. Though it is still early in his career, Vangelis has reached a level of maturity with his music that was not apparent in any of his workd from before. His sound has varied greatly over the years, but L'Apocalypse des Animaux sets a tone and pattern for much that is to come. Essential Vangelis.

It might be worth seeing the documentary with the music, which I didn't. When I listened to the audio only, I have to say that most of it is not captivating (to say the least).

Extremely tranquil and peaceful moments, yes. But this is a bit short in my opinion. I really had to wait the long track from this album "La Mer Recommence" which clocks at just over ten minutes to be moved somehow.

Before this one, a track as "Le Singe Bleu" displays a repetitive and melancholic jazz atmosphere and features some sweet trumpets. But it sounds quite sad and uniform after all. No track is frankly poor, but where are the highlights? As I have said, only "La Mer?".

It is some sort of a spacey odyssey, quite relaxing as the parts of this work but more harmonious, elegant and peaceful. Such an album is quite alright when you are looking for some meditation, peace of mind. It definitely plays its role.

On a global scale, I would say that "L'Apocalypse des Animaux" is an average album (five out of ten) but I'll upgrade to three stars. But be ready for an extreme quite affair.

"L'Apocalypse des Aminaux" was one of Vangelis's early recordings. It isn't very well known. It was actually recorded in Paris in 1970 as a score for a documentary series about the animal kingdom and finally released as an album in 1973.

Vangelis was at his most prolific at this time and felt free to experiment with the lastest technology. There's an old fashioned european feel to it at the beginning, especially with the gentle, melodic "La Petite fille de la Mer". The background has some floating, ambient keyboards ."Le Single Bleu" is very relaxing, especially when the trumpet kicks in. "Creation Du Monde" is a soundscape that must mark the start of new age music. As far as I'm aware the sound here was the first of it's kind in the early 70's. It was very ahead of it's time. The 10 minute piece is not for everyone perhaps but it's capable of setting moods to take you out of your physical world, and into another dimension.

An ingenious, enchanting album. Very suitable to play on gloomy, peaceful afternoons. It's worth at least 4 stars for sure.

The short opener and title track of this album is probably the first of the many Vangelis tarcks to be used by TV in my country. In this case for a daily news. Effectively this album is made of short soundtracks for documentaries about nature and wildlife created by the French director Frederic Rossif. This is also the reason of the French title.

"La Mort Du Loup" (The Death of the Wolf) and "La Petit Fille De La Mer" (The little daughter of the sea) are slow, athmospheric and sad. The glockenspiel sound of the keyboard will become one of the typical sounds used by Vangelis for this kind of evocative music. A famous one is on "Chariots of Fire".

"L'Ours Musicien" (The musician bear) is grotesque. The drums remind to a circus while the melody is bluesy.

On "La Single Bleu" the trumpet sound is the same used for Blade Runner Blues, that's probably the best track of that celebrated soundtrack. This one is less dark, but I can't avoid thinking to Harrison Ford under the rain when I listen to it.

The longest track of this album "Creation du Monde" (creation of the world) is probably the first example of the kind of compositions for which he's most known. No rhythm, square waves and very slow melody. Who like the floydian period of Tangerine Dream would surely love this track.

"La Mer Recommencee" (the sea's rebirth) is on the same line, even more spacey of the previous.

As the previous The Dragon and Hypothesys this album is very short. The reason is mainly technical. In the vinyl age shorter albums were meaning in general higher sound quality.

This album represents the birth of the evocative and less experimental side of Vangelis. It can easily appear in any prog collection.

An extremely early Vangelis solo album - it was actually recorded in 1970 for a wildlife documentary on French television - L'Apocalypse shows Vangelis's talents already fantastically developed. A spacey album which at point drifts into proto-ambient territories, dominated by keys but with several other instruments in the mix as well, if I had to point to any connecting factor between the tracks it'd be the delicacy with which every instrument is played, from the fragile, glassy tones of the keys to the quiet and gentle guitar lines. This, I suspect, is deliberate on the part of Vangelis; I've not seen the documentary in question, but the title suggests an ecological theme focusing on the plight of endangered species, so a soundtrack emphasising the fragile balance of nature would be entirely thematically appropriate.

