ODYSSEY - THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION

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.