CHARIOTS OF FIRE (OST)

I remember doing a Spanish project in high school and used ''Themes'' as the soundtrack to the goofy outtakes we had. At the time, I didn't think much of the song other than I liked it quite a bit; I stupidly thought that the song I was listening to was called ''Chariots of Fire'' and I hadn't the slightest clue who Vangelis was.

Flash forward to August 2008 when rummaging through my uncle's vinyl collection, the CHARIOTS OF FIRE album caught my eye (along with several others). I decided to take it to my house and listen to it. While ''Themes'' was exactly how I had originally remembered it, everything else seems to sag. I can barely pick out another memorable melody other than bits of ''Eric's Theme'' and the title track (not to mention ''Jerusalem''). Most of the time (especially during the title track), my mind can't help but just wander aimlessly because I feel so bored with the music being presented.

It's very keyboard oriented in the sense that the keyboard is the only type of instrument you will hear barring the choir on ''Jerusalem''. Not being much of a movie watcher, I haven't seen the accompanying film, the opening excluded. I feel that the lack of a visual is what's causing me to have a disadvantage in listening to the music. Nevertheless, I feel the music is too noneventful for me to really enjoy it. I feel that the music tries way too hard to achieve a lasting melody that ultimately falls on its face doing so. Comparing it to Tangerine Dream, while that band also used lots of synths, the stuff I've heard from TD has more experimental value to it causing me to gravitate more towards that kind of stuff. I'll still give CHARIOTS OF FIRE two stars out of decency.