PRIVATE COLLECTION

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When you get this CD, please skip your CD player five times until you reach track 6 "Horizon"! The track title sounds familiar to you hah? I guess so, if you are familiar with seventies prog. Nope, it won't continue with "Supper's Ready" as this is neither Genesis nor an exploration of Steve Hackett's acoustic guitar work that precedes Supper's Ready in Genesis "Foxtrot" album. Yes, it's totally different game even though the title is the same. And after you got number 6 displayed at your player's LCD please turns off all lights in your room, take a deep breathe, sit back and relax . enjoy everything comes out from your speaker system, have an open mind ... what do you get? Yeah man! It's a stream of powerful music that might have taken you to a journey to the other world, the world of paradise and peacefulness .

In amongst the rings of confusion Silencing the thought powers one by one It seems all so incredible Our own ability to confuse - to sacrifice To enlighten like a Shakespearian play We foolish and happily hold on to sanity While all around the pushing And prodding of our feelings The twisting and turning of our hearts Displaying an almost indefinable strength Of purpose - a reason a reason a reason Where no reasons seems to exist

Oh .. what a powerful combination of lyrics and music that is so relaxing . And I like when the lyrical verse continued with Jon's unique voice: Yet, as in a vision, a voice transcending All our imagination, jewel of life Guiding light heralding a joyous new dawn. Clear and gifted time ... The music flows beautifully with synthesizer sounds in relatively slow tempo style. Peace will Come Peace will Come Peace will Come Will Come .

Even though Horizon itself is worth your money to own this album, other tracks are also excellent, like radio hit "Deborah" (it's suitable for those who are falling in love . "I read your letter .." cihuy ..!!!). All tracks featured here are nice songs including "He Is Sailing", "And When The Night Comes", "Italian Song" and "Polonaise". The music is SO RELAXING, SO REWARDING, SO PEACEFUL .what else???? You name it. It has everything BUT guitar riffs.....(this is time to take break from prog met man!)

What can I say? It's a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED album. Don't expect something complex, it's a peaceful music that no one should tolerate himself / herself for missing this album. Get out and buy the CD! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace will come! - GW

Jon & Vangelis together form a perfect accessible pop New Age with progressive elements. The keyboards here sound a bit more modern, echoed, crystal clear and flamboyant than on the "Friends of Mr. Cairo" and "Short Stories" albums. Jon Anderson has an excellent & extremely echoed voice. There is Vangelis' usual & omnipresent electric sounding piano. The epic track "Horizons" is very floating, symphonic & celestial, actually reminding me very much the "Chariots of fire" track, if we exclude the Anderson's vocals.

The other side contains 5 short tracks, still featuring Jon Anderson on lead vocals: "Italian Song" is absolutely majestic with a perfect combination of Anderson's magical voice and ethereal & floating keyboards. "And when the night comes down" is very accessible & cute, saying: "A woman needs her sex to feel alive". "Deborah" and "Polonaise" are ABSOLUTELY intense, catchy and beautiful! Those 4 tracks are quite romantic. The more repetitive final track "He is sailing" sounds like the ones on the "Short stories" album, and I would say it gives the pace for the sound & style of the Vangelis' "Direct" album! TONS of sentimental women should like at least this memorable side made of shorter tracks!

Rating: 4.5 stars

This comes very much in 2 parts.The first part is a collection of melodic songs with nice textures.Very pleasant and inofensive in a Carpenters sort of way.The best track is Horizon and the main reason for picking up this album.Its a beautifully crafted peice that develops nicely.That said its not earth shattering.Jon and Vangelis can only really be considered to be on the outer reaches of the genre.3 stars.

This is definitely an improvement on The Friends Of Mr. Cairo but still not as good as Short Stories. The production is indeed excellent and the sound quality superb. Vangelis certainly would be pleased with the prodiction. Just like a previous reviewer GW, ' Horizons' alone warrants anyone owning this album.Overall a very well balanced album with easy listening songs like ' Polonaise', ' He Is Sailing' supported by Vangelis keyboards at their finest makes for a very worthwhile album.

