SEE YOU LATER

Another of those difficult to categorise Vangelis albums .Its nothing like most of his instrumental works (most tracks here have vocals) but is not any attempt to go commercial either.It's not as 'easy' album.In fact this is the most prog like album Vangelis has made I reckon.Its not very heavy though,so we arent talking ELP style power prog by any means.Its an album that rewards attention though.Lots of different ideas. Give it a try.

This record is quite different from the conventional Vangelis. The keyboards are absolutely not floating, the tracks are not accessible & catchy at all. I think this album is a bit disappointing. There are many miscellaneous vocals, like Jon Anderson's among others. The tracks seem to go nowhere: yes, we feel some similitudes with "Chariots of fire" (Memories of Green) and "Friends of Mr. Cairo" (I Can't Take it Any More), but the majestic & ethereal dimensions are totally absent: it is rather chaotic, disorganized and nervous. "See you later" and "Memories of green" (the nostalgic piano) are the best tracks.

I love Vangelis, but this album can be defined with one single word: AWFUL!

Even if there's the usual collaboration of Jon Anderson, he sings on the worst track: Suffocation. It should be a SciFi story about a post-nuked world or something like this. An italian electropop duo, the Chrisma, speaks some dialogs (in italian), as they were dubbing a movie, but they are not actors and the text is tremendously stupid. When they finally stop saying absurdities, Jon start singing, but it's too late.

The only positive thing is the first version of "Memories of Green" that was later included in the Blade Runner's soundtrack. Nothing special, but enjoyable.

Avoid wasting your money.

1 star

There seems to be a concensus about this album being one of Vangelis' worst. I'm not one to disagree. Clearly he didn't try to make an easily enjoyed album, nor finely crafted piece of arty-farty, but went into more techno-ish experiment this time, and also used many guest vocalists. But it's not all bad, no! The most techno-like tracks are likely to annoy his fans, sure. And the "safest" Vangelis track 'Memories of Green' can be heard as a better version in Blade Runner. But still there is some interesting and captivaiting, even beautiful material here and there. The two last longish tracks mix spoken voices (e.g. in Italian) and Jon Anderson's ethearal vocals into intensive and quite progressive music. To sum up, probably this is not worth your money unless you're his die-hard fan/collector, but if you get a chance to borrow it, try to be patient enough not to be directly disappointed. Some of it may "grow on you", so to speak.

Another oddity and another soundtrack to an obscure film. This is not among my favorite Vangelis albums but I have discovered that it has to be taken on its own to be appreciated. More of a pop album really, but still inventive with many of Vangelis' signature techniques ? usually in this case as means to embellish the songs rather than the core of the compositions. And songs they are. About half instrumental and half vocal, including one appearance by Jon Anderson on the extensive final and title track. There are two tracks that I really like, "I Can't Take it Anymore" and "Suffocation." There is also one song I find jarring, "Not a Bit ? All of It," with its satirical voice over. It's a parody of commercials and consumerism. I get the point, I agree with the point. I just don't like the song. "Multi-Track Suggestion" is a bit of a shock if one is expecting typical melodic instrumental Vangelis. Yet this track tells us we are listening to something very different. Not a bad song, but it does remind us that this album came out in the wake of the disco era (and it is not a disco song). It also foreshadows one of his later works, Direct. The remaining track, "Memories of Green," received replay on the Themes compilation and is also featured on the Blade Runner soundtrack. It is a very pretty, if melancholy, instrumental. The theme of the film, and subsequently the album is rather dark ? apparently the destruction of our planet's biosphere. The sense of ecological disaster renders this an interesting but not uplifting listening experience. Few Vangelis fans would really get into this one and I think most would put it right down there with Beauborg. I think it is a step above, though. Less interesting, but more listenable. Another one to bring out every few years.

To be honest, this is not a very good Vangelis album. But I couldn't really be thrilled with his last couple of efforts either. And this one makes it a trilogy of lesser work. In this case, even a poor one I am afraid. I don't really like it. Neither as a whole, nor for individual great tracks that are alien to this album.

It is not as bad as "Beaubourg", but the inspiration is a desert in this album. "Vocals" aren't serving the work either. At times it sounds as Vangelis wanted to offer a light album with some pop/melodic parts ("Suffocation"), but most of this work is quite difficult to feel and approach.