Not an absolutely indispensable effort from Vangelis, but certainly an important early work from the man, and it's good enough to make me want to see the TV series it comes from - if the wildlife footage is anywhere near as good as the music it'd be quite a show.

Even though this album, which is officially Vangelis' 2nd album after leaving Aphrodite's Child, was released in 1973, the same year as "Earth", the music was actually recorded in 1970, the same year that he recorded the music for "Sex Power" (another soundtrack), "Hypothesis" and "The Dragon" (the latter two released without his approval and later withdrawn). During this time, Vangelis was in an experimental mode, searching for his signature sound by trying out different technology and playing around with musical styles. All of the above mentioned albums (except for "Earth") were recorded while he was still a part of Aphrodite's Child, meaning that he was quite prolific at the time.

As far as "L'Apocalypse des animaux", the music for this album was specifically written as another soundtrack, this time for a French TV series, a documentary about animals. There was quite a bit of music written for this series, much of which does not appear on the album, but is still in the documentary. Usually, when Vangelis writes music for a soundtrack, he does it after watching the film and composing for it. This time, however, he simply wrote music based on the fact that it was an animal documentary and then left it up to the showrunners to use what they needed.

The album consists of 7 tracks with the shortest being just over a minute and the longest at over 10 minutes. The overall album is quite short at about 33 minutes, so there was obviously more room to include more of the music he composed. Why this was left off is anyone's guess.

The first side of the album concentrates on simple melodic music, lovely, expansive and indicative of the style that Vangelis would become famous for. Starting with a short, upbeat track that has a nice tropical feel, the listener's attention is grabbed right away. The short track is named after the TV series. After this, "La Petite Fille de la Mer" (The LIttle Girl of the Sea - 5:54) is a delicate and beautiful waltz-like melody, reminding one of the music from "Chariots of Fire". It's airy and light with soft layers flowing around the melody played by the treated electric piano. "Le Singe bleu" (The Blue Monkey - 7:39) sees the light keys with a slow vibrato added but soon a very realistic trumpet effect takes the melody which is surprisingly pensive for a track representing a monkey. I'm thinking it's indicative of a sad monkey, not a monkey of the color blue, which would fit the bluesy feel of the music. On my edition, the next track is the short "L'Ours musician" (The Musician Bear - 1:03) which is a short, playful and lumbering track accented with loping drums and effects. On my edition, strangely enough, is the track "Mort du Loop" (The Death of the Wolf - 3:03), which all other track lists show these two tracks in reversed order from my album. This track has a nice piano and acoustic guitar effect, very spacious and lovely, similar to a European ballad.

While the first side of the album centered more on melody, the 2nd side concentrates on atmosphere and ambient style. "Creation du monde" (Creation of the World - ?) is the longest track on the album. However, the exact length is up for question as different sources show different timings. The album jacket claims it is 11:25, while the label says it is 17:45 (which this is an obvious misprint), Wikipedia says it is 10:03, and Discogs says it is 9:51. Either way, the timing on this one allows it to ebb and flow, being experimental and atmospheric with a lot of spacial feel. There is definitely no melody to worry about here or on the next track "La Mer Recommencee" (The Sea Again - 5:30). Continuing with ambience and atmosphere, there is also a clanging effect that randomly sounds out. Rolling drums and cymbals symbolize the waves and percussive noises will remind you of chattering seagulls.

This album was the impetus for Jon Anderson to contact Vangelis which led to a meeting of the two, and the beginning of the eventually resulting Jon & Vangelis albums. It definitely foreshadows the style Vangelis became famous for, thus making it a worthwhile album for almost anyone, though it's not his best, it's still very nice and relaxing and you don't need to see the visuals that go along with the music to enjoy it. The songs stand alone quite well. While the previous album "Earth" centered more on a popular, song-oriented style, this one works more for atmosphere, and it is a much better album because of that.