VANGELIS

Interesting debut album for Vangelis. I own this album not for a long-long time in my collection and I was looking for it for a long time. (I'm a real fan of Vangelis music). What can I say? I was expected to listen something very jazzy and hard to understand but..no! This album is something very common for the beginning of the 70's progressive music and a good one, reflecting in music his idea of repetitive musical theme, used in many other future albums he composed during his entire career such as Antarctica, Chariots of Fire and others. The music is soft, using pianos, drums and it's easy to listen (perhaps not giving the idea of sexual life and any other reflections about it) for a debut album and Vangelis did a good job.

Interesting compilation also if not perfect. In truth this compilation is good only for completionists or for who not know Vangelis (buy this compilation with RCA's "The Best Of" and "Themes").

Sure Vangelis is a Prog artist, the music is Prog. But not Rock. For this motive I think that this music is good more for a lover of Classic Music. In every case this compilation is good. Also if not superior to the media.

Said this, I think that "Odyssey" is only a compilation, another compilation... A modern compilation because with too much songs and some songs are not important for a "Best Of.../ Greatest Hits".

So, for this motive, my vote is only positive.

I saw the bad reviews of this compilation before I heard the CD and I thought it can't be really THAT bad, because there are quite unfavourable comments on another Vangelis compilation too, even if I like it a lot (Reprise 1990-1999). But then again, this is completely another case: here you get the most familiar old Vangelis tracks and some recent years' stuff. On either direction this is not very succesful. I was deeply disappointed with all the three tracks new to me: FIFA Anthem 2002, 'Celtic Dawn' and movement 1 from Mythodea. They are unpersonal and pretentious, something you'd expect from YANNI. Compared to the fine 90's output it seems that the strong era of Vangelis had come to an end years ago. Perhaps El Greco (1998) is his last great album.

The rest of the contents is just as boring and unsurprising Vangelis "greatest hits" potpourri as you could imagine. There isn't even the ear-pleasing flow (tracks segued together) familiar from Reprise, for example. It all reminds me of the cheapie cover albums of Vangelis music (recorded by synth musicians such as Ed Starink), sold at super markets. A shame to confess: I bought them twenty-odd years ago. Maybe these tracks wouldn't so strikingly jump up as the most worn-out ones if I had always been, as a listener of Vangelis, dependant on original albums only. But probably not, because Vangelis music has been used a lot as "elevator music").

There must have been NEW listeners in mind with this compilation. Those who might be faintly familiar with well-known tracks such as 'Hymn', 'Pulstar', L'Enfant'... and film music to e.g. Chariots of Fire, Blade Runner, Conquest of Paradise... Their knowledge of synth-made music is probably very narrow, and they would feel more unsafe with anything less accessible. Because clearly anyone already well into Vangelis finds this banal and totally unnecessary. Even the ending with two "bonus" tracks by Jon Anderson & Vangelis is a disgrace. 'State of Independence' should have been left to Donna Summer.

The first "New-Age" album ever?

Having just heard Vangelis' previous album, Beaubourg, hearing China is truly a relief for the ears. In sharp contrast to Beaubourg, China is harmonic and melodious (though not melodic). This might perhaps be called New-Age music and if so it must be one of the earliest examples of that genre (maybe the first such album ever?). It is thus not a Prog Rock album by any means, but it might perhaps be called "progressive" in some other sense?

Mixed in with Vangelis' electronic synthesisers, we have some "natural" instruments this time; the most prominent being violin but there are also grand piano and some flutes. Also, in line with the title of the album (and the inspiration behind it?), there are some Asian sounding instruments and harmonies. These are very pleasant to listen to, but the music never rises above mere background music, for me anyway. This is not to say that there are no things happening in the music, there is. But it is not interesting enough to warrant repeated listens; hearings maybe, but not listens.

While China is great when you compare it with the abomination of sound that was Beaubourg, it is hardly a great piece of work in its own right. I think it is fair to say that Vangelis' relation to Prog (if there ever was one!) was over by the time of this release in 1979.

Since I was generous when I gave a couple of his earlier album Heaven And Hell and Spiral three stars (each!), and Beaubourg I "generously" gave one star (wishing I could give it zero stars!), I will be similarly generous here in giving China two stars.

For Prog fans who are newcomers to Vangelis, I would recommend to start with Heaven And Hell and Spiral which are his best albums. Albedo 0.39 has some weak parts but it too is preferable over China.

Hearing this "music" makes me wish there was a zero star rating!

With all my respect to those who like this peculiar release by Vangelis, I must admit that I'm having a hard time even taking this seriously as a piece of music, progressive or otherwise. For the first time I have now been sitting trough the whole album in order to produce this review and I can honestly tell you that this is something I will never do again. And I would advise anyone against it! Before I start I should say that I really hope that no one finds my views offensive. That is certainly not my intention, anyway. Also, I should say that I have respect for Vangelis and I do enjoy some of his other works.

