One record at a time: 440. Vangelis - See You Later

With the advent of eighties, Vangelis sought to change the sound of his music. Not only does "See You Later" feature vocals, but it also uses drum machines and collaborations with numerous other artists. Loosely based around the concept of a decaying planet, this album is fairly experimental with little concession to its commercial fortunes. Having said that, this is no "Beaubourg".

The first track, "I Can't Take It Anymore" features a Korg drum machine and a vocoder drenched vocal with occasional embellishment from the grand piano. The drum machine then gets a new pattern for "Multi-track Suggestion" where the vocalist Peter Marsh seems to sing about the various settings available on the studio equipment. Neither of these tracks get much love in online reviews, but I like them both and think they deserve more respect.

"Memories of Green" will be well known to many as it features on the soundtrack of "Blade Runner". The dreamlike lament of this piece is quite haunting but it is a bit too long. Side one finishes off with "Not a Bit-All of it" which descends into a twee bossa-nova riff with a spoken vocal by an artist called Cherry Vanilla. Whilst this track is undoubtedly tongue in cheek, it seems completely superfluous. At least it is less than three minutes in length. 

For the second side Vangelis ropes in his old mate Jon Anderson. The first track "Suffocation" sees the drum machine return and the trusty Yamaha CS-80 is wheeled out to provide the bass. This track moves through a few different phases before we hear Anderson's distinctive contra tenor followed by a languid coda. The title track that brings proceedings to an end features a sequenced bassline and jazzy Rhodes piano along with some spoken word vocals. Unfortunately this song just rattles along like an incoherent studio jam. Anderson returns at the end of the piece in a slightly more structured coda, but it is too late to rescue things. It's a shame the last track is so disappointing and what had gone before was much more entertaining. 3/5

P.S. I have since discovered that this album is not what Vangelis originally intended it to be. A test pressing of the album reveals there were three other songs included in the original tracklisting. "Fertilization" featured an unknown vocalist describing conception and gestation in humans. However, as the author of the text would not allow their work to be used, the track had to be removed from the album.

Whilst "My Love" was released as a non-album single, it is not clear why it and another song called "Neighbors Above" were removed from the LP. The track "See You Later" wasn't part of the original running order and I suspect this was just a studio jam that was tacked on the end to generate a decent runtime. 

Ridiculous vinyl colour names

Back in the day, coloured vinyl and picture discs were synonymous with inferior sound quality and I always avoided them because of this. Today however, most pressing plants seem able to create decent sounding discs no matter what colours they add (glow in the dark, splatter or glittery discs aside).

This advancement in quality means that the marketing people at record labels feel emboldened to offer all manner of special coloured vinyl editions. Not satisfied with concocting these variations, record labels also seem compelled to add some marketing spin to the names of the colours. 

Alongside the conventional colours red, white, orange etc., I also see terms like ‘Electric blue’ and ‘oxblood’ being used. I don’t really have a problem with this as these feel quite conventional names and they even appear on a list of established colour names I found.

Where I take issue is when record companies invent descriptive colour names that are so contrived they either don’t tell us what colour the vinyl will actually be or they are painfully obvious. Today I have come across the colour ‘Belgian ale’ which seems like a rather unhelpful name. Personally, I like a nice blonde or Dubbel with an amber hue; but I’m not sure if the record will be this colour or that of a Trappist Brune. They’re both Belgian ale, but very different colours – why not just say brown?

An increasingly common description I see is ‘Bottle clear’ or ‘Coke bottle clear’ - which is essentially transparent vinyl that has a pale blue tinge. Another variation is ‘milky clear’, but I’m not entirely sure where the line is between this and ‘opaque white’. Other highlights encountered recently are ‘Silver Nugget Metallic’ (which is grey), ‘Edelweiss white’ (errr it’s white) and ‘Moonlight transparent clear’ (I have no idea, but I’m guessing it is ‘bottle clear’).

One record at a time: 439. Vangelis - Opera Sauvage

I originally bought this album on CD from HMV in early 1992. I was 'a little short of funds' at the time so my mother lent me the £14 I needed to buy it. I never paid her back. I miss my mum.

Whilst this album was originally released in 1979, my LP is a repress from 1981 that I bought from eBay in 2016. This record is the soundtrack to a TV series created by long term collaborator Frédéric Rossif, but the 43 minutes of music presented here represents only a tiny fraction of what was created for the 21 episodes of the show. 

This album finds Vangelis at the peak of his creative powers in a studio brimming with the latest technology. Curiously, copies of this record with a gatefold sleeve credit Vangelis's famous Nemo studio in London and say the recordings were made during 1978 and 1979. However, the sleeve of my record states it was recorded in Paris in 1976 - so somebody is wrong somewhere.

Whatever the studio, you can't deny the music here is brilliant. The theme "Hymne" (not to be confused with a later piece with the anglicised title "Hymn") is a concise track that features a soaring melody and deeply atmospheric styling. The combined sounds of the Rhodes piano and the Yamaha CS-80 would become a hallmark of Vangelis and the track "Rêve" is a great example of this classic combination. 

