OCEANIC

The intro "Bon Voyage" has something of Antarctica or the closer of the previous album. Just an intro.

"Siren's Whispering" has a sirtaki tempo underlined by a repetitive bass line. Mediterranean sea is not an ocean, and the two chords separated bi an interval of fifth remind to "La Dolce Vita" more than to the deep sea. Harp, voices and waves behind are not enough. Too repetitive and with too few musical ideas.

"Dreams of Surf" is just a piano filler inspired by classical music. I can't see any surf or beach boy.

We have to wait for the 4th track "Spanish Harbour" to find something interesting. This is repetitive as the previous, but a bit bluesy. The acoustic guitar (or a keyboard? who knows) should justify the track's title. Apart of that flamenco-like interlude thare's nothing very Spanish in this track. However it's good enough. The first really good track of this album.

"Islands Of The Orient" is progressive electronic and spacey. Edgar Froese as reference, just more melodic.

"Fields Of Coral" is slower and based on minor chords. It's a spacey repetitive track. For who likes the late Tangerine Dream.

"Aquatic Dance" is a more typical Vangelis electronic piece but nothing special.

The title "Memories Of Blue" reminds to "Memories of Green" initially released on the poor "See You Later" and reused for Blade Runner. The similarity is only in the structure: a piano over keyboard violins. Not bad but not at the sale level of the Green one..

The best track is the last: "Song of the Seas". It's more inspired. Vangelis seems to have put more composing efforts on this track than on the rest of the album. This partially saves a mediocre performance.

My impression is that Vangelis has tried to make a follow-up to the quite successful "Voices", but didn't put enough effort on it. Most of the tracks are just a short repeated sequence. What lasts for 7 minutes could stay in 2. Song Of the Seas is the only exception.

This track and Spanish Harbour deserve more, but the overall rating for this album is "fans only".

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