THE DRAGON

Alongside its companion piece Hypothesis, The Dragon is one of the most controversial releases in Vangelis's discography. Of course it doesn't speak in their favour that both these albums were released nearly a decade after being recorded without authorization and against the wishes of the artist who subsequently disowned them, and the fact that they bear little resemblance to most of Vangelis's output presumably doesn't help for most people either. This album, containing a trio of extended krautrock and jazz fusion improvisations, indeed would be unlikely to please anyone expecting to hear the music that Vangelis had become known for by 1978, but personally, this makes me appreciate it all the more: it makes me feel like I'm getting a sneak peek into a completely different side to this clearly multi-talented musician.

But of course that would only be worth so much if the actual music wasn't also very good, although it's a bit slow to start, admittedly. Vangelis does not play keyboards (or if he does, they're unrecognizably distorted) on the lengthy title track that opens the album, an oppressive, 15-minute long psychedelic jam which is mostly a showcase for violinist Michel Ripoche and guitarist Anargyros Koulouris, Vangelis's bandmate in Aphrodite's Child who allows himself that get much more fuzzed-up and atonal than he could ever be in that band up until then.

The second side is where the album's beauty really comes to fruition, however: "Stuffed Aubergine" is probably the closest that this album comes to resembling Vangelis's more famous works, being a mellow, new age-ish minimalist sequence with plenty of keyboard soloing, but it sounds much more like Popol Vuh than Spiral. Vangelis only uses a synthesizer to add some background chords but for the most part relies on a clavinet, electric piano and even a mellotron, while Koulouris gets a chance to show off his more sensitive side near the end. "Stuffed Tomato" throws the album on its head again, starting out with an unaccompanied guitar improvisation before launching into a furious speedy jazz-rock jam. Vangelis is indeed playing jazz on his piano here and he does it excellently, all the while accompanied by some quality drum-pounding and bass-walking.

Vangelis fans aren't guaranteed to enjoy this album but they owe it to themselves to at least give it a chance.