Vangelis in Electronic Music

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"Chariots of Fire (Sdtk)" (10/25/1990) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (USA)Original score composed and performed by Vangelis. Recorded at Nemo Studios, London, England. While only serious film buffs are likely to recall Hugh Hudson's role as the director of the Oscar-winning CHARIOTS OF FIRE, the Greek composer Vangelis became, and remained, a household name with his soundtrack for the 1981 film. At the time, the theme song was parodied as being excessively saccharin. Indeed, with titles such as "Five Rings" and "100 Metres," the album wears its Olympian heart on its sleeve. Nonetheless, CHARIOTS OF FIRE is often a brooding work, and if the prevailing memory of this album is one of slow-motion runners and heady triumph, Vangelis's synthesizer work often conveys a sense of isolation and lost glory.

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"Portraits" (03/11/1997) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (USA)PORTRAITS is a collection of popular songs from throughout Vangelis' recording career. Personnel includes: Vangelis, Jon Anderson. All tracks have been digitally remastered.

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"Themes - Best of Vangelis" (10/03/1989) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (USA)Finally, someone got wise and noticed the absence of Vangelis' superb soundtracks on CD. Hats off to 'em, as now anyone enamored of Vangelis' work on BLADE RUNNER, THE BOUNTY, or some of his more obscure projects now has reason to rejoice. BLADE RUNNER has since been made available in its entirety, but the taste offered earlier on THEMES did much to sate the senses before the full soundtrack's release. THEMES is most notable for featuring Vangelis' now-signature theme from CHARIOTS OF FIRE, the main theme from Costa-Gavras' MISSING, and the opening and closing sections from THE BOUNTY. The latter remain some of the composer's most underrated and majestic works. THE BOUNTY's opening theme is a twilight excursion into the unknown hinterlands, with whistling electronics and isolationist synth harnessed to a clanking percussive pattern. The closing theme, a somber mass of deep-ocean synths and yearning rhythms, echoes the film's sacrificial ending. A case study in electronics rendered with intellect.

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"Opera Sauvage" (10/25/1990) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (USA)

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"Antarctica (Sdtk)" (10/25/1990) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (USA)Original score composed and performed by Vangelis. Recorded at Nemo Studios, London, England.

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"Mythodea: Music For the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey" (10/23/2001) Electronic Vangelis, Sony ClassicalPersonnel includes: Vangelis (electronic keyboards); Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman (vocals); Blake Neely (conductor); The London Metropolitan Orchestra, The National Opera Of Greece Choir. Recorded at Athens Concert Hall and Megaron Recording Centre, Athens, Greece. Includes liner notes by Dr. Jim Garvin, Laurence Bergreen, and Vangelis.

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"Odyssey" (11/04/2003) Electronic Vangelis, Hip-O Records

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"Heaven and Hell" (04/29/1997) Electronic Vangelis, Windham Hill RecordsListening to this odd-man-out entry in the sweeping Vangelis catalog nearly 30 years after its release, one is instantly reminded of the time and musical climate in which it was recorded--this is a disc that distills the glorious pomp and circumstance that was mid-'70s prog-rock. The maelstrom that is the opening five-minute bombast of "Heaven and Hell, Part One," where the "sturm und drang" of Vangelis's keyboards probably made everyone from Keith Emerson to Rick Wakeman green with envy. Funereal chords dredge up dark lords of the underworld while drums and cymbals ricochet and pound into each other like Armageddon's fist into Eternity's palm. Even Jon Anderson is on hand, lending his trademark falsetto to Vangelis's symphonic preen. Still, despite the bravado, this is a galvanizing record of moods and contrasts, where dark meets light, thunderous synth chords roll and break, and Vangelis weaves all sorts of odd percussive fillips into the chaotic reverie. Those wishing their dose of musical catharsis from over-indulgence on CHARIOTS OF FIRE can hold their breath and start right here.

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"Albedo 0.39" (04/29/1997) Electronic Vangelis, Windham Hill RecordsThis is part of Windham Hill Records' Essential Windham Hill series.

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"The Best of Vangelis" (04/29/1997) Electronic Vangelis, Windham Hill RecordsLong before the soundtrack to CHARIOTS OF FIRE became an international commercial success, the career of Evangelos Odyssey Papathanassiou, aka Vangelis, was well underway. In the early 1960s, the musician helped form the group Formynx, the most popular Greek band of its day, and then prog-rockers Aphrodite's Child. Later, he moved to London and even briefly considered joining Yes before pursuing a solo career. THE BEST OF VANGELIS assembles eight tracks from this phase, songs taken from ALBEDO 0.39, SPIRAL, and COSMOS, among others. The songs range from the hyperactive "Bacchanale" to the intergalactic majesty of "Spiral," and Vangelis's starry-eyed, Disney-esque duet with Jon Anderson of Yes, "So Long Ago, So Clear."

