RACE TO THE END

I remember that the video of this song was shared in JON ANDERSON`s Official Facebook Profile in 2012, at the time of London`s 2012 Summer Olympics. I forgot about this song and video since then until now when I realized that this single was included in the Prog Archives `s discography database and it was without a review. I listened to this song again, so I write a review about it.

"Race to the End" is really a re-make of VANGELIS`s main theme from his soundtrack album for the "Chariots of Fire" film from 1981. The original musical piece`s name in that album is "Titles", but it is widely known as "Chariots of Fire" when played in the radio. It was a very successful instrumental musical piece for VANGELIS when it was originally released as a single in March 1981.

Jon Anderson`s version of "Titles" has lyrics written by him and the song was re-titled as "Race to the End" to be released in this single as a tribute from Anderson to the Summer Olympic Games. It is a good version which is very similar in the musical arrangements and playing to Vangelis`version, with Anderson doing a very good job for it with keyboard player Christophe Lebled. It really sounds like Anderson could have simply added his vocals to Vangelis`s original 1981 instrumental recording. This 2012 version was recorded in France and California in July 2012.

The original video done for this single (which is available on youtube) shows scenes with several athletes who participated in different Summer Olympic Games during various decades (Usain Bolt, Nadia Comaneci, Mark Spitz, Yelena Isinbayeba, among the few I could remember by seeing them in the video). It is a good video.