EL GRECO

Those who say Vangelis was good only in the seventies and pick up "Heaven and Hell" as a masterpiece, should give another try to later works too. It can't be judged as a mere New Age sentimentality. This tribute to the religious painter El Greco is a perfect example how Vangelis is still a true artist who pays no attention to commerciality or EasyListening. Music is mostly slow and ethereal, but it never comes down to New Age Relaxation -kind of wallpaper music. Vangelis has made a musical interpretation of the life and works of El Greco (Greek who worked mostly in Spain, 16th-17th century if I remember right). As a foreigner I find it hard to find proper English words to describe this music: sacred? divine? Emotionally deep and strong. Spiritually uplifting. Music for the mind's eyes. NOT for background listening! This music should be given complete attention by the listener who has a certain patience in the first place. As guest musicians there are Montserrat Caballe and a Greek tenor (separately), and their Movements are just as divine - nothing to do with opera - as the whole album. 73 minutes long opus, it may get sleepy to an average listener, but frankly, to me this is a perfect work of art that can ALMOST be compared to Mahler.____ (There are no proper track titles. After bying this I went to a library and borrowed a book on El Greco and chose paintings that would match with tracks: e.g. 'Agony in the Garden', 'Burial of Count Ortiz' and 'Ascension'. Would be interesting to know if Vangelis had same paintings in mind.)

First off what an excellent review by Matti Pajuniemi. El Greco is a masterpiece and is IMO his finest work. It is moody, sombre but so damn powerful that you actually feel like you are being transported back in time to when El Greco, the Greek painter left his mark. Movements 1,3 and IX are extraordinary in their delivery. They stir the deepest of emotions within you and I am often left feeling totally exhausted after listening to the album in it's entirety. It is a work that requires total dedication.Yes it is very sad, depicting the suffering of a painter and his works at that time, centuries past. It is substantially weighty in delivery as well, almost oppressive in nature. It almost depicts life as a concept and the mortality of the physical sense.The artists work though is immortal for as long as earth spins, the sadness is well conveyed on El Greco. This album is not for the faint hearted or for those seeking a quick fix. This is a work of hard labour with a serene haunting beauty that I have seldom heard since WYWH by the Pink Floyd.

This is probably the best album by VANGELIS in my opinion, as it has very deep emotional load in it, and fine pleasant sound aesthetics resembling powerful movie soundtrack. I heard that this album was first sold in the Greek museums, and the money was used for preserving of historical pieces of art. I'm not sure if this true? Anyway the music has a fine sphere of mysticism, and I would recommend it for all of those who are interested of modern moody synthesizer music. The most memorable parts are the stunning mystical opener, and the part with MONTSERRAT CABALLE singing. A good soundtrack for passing the night away in candle light.

Ditto to all of the reviews above. For once Vangelis suppressed his eagerness to create instantly effective soundscapes and concentrated on music instead. It's a very welcome step off the beaten path for him, and a very strong display of his true talent.

The atmosphere is nothing short of magical, but I want to point out that there's plenty of fine compositional work here, not merely impressive ear candy. It takes a lot of sheer professional expertise to write engaging music that evolves this slowly, and Vangelis pulls it off masterfully. I sincerely hope we can expect more music of such high quality from him.

Probably one of Vangelis most beautifull works and testament to his great talent.The instrumentation is quite sparse and allows the music to breathe as all the focus is on composition.Comparable at times to some of his seventies works like Heaven and Hell and Ignacio in mood and style although a long way from the electronic prog of Albedo and Spiral.This is deep comtemplative music that rewards its listener.Solid 4 stars although with the proviso that this is not really prog music but is more akin to classical music.

Here you have the choice between very "cheap" neo-classical pieces and boring new age excursions for TV commercials. The sound of the synthesiser chords which covers every track is just fully "artificial" and poor in term of sound projections. The music is at the pick of conventions; at its best it contains only vague imitations of "evangelic" or "church" like choirs. The music is supposed to touch the listener with gorgeous and heartbreaking melodies, however the sound is so "cheesy" (hearing the piano lines combined to synth in the last movement or this "terrible" fantasy, masquerade in "movement VII ) , commercially repressive and regressive that nothing happens frankly. This album looks like to these famous compilations you can find in stores in low prices to catch in a small time all the "essence" of medieval, Celtic or classical music...this is pure a reduction and an arrogant collection of common musical captures. Music for "elevator" or "superficial dramas"

