One record at a time: 430. Vangelis - Heaven and Hell

For this post I initially began to write about the Vangelis album "Earth" - but I soon realised I don't actually own that album on vinyl. Therefore the next record I will look at is "Heaven and Hell" from 1975. My record is an original UK pressing that is in very good condition and sounds excellent to say it is over fifty years old. 

This concept album is split into two parts that consider the contrasting ideas of Heaven and Hell. Inexplicably there is also a song titled "So Long Ago, So Clear" stitched onto the end of side one. This track was a collaboration with Jon Anderson (the vocalist from the prog-rock group Yes) but I'm not convinced it fits within the concept.  

As we drop the needle we hear the opening sequence titled "Bacchanale". The music is big, brash and not to my taste at all. The portamento applied to the synth patch driving the melody sounds antiquated and strangely off key to my ears. There is some jazz Rhodes piano thrown into the mix but it doesn't sit comfortably alongside the chamber choir. When this first movement is over I am actually quite relived. This is not my idea of heaven.

We move on to the softer sounds of "Symphony to the Powers B" which is reminiscent of Mike Oldfield's work - it even features tubular bells for heaven's sake. After about thirteen minutes we meet the wonderful "Movement 3" which was the prototype for "Chariots of Fire".

For me the b-side is less distinctive and relatively benign - but it is also less polarising as a result. The "12 O’clock" movement is a highlight and only when "A Way" peters out into an inaudible whisper do we realise the ride is over. Something of an album of contrasts, "Heaven and Hell" seems to work in its more tranquil moments, but it fails when it tries to be too clever. 2/5