CAN YOU HEAR THE DOGS BARKING? [AKA: IGNACIO] (OST)

This is a fairly unknown album from Vangelis that was actually music from a French film entitled "Entends ? Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" which means "Can You Hear the Dogs Barking?" Well, I couldn't hear any dogs (except for the neighbor's) and I haven't seen the film, but I can still rate the music. This is made up of a single track (divided in 2 for the vinyl version: Part 1: 20:42 and Part 2: 17:45), but the actual music is separated by occasional track breaks, so it could have been intended to be individual tracks.

As for Side 1, you get a nice, beautiful and melodic sound. Of course the music is electronic, but there is an abundance of piano throughout the side with a lot of atmospheric keyboards sometimes taking the lead and at others providing the atmosphere surrounding the piano. This side is some of Vangelis' most beautiful work and would appeal to many listeners. Side 2 is a lot more experimental, but flows nicely. It is not experimental in the same vein as "Beaubourg" or "Invisible Connections" because it is not sparse or non-melodic like those albums were. One section consists of a lot of percussive sounds but they are arranged in a way to not be considered avant-garde. The flow is constant and easy to listen to, nothing too challenging, but still very interesting and moody. At other sections, the music becomes more tense, but throughout the record, things don't stray too far from the norm. This is more of a psychedelia sound than it is unconventional.

All in all, this is a very good album with enough variety between the two sides to make it interesting throughout. Not necessarily essential, but still excellent and I believe it should appeal to the fans of Vangelis' more conventional sound like "Chariots of Fire" or "Spiral" and venturing a bit into "Albedo 0.39", but not commercial as was "See You Later". 4 stars. Worth searching for.