I will try to be as respectful as I can regarding this album and start by saying that it is radically different from Vangelis earlier (and later) works. I have not heard all of his albums, (indeed, far from it), but to my knowledge he never did anything like this before or since. The sounds all come from synthesisers, which is not so unusual given the artist involved. But there appear to be no rhythms and also no melodies; indeed no kind of structure whatsoever! The sounds appear to be almost totally random. Some cheesy Pop music can make me cringe, but at least I understand the artist's musical purpose behind it. Not so with Beaubourg. I therefore hesitate to even call this music at all, as opposed to mere sound experiments. And needless to say, this is highly experimental stuff.

It does appear as if Vangelis improvised the entire thing with no attempt whatsoever to actually compose anything; just trying out different electronic sounds, some of which are quite painful to the ears! If you have detected a hidden structure and revealed the underlying beauty of Beaubourg I must say lucky for you. Enjoy! But to the rest, I must issue a strong warning: this is the most pointless synthesiser meanderings I have ever encountered and it is also one of the worst overall audio-experiences that I have ever had. Well, coming from a CD, anyway. As opposed to a piece of chalk on a blackboard, for example!

Rating this with one star actually feels like an insult to most of the other albums that I have given that rating. This makes me wish there had been a zero star rating!

Avoid, by all means!

The question is, is there a big possibility that soundtracks are bought by people who haven't seen the movie, or even don't know about it at all ? I don't think so at all. Then we have to assume that majority of these people will buy soundtrack BECAUSE they love/like/ consider the film (a good one). So we can continue to connected topic - music and film are in soundtrack work together. Be sure I wouldn't enjoy Diablo II. soundtrack (can recommend very much) a lot, if I'll never be to play the game. But I did, for hundreds of hours.

And I saw Blade Runner few times, from various reasons (be it that I'm sci-fi fan, like dystopic future and everything by Philip K. Dick [except Valis, because Valis is just weird. I mean too weird, even more crazy than A Scanner Darkly], so we have a triple here - book>film>music. And all three are influencing each other. Or we should take them separately ? I don't think so. And for sure I don't want to), for example these that I stated in brackets. So big deal here is so called atmosphere. Music perfectly fits and accompanies images. Of course, this is review of MUSIC, but can we deny this influencing of each other (type of media) ? I gave 3-something stars to Flash Gordon. And I intend to give this album more. Personally, I like it far more than his other ones, because of these sounds made it to big silver screen, they are real and so they have depth. Bigger depth.

4(-) for exceptional electronic atmosphere album. Maybe more like 3-stars, but you know.

I'm a little surprised at the low score for this 1979 Vangelis album...not to be confused with 'La Fête Sauvage', his 1976 soundtrack for yet another nature film by Frédéric Roussif. This one may not have been as widely available as his premier studio albums of the era (and was likely overshadowed by the release of the more muscular 'China' that same year). And it deliberately lacks the bombastic synthesizer chords and melodramatic drum fills of his most popular albums ('Albedo 0.39', 'Spiral').

But this was Vangelis at his mid-1970s creative peak, when the Greek synth-rock wizard perfected the unique sound that set him apart from other keyboard superstars of the '70s. The album presents a more gentle but no less passionate variation of the same musical vision, highlighting the proto-New Age romanticism he almost could have patented: a combination of lush symphonic synth-strings and jazzy Fender Rhodes electric piano, sprinkled with exotic percussion.

Vangelis always had a knack for thematic hooks, and this album (even more than some of his others) is filled to capacity with melodies so simple and yet so haunting they can't help but sound familiar. Maybe for good reason: a lot of the music was used elsewhere, in television commercials and in the soundtracks of other, more widely seen films.

The evocative 'L'Enfant' was borrowed by director Peter Weir for his 1982 movie 'The Year of Living Dangerously'. The album opener 'Hymne' was featured in the Oscar© winning score of Hugh Hudson's 'Chariots of Fire' (the director had likewise wanted to use 'L'Enfant', in the now famous title sequence, until Vangelis introduced a new piece at the last moment. The rest, as they say, is history). And the atmospheric film-noir synth-harmonica in 'Reve' clearly anticipated his later, legendary soundtrack to Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'.

The album even reunited Vangelis with JON ANDERSON of YES, who plays some evocative harp on the dynamic album closer 'Flamants Roses'. At nearly twelve minutes it's one of the longer tracks here, and easily the most overtly proggy, offering another clue to what YES might have sounded like if Vangelis had agreed to replace RICK WAKEMAN.

Vangelis has released a lot of music in his ongoing career. But 'Opera Sauvage' certainly earns a top spot on the short list of his overlooked gems.