The long and experimental title track is a loose experience which features no construction, no structure and no melody at all. This is the third of his albums in a row that I rate with two stars.

"See You Later" is a Vangelis album that comes along right when Vangelis was in the middle of several different projects which included the soundtrack to "Chariots of Fire" and the beginning of his series of albums with Jon Anderson (known as "Jon & Vangelis"). This album moves away from his usual style and focuses on tracks with lyrics, vocalizations and narratives in both Italian and French. We hear Vangelis experimenting with some interesting styles and instrumental sounds on this album, and the main style of the album seems to suffer from the lack of melodic passages and ends up sounding more clinical than anything. In my opinion, this is one of Vangelis' weakest albums because of this. At least his more avant-style albums were interesting. This one is just not very consistent and tends to wander between styles a bit too much for it's own good. In other words, there just isn't a lot of focus here. Even the tracks where Jon Anderson helps out are weak and uninteresting.

I Can't Take it Anymore - Vocal effects by Peter Marsh and a vocoder, and some dark undertones with nice percussion. The melody is a bit slight and uninteresting though, and lyrics are just a repeat of the title and some wordless sounds from a synth chorus. You can tell Vangelis was experimenting with his style making this dark, moody track.

Multi-track Suggestion - More manipulated vocals from Marsh and a consistent beat makes this one sound like something more from Kraftwerk than it does Vangelis. Even the synth hooks have that robotic style. There are some spoken word vocals that give a feeling of PA announcements. Again, there's not much in the way of melody or any real high points anywhere on this track.

Memories of Green - This is the original version of a track that would later be used for the "Blade Runner" soundtrack. A flanger pedal creates a very cool, warped effect manipulating sounds from a Steinway grand piano. This one is quite minimal, yet quite beautiful, and as such, is probably the best track on the album. The little synth effects that swirl around at will give it all a neat atmosphere.

Not a Bit-All of It - The shortest track on the album, thank goodness. Cherry Vanilla provides the vocals supplemented by some vocalese provided by Vangelis himself. The track starts with a violin passage, which is provided by guest Michel Ripoche. The music is quite Musak sounding with the lyrics being spoken work, which has a very sarcastic feel to it as it satirizes commercialism and consumerism. Sort of funny the first time around, but annoying everytime after that.

The 2nd side of the album consists of two longer tracks, both of them featuring Jon Anderson doing vocals.

Suffocation - This 9 minute track has two main sections. The first part has a solid beat and synths playing a warbly melody. After a few minutes, the beat fades off as the synths continue and some Italian announcements over a megaphone sound out. The beat returns again, a bit more solid this time with the melody more pronounced and a fuller background. Not bad, but it really doesn't develop into much. Some tricky drum machine percussion ends this section and a slower, more pensive section starts. Soon Anderson's vocals finally come in. As is the case with this album, the lyrics are quite slight. Soon, this all drops off as a more minimal section comes in with the members of "Krisma" read an Italian narrative. All together, it's quite a big letdown.

See You Later - As with the last track, this one has multiple sections and exceeds the 10 minute mark. The first part of the track features the electric piano. The beginning is soft and quiet, but it builds as a little synth action comes in, then the tempo picks up with a synth loop that sounds like something that would be used in "Chariots of Fire". A male chorus give some spoken word commands that sounds like a language lesson of some sort. After this, a French spoken word section comes in over the synth atmospherics and off-beat percussion. Things try to be progressive here, but it ends up sounding more disjointed than anything. There is a bit of a jazzy section, then the percussion drops out as a child sings "Lalalala" and speaks in French. The male chorus comes in again with some dramatic, but repetitive singing, then everything drops off except for some minimal synth. Some processed vocalizations come in and some meandering around with the synth as the music builds and brings Anderson's vocals in for the last part of the track.

Fortunately, the other albums that would come out in the next few years wouldn't follow in this one's footsteps as it would include some of his most famous and important work. This one was not released in North America for several years, and it never really has come across as an important album. It didn't help that it was overshadowed by "Chariots of Fire" and the Jon & Vangelis albums. But then, it never really deserved to stand out that much anyway. This album is best left to the completists and is not really a typical sounding Vangelis album, so newcomers should stay away.