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"Direct" (11/01/1988) Electronic Vangelis, Arista Records (USA)Recorded at Sound Studios, Athens, Greece. Vangelis' 1988 entry sees him embracing some of the new technological and rock idioms soon to be in vogue in the pristine digital '90s. Going digital was not a foreign thing to Vangelis. On DIRECT, he works with a very wide palette of sounds and textures. In doing so, he creates one of his most diverse and interesting records. Close your eyes and let "The Motion of Stars" take you on its celestial course. Rivulets of trilling electronics suggest quantum mechanics set to digital rhythms; arcing strings signal the point of solar explosion. "The Will of the Wind" is a slow-beat boat ride down an Amazonian waterway. Shakuhachi flutes coo, synthetic sounds throb, and guitar samples liquefy. The majestic propensity of Vangelis' magnificent BLADE RUNNER and THE BOUNTY soundtracks-which actually harks back to the era of SEE YOU LATER-rears its head again on "The Oracle of Apollo." The most cinematic of Vangelis' non-soundtrack albums, DIRECT is grand stuff.

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"Reprise: 1990-1999" (03/07/2000) Electronic Vangelis, Atlantic (USA)Personnel includes: Vangelis (various instruments); Caroline Lavelle, Mary Hopkin, Konstantinos Paliasaras, Montserrat Caballe, Jeremy Budd, Roman & Emanuelle Polanski, The English Chamber Choir. Engineers: Frederick Rousseau, Philippe Colonna. Recorded in 1990-1998. REPRISE is a collection of extracts from Vangelis's albums of the '90s plus "Rachel's Song," featuring Mary Hopkin, from the much-belated release in 1994 of his soundtrack for BLADERUNNER. The tracks are interwoven to form a rich, ambient album. The three movements from EL GRECO (a fund-raiser for the National Gallery of Athens purchase of an El Greco painting) feature Greek tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras and the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe in a plaintive spiritual mood reminiscent of John Tavener. From VOICES, fans get "Come to Me" with the voice of Caroline Lavelle, along with the lovely "Prelude." Vangelis's love of the sea inspired his album OCEANIC--"Bon Voyage" opens REPRISE with its lush rippling waves. "Dawn," from THE CITY, recorded live in a Rome hotel room, is an urban soundscape with guest appearances from Roman and Emmanuelle Polanski. Vangelis has composed haunting electronic tone poems for lovers of Clannad, brimming with emotive keyboard melodies and glittering ethereal hymns. Most notable is the main theme from the Christopher Columbus adventure film 1492. It's a lavish, windswept march-like chorale which, when released as a single, reputedly became Germany's biggest seller!

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"The Music of Vangelis *" (2005) Electronic Vangelis, Time Music International Limited

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"Spiral" (04/29/1997) Electronic Vangelis, Windham Hill Records

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"Oceanic" (05/28/1997) Electronic Vangelis, Warner Elektra Atlantic Corp. (ArgeSolo performer: Vangelis. OCEANIC was nominated for a 1998 Grammy Award for Best New Age Album. If Vangelis has come to be known as the definitive cosmic composer, OCEANIC suggests that his interest extends to all things vast and unknowable. His aquatic passion comes through clearly in this exhilarating production, replete with harps, murmuring underwater entities, and mythic choruses.

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"El Greco" (10/19/1998) Electronic Vangelis, Warner Elektra Atlantic Corp. (ArgePersonnel: Vangelis (various instruments); Montserrat Caballe, Konstantinos Paliatsaras (vocals). Engineers: Philippe Colonna, Frederick Rousseau. Includes liner notes by Vangelis. Argentinian version. Greek composer/keyboardist Vangelis has been through so many stylistic mutations over the years that it's hard to pin down his musical center. From the progressive rock of his band Aphrodite's Child to his art pop collaborations with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and his romantic film score work, he's shown many sides of a complex artistic persona. EL GRECO extends his vision one step further. Inspired by and dedicated to legendary 16th century Greek painter El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), this is an impressionistic aural landscape. The album is filled up by a single 11-movement symphonic piece written by Vangelis and rendering in a surprisingly organic manner on his arsenal of keyboards. Fans of his film scores should find much to enjoy in this delicate work full of sophisticated but friendly textures.