They don't make 'em like this anymore (thankfully, a cynic might say): textbook 1970s synth- rock from the Golden Age of analog Prog, composed and performed by one of the foremost keyboard wizards of the age. Never mind the casual thematic links to the afterlife suggested by the album title and artwork (in truth it could have been named anything else and worked just as well). Enjoy instead the music in all its grandiose, overblown, and altogether irresistible glory.

Keyboard-based epics were of course not uncommon in the middle 1970s. But here the expected classical trappings run deeper than usual. Besides employing a more or less typical pre-digital wall of towering electronics, Vangelis upped the symphonic ante by adding lots of orchestral percussion (playing all the drums himself, and competently too), plus a full choir, giving each of the two long suites a dramatic intensity worthy at times of Carl Orff (imagine the 'Carmina Burana', with synthesizers).

It's true the album may sound more than a little naïve by 21st century standards of electronic music. But that distinctive Vangelis style was something new at the time, and fairly unique among his many competitors (more about that below). It gave the Greek keyboard maestro his earliest international success, thanks in part to a later association with the popular PBS TV series 'Cosmos', and also to the ballad 'So Long Ago, So Clear', his first collaboration with kindred spirit JON ANDERSON.

The song ends Part One of the album on a note of truly celestial beauty, in a manner apparently cut from the same romantic cloth as the Anderson melody 'Soon', from the current YES album 'Relayer'. It also provided a tantalizing hint to YES fans of what the band might have sounded like if Vangelis had accepted the invitation to replace RICK WAKEMAN.

A moot point, to be sure. But ardent Progheads can't resist playing the 'what-if' game of hindsight speculation, and with that in mind 'Heaven and Hell' makes a fascinating contrast to the contemporaneous efforts of the two primary YES keyboard players. The album is nowhere near as bizarre and uneven as 'The Story of i' (the first and best PATRICK MORAZ solo work, released the following year). And its neo-classical arrangements have aged a lot better than anything RICK WAKEMAN was then playing: compare the harsh ambient intro to 'Heaven and Hell, Part Two' with the godawful classical rock of 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' (1974), a strictly guilty pleasure to even the most forgiving fan.

When heard in retrospect after more than thirty years, 'Heaven and Hell' is clearly a product of its era. But unlike a lot of once-fashionable but now dated synth-Prog artifacts it doesn't require a pair of nostalgic rose-colored headphones to make it listenable today.

This is what most people would call an experimental or avant-garde album. It really sounds as if Vangelis decided to have fun poking on a keyboard or having fun with his latest toy synthesizer. It really could be worse : maybe he was fed up with his record company and threw this album out just to satisfy a record deal. So, this is probably a bored Vangelis messing around with sounds. Just listen to other albums like Spiral or Albedo and you'll be shocked by the difference. I tried really hard to listen to this album, setting the volume higher but it never worked for me. This album is really for completionists and is to be avoided by all means for beginners if you don't want to be put off. His next album was a return to a more melodic album.

As for the music that Vangelis at this time had created, the idea at which he had to aim exactly might have been opened. Of course, it is said that there was a fact that actually rehearses with them man who has received the request from Yes. However, he might have understood the situation, directionality, and all the parts in music.

All elements as his music character are blocked enough in this album of man who debuted from RCA. Making good use of of composition and technology of idea and tune perfectly polished. These parts are important when talking about the content of this album.

Fact to which recording is processed operating all almost musical instruments. And, when the album is created, the flow that appoints English Chamber Choir might be related as a certain point. Or, the song of Jon Anderson is one of the very important parts in the point to compose the album.

Melody and rhythm that reaches the peak from part of grand chorus in "Heaven And Hell Part 1" at once with which tension overflows. It is likely to draw it in to music to which he created the listener exactly. High development of artistry that transcended frame of music. Coming in succession of the hymn and musical instruments presents development to which the forecast doesn't adhere. The composition of the tune processed almost perfectly will call impression.

Song of grand Jon Anderson in "So Long Ago,So Clear". And, the arrangement of a perfect tune of Vangelis might be along the flow of the concept of this album. It is possible to listen to the keyboard and the synthesizer that plays various sounds still freshly.

The processing of the organ of "Heaven And Hell Part 2" and the arrangement of the rhythm might be also splendid. As for an electronic part, elements of musical instruments that the aspect is waited for and he operates are completely reflected. Whether the music that he Vangelis had to understand everything very and to do was sent enough is understood. The chorus part also has already created one space. He splendidly completed a grand theme as a work.

The music that Vangelis at this time had created gradually revolutionized the music character at the same time as becoming one art and always announcing a high-quality work. It might be a field where only he can exactly do his various works. And, Vangelis at this time might have reached a climax. It is a work always popular among the listener.