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