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"The Best of Vangelis" (06/13/2002) Electronic Vangelis, Camden (Australia)Australian import Long before the soundtrack to CHARIOTS OF FIRE became an international commercial success, the career of Evangelos Odyssey Papathanassiou, aka Vangelis, was well underway. In the early 1960s, the musician helped form the group Formynx, the most popular Greek band of its day, and then prog-rockers Aphrodite's Child. Later, he moved to London and even briefly considered joining Yes before pursuing a solo career. THE BEST OF VANGELIS assembles eight tracks from this phase, songs taken from ALBEDO 0.39, SPIRAL, and COSMOS, among others. The songs range from the hyperactive "Bacchanale" to the intergalactic majesty of "Spiral," and Vangelis's starry-eyed, Disney-esque duet with Jon Anderson of Yes, "So Long Ago, So Clear."

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"The City" (05/14/1991) Electronic Vangelis, Atlantic (USA)Vangelis entered the '90s with this fairly low-key album of electronic interludes and sparkling, poetic vignettes in honor of a city. He uses an enormous array of digital and high-tech sounds to describe his metropolis, suggesting that such a city yet resides only in the future. "Dawn" is a simply lovely paean to the opening light of the day. Light strings and melancholic trumpets rise over a skyline painted ambient shades of orange and ecru. "Side Streets" begins with humming sequencers and sad violin stabs as car motors awaken. Voices litter the sidewalk, as flutes pipe in the oncoming day. "Nerve Center" finally introduces engaging rhythms and lurching guitars into Vangelis' mix, portraying a teeming environment of bodies-stressed laborers huddled over their desktops, banging on surfaces with copper tubes. While not as in your face as DIRECT, THE CITY is involving all the same.

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"El Greco" (01/19/1999) Electronic Vangelis, Atlantic (USA)Personnel: Vangelis (various instruments); Montserrat Caballe, Konstantinos Paliatsaras (vocals). Engineers: Philippe Colonna, Frederick Rousseau. Includes liner notes by Vangelis. Greek composer/keyboardist Vangelis has been through so many stylistic mutations over the years that it's hard to pin down his musical center. From the progressive rock of his band Aphrodite's Child to his art pop collaborations with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and his romantic film score work, he's shown many sides of a complex artistic persona. EL GRECO extends his vision one step further. Inspired by and dedicated to legendary 16th century Greek painter El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), this is an impressionistic aural landscape. The album is filled up by a single 11-movement symphonic piece written by Vangelis and rendering in a surprisingly organic manner on his arsenal of keyboards. Fans of his film scores should find much to enjoy in this delicate work full of sophisticated but friendly textures.

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"Soil Festivities" (10/25/1990) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (USA)

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"Reprise: 1990-1999" (10/25/1999) Electronic Vangelis, Warner Elektra Atlantic Corp. (ArgePersonnel includes: Vangelis (various instruments); Caroline Lavelle, Mary Hopkin, Konstantinos Paliasaras, Montserrat Caballe, Jeremy Budd, Roman & Emanuelle Polanski, The English Chamber Choir. Engineers: Frederick Rousseau, Philippe Colonna. Recorded in 1990-1998. Remastered Argentinean release. REPRISE is a collection of extracts from Vangelis's albums of the '90s plus "Rachel's Song," featuring Mary Hopkin, from the much-belated release in 1994 of his soundtrack for BLADERUNNER. The tracks are interwoven to form a rich, ambient album. The three movements from EL GRECO (a fund-raiser for the National Gallery of Athens purchase of an El Greco painting) feature Greek tenor Konstantinos Paliatsaras and the Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe in a plaintive spiritual mood reminiscent of John Tavener. From VOICES, fans get "Come to Me" with the voice of Caroline Lavelle, along with the lovely "Prelude." Vangelis's love of the sea inspired his album OCEANIC--"Bon Voyage" opens REPRISE with its lush rippling waves. "Dawn," from THE CITY, recorded live in a Rome hotel room, is an urban soundscape with guest appearances from Roman and Emmanuelle Polanski. Vangelis has composed haunting electronic tone poems for lovers of Clannad, brimming with emotive keyboard melodies and glittering ethereal hymns. Most notable is the main theme from the Christopher Columbus adventure film 1492. It's a lavish, windswept march-like chorale which, when released as a single, reputedly became Germany's biggest seller!

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"Voices" (01/09/1996) Electronic Vangelis, Atlantic (USA)Personnel: Vangelis (various instruments); Caroline Lavelle (vocals, cello); Stina Nordenstam, Paul Young, The Athens Opera Company (vocals).

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"Opera Sauvage" (01/19/2004) Electronic Vangelis, Polydor (Japan)OPERA SAUVAGE is an album of synth grandeur by Vangelis. CD comes in Jpn LP Sleeve.