Another standout melody is featured on "L'Enfant" and this should be considered amongst the composers best work. "Chromatique" is tinged slightly with jazz influences, but I like it nonetheless. The other tracks on the record that are a little less strong in terms of melody, but they all retain the same atmosphere. Whilst it is far from perfect, there are no big holes in this record. This is peak Vangelis. 4/5 

One record at a time: 438. Vangelis - The Best Of

I originally bought this album on CD in 1992 and I have strong memories of loading the disc into my Sony D-33 Discman. However, as the disc played I felt a slight pang of disappointment. I had naively assumed this would be a career retrospective but I later realised it was drawn from the four albums Vangelis released with RCA between 1975 and 1978. 

This limited scope is obviously a drawback and this can never be considered a comprehensive collection. My copy of the vinyl is an original UK pressing that I acquired on my Vangelis splurge nine years ago.  

The four tracks on the first side cherry pick the best pieces from the "Albedo 0.39" and "Spiral" albums, but "Alpha" seems conspicuous by its absence. The flip side is a little more challenging as it tries to cut the albums "Heaven and Hell" and "Beaubourg" into bite-size pieces. I can see why the A&R men chose "Bacchanale" and "Aires", but they still aren't my favourites. Let's face it, it doesn't really matter how you edit "Beaubourg" it isn't going to make much difference. 2/5

One record at a time: 437. Vangelis - China

The album "China" was released in 1979 and here I will be listening to my original UK pressing. I acquired this record from eBay nine years ago and unfortunately it is possessed of a particularly strong smell of damp. You will be unsurprised to hear that this is a concept album inspired by China and Vangelis uses traditional instruments, the spoken word and a few synthesisers to create his vision.

As I began to listen to this album, I was idly flicking through webpages trying to find out more about it. One of the first things I read was that I, and many other listeners have been completely misled regarding the tracklisting. Conventional wisdom tells us that "Chung Kuo" is five and a half minutes in length and "The Long March" that follows is a shorter piano piece. None of this is correct.

I suspect the issue arose as the majority of compact discs have been incorrectly indexed. The correct track indexing wasn't applied until Vangelis himself mastered a new version in 2017. It transpires that "Chung Kuo" is actually the long introduction to the album that lasts for one and a half minutes. "The Long March" has two parts: a more electronic piece that is often incorrectly referred to as "Chung Kuo", followed by a piano coda. It is this piano coda that is often misidentified as being the totality of "The Long March".

So, when I say that "The Long March" is an excellent track that deserves your attention, I am referring to a song you might have seen labelled as "Chung Kuo" on compilation albums, digital files and websites. 

Of the other tracks, I get the sense this album found Vangelis in a glorious period in which he used analogue synthesis to create original sounds rather than imitations of conventional instruments. Even though percussion features prominently on majestic tracks like "The Dragon", the composer is content to let synthesisers sit centre stage. "Himalaya" and "Summit" are atmospheric pieces that have just enough melody and rhythm to keep me interested, but "Yin and Yang" is not to my taste.

Naively I always assumed the abstract images on the sleeve were of a whirling dancer or some sort of oriental statue. I have been rather disappointed to find out that they are just blurry photos of Vangelis in a hotel swimming pool with no clothes on. 3/5

One record at a time: 436. Vangelis - The Dragon

"The Dragon" is an album culled from the same sessions Vangelis recorded in 1971 that resulted in the "Hypothesis" album. However, unlike its counterpart, "The Dragon" actually has something to recommend it. Whilst there are elements of the dreaded jazz music on here, Vangelis tends to borrow more from psychedelic rock this time around.

The title track that occupies the first side of the record is a fifteen minute long jam with a Middle Eastern bent. I can hear session musicians playing drums, guitar and violin, but I have no idea what Vangelis's contribution would have been. Unfortunately this track is so repetitive you could edit it down to a two minute burst without losing anything meaningful. Listening to the last four minutes is akin to torture with the same four bar loop just going around and around and around and around...

"Stuffed Aubergine" or "Stuffed Tomato" are softer sounding tracks that occupy the flip side. It's actually much easier to discern Vangelis's keyboards on these songs and the repetition isn't quite as pronounced. Still, not something I will be returning to anytime soon. I've read Vangelis didn't consume drugs or much alcohol during this period - but it sure as hell doesn't sound like it. 1/5

One record at a time: 435. Vangelis - Hypothesis

In 1971 Vangelis travelled to London and recorded some jam sessions as an experiment. The resulting recordings weren't considered to be of any merit and the whole project was unceremoniously shelved. 

Seven years later Vangelis had found commercial success and his albums would regularly sell 100,000 copies. Sensing an opportunity, the executive who originally financed the recording of the 1971 jam sessions sought out the tapes and decided to release them. Therefore "Hypothesis" is a classic cash grab that contains sub-standard material that was not approved by the composer or performers.