Maybe Oceanic proved too light. El Greco, a tribute to a fellow Cretan, is a dark and rich as anything anywhere else. The tempos are slow, the melodies ponderous, seemingly to take minutes to run through a single line. Each piece is like the slow rising and falling of the waves of the deep sea. As he did in the mid-80s, there are no titles, only ten movements ranging from 3 ½ to nearly 12 minutes. The album thus functions as a whole, one that cannot satisfactorily be taken in bits and pieces. At 73 minutes total time, that's a lot to chew on. It is also incredibly satisfying. The sonorous tones express the times of El Greco, times where The Church still dominated. The tones also serve as a aural parallel to El Greco's style of painting: the long slow melodies follow the elongated bodies, the occasional flash of bright tone suggests El Greco's often spare use of color, the few pieces that sound uplifting emulate the upward gazing faces of El Greco's subjects. Both painter and composer have created work of a deep spiritual nature. None of this shallow fly-by-night C & E spirituality. No, here that which is deeper is also that which is higher. Yet it is the deepness that we experience primarily. It is only after several listens that the true richness of this album sinks in. The surface appears dark, underneath are the depths, the depths of the ocean which both artists crossed to fulfill their talents, the depths of creativity that could not be produced by a young inexperienced, albeit talented, artist, the depths of sound here, layer upon layer upon layer. If the words dark, deep, and rich keep coming up in this review it is because these words best suit the music. Those who introduced to Vangelis during his Direct period, or even Blade Runner, and enjoyed that style, would be put-off by this one. Those that appreciated Vangelis for lush orchestration must admit he has outdone himself here. If the opening of Oceanic was an attempt to present as much rich lushness into one piece, this album takes that attempt several steps further for its entire duration. Arguably his best work so far. If you measure your prog in notes per second, you will be disappointed. This one is best measured in seconds per note. I recommend you take the time to dip yourself into the wine-dark sea of this album, let the deep waves roll over you, fill you, and you will be richly rewarded.

The addition of a great composer (Vangelis) and a great voice (Caballé) doesn't always lead to a great album. I was VERY mixed with the albums recorded with Papas (to say the least) and I really can't be thrilled with this "Greco" release.

New age / ambient music with no soul ("Movement 1"), this album has very little to offer IMHHO (only its length maybe?). When I see all these high ratings, I can only feel that I am much closer to Philippe's view (one star) than all the laudatory five or even four stars rating from other colleagues. This shows with sufficient accuracy that one album is felt dramatically different according one's sensibility.

Of course, when Caballé sings, she is moving (but this is all but normal) like the grandiose part in the fourth movement. But what has this to do with prog? Nothing, I'm afraid.

It was really challenging to listen to over seventy minutes of such music. The major feel is boredom and the "press next" feeling is often very tempting ("Movement 6" & 7). I just could feel a bit more interested during the long and good "Movement 9".

As you might imagine, my rating won't flirt with the highest ones available. Two stars.

From the Spanish Renaissance, Dominikos Theotokopoulos aka El Greco worked as painter, sculptor and architect in Toledo at the beginning of 16th Century. This is NOT the soundtrack of the movie about his life directed by Yannis Smaragdis. Vangelis made the soundtrack but it happened about 10 years after.

the soprano Montserrat Caballe, who was guest of Freddy Mercury on "Barcelona", the anthem of the Spanish olympic games, sings in this album as well as the Greek tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras.

The classical mood of this album is not so huge as in its follower Mythodea, also because the two singers are the only "human beings" other than Vangelis. The rest is electronic. Movement 4 sung by Montserrat Caballe is one of the most "classical" in this sense.

On this album Vangelis is back to the late 70s. The sounds used and the melodies are just lacking some more percussions and/or rhythm respect to that period, but the compositions are very good and not repetitive. There is the celtic flavour of Movement 5 for example, or the peaceful length of Movement 1, the Arabesque medieval Movement 7. It's a sort of anthology of the musical places visited by Vangelis during his career with the exclusion of the jazzy debuts.

It's a highly evocative album. I don't think it's classifiable as newage. Not properly a concept album is music based on a concept: the life of that Cretan artist of the Renaissance.

Released between the not very good Oceanic and the "classical opera" Mythodea, this album represents probably the last highlight in the huge production of the Greek keyboardist.