This album is better than "Short Stories", but still it is not my cup of "prog" tea. Ambitious "new age" ambient music which is pleasant to listen while doing something else... If you try to focus on the music, it fails to captivate... Still, ok for an average fan of the genre.

Undemanding

The third collaboration by Jon and Vangelis was released in 1983, some two years after "The friends of Mr. Cairo". While the first side of the LP might be described as largely predictable, the 23 minute piece on side two is something of a surprise.

The atmosphere is mainly relaxed through the five tracks on side one, "Italian song" and "And when the night comes" being reflective Anderson focused songs. The latter features Dick Morresey's sole contribution to this album (he was used much more on "Mr Cairo") in the form of some atmospheric sax. The line up description of his contribution as "wind" on this site seems a trifle unfortunate though!

Vangelis continues to play the role of orchestrator on "Deborah", a rather slushy open letter by Anderson to his eldest daughter (who would have been about 13 at the time). "Polonaise" has a hymnal quality, the song building in anthemic fashion, while always seeming rather restrained. "He is sailing", which closes the first side, is the only track with any real life. Anderson's multi- tracked chanted vocals are reminiscent of his "Olias" album, while Vangelis finally contributes a little more than mere atmospheres.

"Horizon", which occupies side two, is the opposite of the songs on side one in that here we have Vangelis supported by Jon Anderson. Jon still manages a significant vocal contribution, once more in the vein of his "Olias.." album, but Vangelis takes a much greater performing role here. The piece is pleasantly relaxed, something to sit back and enjoy rather than to get excited by. Indeed, I have to say that each time I listen to this side, and the album as a whole, I find my attention wandering!

In all, this is a well performed but ultimately undemanding album, which offers a good listen but fails to leave any lasting impression.

Long, airy, forgettable, and so '80's new-age as to sound painfully dated, this one is absolutely for fans of either of these musicians only, who will proabbly find a lot to like in the slow delicate, textures of Vangelis' keyboard and Anderson's (sadly) unremarkable and sombre vocals.

Long. Airy. Forgettable.

Jon Anderson and Vangelis are each a couple of very respected musicians. One a talented composer and player of the keys, the other a talented writer and voice of one of the highest regarded progressive bands since the genre's creation. What could possibly go wrong when they decide to get together? Especially when there's a 20+ minute long track on the listing.

Well, something, apperently.

Private Collection is something that should have stayed just that - Private. Hidden away. Throughout the entire album (especially the first side) the songs just go on and on without any apparent motivation or desire to pick up. Yes, that is the point. Light airy music was the point of this album, but it really just feels like the artists decided to sit down and record a bunch of themselves doing... not much.

Opening with Italian Song Jon starts to muse away while Vangelis starts to fill the background with some... sounds. As the opening song suggests there's not going to be any flashy solos here, nor will there be any soaring vocal parts. Really, the music just starts to sound the same after a while and it becomes a real chore to just keep listening. 80s new wave synths and Jon's lackluster voice start to make 90125 seem like a magnificent output. When The Night Comes has some cheesy, almost laughable lyrics which have the excellent ability to state the obvious. The rest of side one doesn't have much else to comment on.

Moving onto side two the album seems like it should have some promise being that it's filled by the side long Horizon. Unfortunately this song seems like it's just a copy of the first side - Vangelis's airy synths fill the gaps which Anderson's voice don't help to make the thing better at all. There's a few good parts, mostly where the song's mood, tone and pace actually *gasp* pick up for a rare moment!

If you're looking for just this kind of music (airy, zoned out New Age music that demands nothing from the listener) then you're in good hands, because what performances are there are done well. Unfortunately for most of us prog fans (especially those who like Yes a lot for their music and not just vocals) this is one to avoid. Not even a side long track can really do much to save this one. Mostly a chore to listen to when there's so much more engaging music to be found. 1 star.