When I say sub-standard, I mean it. Even Vangelis himself went to court to stop distribution of the record: not because of the money, but because the product was so bad. The music takes the form of experimental jazz improvisation. The quality and the mix of the instruments isn't very good and there is little cohesion between the various performers. I bought this album out of curiosity - but my ears haven't forgiven me for what I subjected them to. Let's face it, the best thing about this record is the artwork. 1/5  

One record at a time: 434. Vangelis - Beaubourg

Until I owned this record I did not know that "Beaubourg" is a reference to the environs of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Having visited the building in 1977, Vangelis was inspired to write the music on this album and it was released the following year. 

My copy is a reissue from an unknown date that doesn't seem to be listed on Discogs. However, I'm not inclined to submit the details to the website as fellow users tend to pounce on even the slightest mistake with an aggressive zeal worthy of history's greatest despots - something I can do without. 

Listeners should be aware this is not a commercial album. Yes, it consists almost entirely of electronic music, but it seems Centre Georges Pompidou inspired the abstract and experimental side of Vangelis. "Beaubourg" is split into two parts which are contained on either side of the disc. However, unlike earlier 'two part' Vangelis albums, these are continuos pieces of music and not just separate tracks sandwiched together.

The internet tells me this album is largely the sound Vangelis manipulating the ring modulator of the Yamaha CS-80 synthesiser. Metallic noises are smeared across the soundscape as Vangelis experiments with various tunings and discordant notes. These noises go on for forty minutes. If you are persistent you may be rewarded with a short passage of melody here and there, but there is no real concession to the listener. This music is hard work. 

As this was his last album for RCA, there has been some suggestion that Vangelis simply threw down this recording to complete his contractual obligations. Personally I think this was a sincere effort to do something different and push the boundaries a bit - but this doesn't mean I have to like it. 

One of the reasons that many of the soundtracks and other works Vangelis recorded are not available commercially is because he felt there would simply be too many releases if they were all made available. But maybe, just maybe, he could have kept this one to himself and let something else slip out of the vault. I visited the Centre Georges Pompidou in 2003 but it didn't inspire me at all. However, I like to think if it had, I would have produced something more palatable than this. 1/5

One record at a time: 433. Vangelis - Spiral

"Spiral" from 1977 is notable as it saw the introduction of two important elements in the music of Vangelis: the sequencer and the Yamaha CS-80. In fact the CS-80 became so influential that Vangelis would describe it as the most important synthesizer in his career. "Spiral" is also one of few Vangelis albums that sounds truly electronic. Much of the Greek maestro's early work uses electro-acoustic instruments and his later efforts revolved around orchestral sounds. "Spiral" seems to have hit a sweet spot in which synthesizers were used to innovate rather than imitate.

My copy of this record is a UK first pressing that is housed in a nice gatefold sleeve with an embossed inner. The disc itself has no flaws and displays a quality of workmanship that you just don't see in modern records - even if it does smell like it has been kept in a damp cellar for ten years.

The title track serves as a remarkable opener and stands out as the album's highlight. Vangelis creates various sequencer driven arpeggios and burbling synth noises before introducing a grand melody that builds into a crescendo. The second track "Ballad" is also hugely enjoyable and one of very few occasions in which Vangelis's vocals (albeit highly processed) appear in his music. The third track "Dervish D." starts well but descends into 12 bar blues with jazz licks on the Rhodes piano. Happily the driving synth arpeggios manage to dilute the less palatable parts of the composition and we end up with quite a good track. 

On the second side of the disc the track "To The Unknown Man" has a strong melody and the whole piece evolves into the most amazing crescendo. The closing track, "3 + 3" is another sequencer driven effort that sounds like an uplifting counterpart to the title track. Whilst both of the songs on the b-side are over nine minutes long, Vangelis continually introduces new ideas and arrangements that serve to maintain the listener's interest. 

Even though this record ranks amongst Vangelis's very best, it has never appealed to me in quite the same way as the work of his contemporaries did. I think this is because Vangelis has a tendency to borrow from jazz, blues and rock music. Even with Vangelis at his most electronic, I occasionally feel like I am hearing something hackneyed - it's just that it is being played on electronic instruments instead of traditional ones. 3/5

One record at a Time: 432. Vangelis - La Fête Sauvage

"La Fête Sauvage" is another soundtrack album for a French wildlife documentary that was released in 1975. The sleeve of my LP is rather curious as it features a porcelain tiger - but the documentary was actually about lions. I bought this record in 2018 and it has the distinctive bouquet that only a damp shed/cellar/attic could bestow upon it. 

Whilst nominally divided into two parts, "La Fête Sauvage" actually consists of numerous short pieces and cues lumped together on each side of the record. Most of the synths and keyboards used to make this album are the same as those on "Heaven and Hell", but the finished product sounds very different. As with much of Vangelis's early work, the one constant sound seems to be that of the Rhodes piano.

The first side contains a series of pieces that are largely tranquil with only the very first track making any impression. The opening of the second side offers something of a contrast where we hear driving percussion, a strong melody and crystalline synth flourishes. I like this piece even if it does sound a bit seventies disco in places. The second cue features African singers, percussion and various animal calls set against Vangelis's signature rising synth patches. As we approach the end of the record we hear ten minutes of traditional music performed by African musicians. This music may well have worked in the context of the film, but it isn't what I came to hear. This is one for the dedicated. 1/5