One record at a time: 449. Vangelis - 1492: Conqiest of Paradise

Until quite recently, the original soundtrack for the film "1492: Conquest of Paradise" was a rare beast on vinyl. When it was released in 1992, compact discs were dominant so only a limited number of records were pressed. Today, the price of a pre-owned copy of the LP is quite significant and Warner Music seem to have recognised this and released this "yellow flame" double vinyl in August 2025. 

Back when it was released "1492: Conquest of Paradise" dislodged Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells II" from my CD player and I would listen to it incessantly. There was something about the brooding tones of Vangelis's creation that matched my mood perfectly and I wallowed in its dark mystery for hours. I didn't really feel the need to see the film at the time, but when I did, it wasn't nearly as good as the vision Vangelis had laid out in my imagination.

Strictly speaking, this isn't an electronic score. Whilst Vangelis does use lots of synths, we can also hear the English Chamber Choir (a perennial favourite of Vangelis), various flutes, mandolin, violins and classical guitar. It is a spectacular and eclectic mix of instruments.

Almost every piece on this record is mesmerising, but I have a special regard for the majestic "Light and Shadow" which is so wondrous it makes my spine tingle. The main theme will probably be recognisable to many as it has been used on various commercials and at many sporting events over the years; but it is no less wonderful for this familiarity. Cues like "Deliverance", "Hispaniola" and "City of Isabel" demonstrate the sheer breadth of styles Vangelis could tackle whilst still producing evocative pieces of music 

As good as this vinyl pressing is, I can't help but feel this album is best consumed as an uninterrupted programme - they way I first heard it from CD. Having to flip sides and change discs a couple of times does somewhat interrupt the experience, but the quality of the music means I can live with this small inconvenience. As I sit and pore over the vinyl I can't help but think all of the money went into the coloured discs as the sleeve is pretty dull and the inners (admittedly poly lined) are plain. Still, I wouldn’t be without it. Magic. 5/5

One record at at time: 448. Vangelis - The City

It took me eleven years to track down a copy of "The City" on vinyl. I have no idea why it took me so long, but this record doesn't crop up on eBay very often and the shop I buy my vintage vinyl from never seemed to have a copy. The record I finally bought is a bit dusty so crackles here and there, but it still makes for a fantastic lightening experience.

Legend has it that Vangelis recorded this album in a room at the Hotel De La Ville in Rome whilst he waited for Roman Polanski to finish shooting the film "Bitter Moon" (yet another unreleased Vangelis soundtrack). One of the reasons Vangelis was able to pack an entire recording studio into a hotel room (more likely it was a suite) was the development of digital technology. 

All of the eighties digital beasts seem to present and correct on this recording. The opening track "Dawn" features the distinctive tones of the Roland D-50 with only a smattering of Yamaha CS-80 allowed to juxtapose the more modern machine. Unusually for Vangelis there are lots of drums featured on this record and the distinctive sounds of the Roland R8 are quite prominent. It would appear that Vangelis loved the Emulator II cello and choir sounds along with the saxophone and accordion too. I can hear some Korg M1 on "Good To See You" and even the DX7 gets a look in. 

As Vangelis improvises his way through the various tracks that make up this concept album he moves between jazz, new age and rock styles without breaking a sweat. The music on this record has a dreamy quality that somehow manages to tread the line between being too abstract and too obvious. Whilst this album has never been considered in step with contemporary styles it is distinctly Vangelis and has a charm I can't resist. 3.5/5

Cassette heaven

I decided to have a poke around in some local charity shops today. There were a few CDs here and there and I even found a pile of old 7" singles in one shop -but there was nothing really worth buying. As my mind began to wander to which cake I would chose from the bakers up the road, I stumbled across a massive box of treasure.

My attention was drawn to the box because of the sheer size of it and the vast number of cassettes it contained. All of the blank tapes seemed to be in near perfect condition with no writing on any of the inlay cards and nice shiny boxes. 

I spent a few minutes looking through the box and was a little disappointed to find all the cassettes were only ferric tape and either 60 or 90 minute length. No TDK MA100 to be found. 

Despite their relatively humble specification I found it hard to resist these tapes and I selected ten of the best looking examples. I expected to have to pay somewhere between five and ten pounds for my haul, but considering the price they sell for on eBay, this still seemed like a good buy. 

Having laid my prize down on the counter I locked eyes with the cashier and cautiously said, "How much for these?" 

He looked me up and down before making his opening gambit, "50p mate." 

"50p each?" I ventured, "That's a bargain!" 

"No, 50p for all of them," he replied. "Or you can take the whole box for £5."

"Errr, I don't have room for them ALL," I spluttered

"But you want them don't you?" 

At this point I thought he was teasing me, but I soon realised he was actually pleading with me, "Please take them, I have a lady that brings them in every week. She says they used to belong to her mother and I'm never going to get rid of them." 

I stuck to my guns and resisted the temptation to buy hundreds of blank cassettes - even if they were in perfect condition. When I got home I declared myself very happy with my haul and decided to see if there was anything recorded on the tapes. I rewound the first in the pile and pressed play. After a few seconds the muffled sound of a church service came out of the speakers. 

As it turned out, every one of the cassettes featured a Christian service and I guess this was the way an elderly lady kept in touch with her church. I imagine the original owner would listen to the most recent service and then simply put the cassette away and forget about it. If the tapes had only been played once, this explains why they are in such good condition.

I soon went into nerd overdrive and found a fantastic website that allowed me to date the cassettes by the design of their shells. Most of my selcetion were TDK AD or TDK AR and they seem to date between 1987 and 1995. I find it amazing that nearly forty year old cassettes can be in such good condition. 

I'll be honest, I have toyed with the idea of going back to the shop and buying the box in order to sell them on eBay, but I realise it's too little reward for the effort. Still, I'm enjoying the wave of nostalgia this whole episode has brought on and I'm already creating various mix tapes in my head. Home taping isn't killing music in this house, it's providing tender loving care.

One record at a time: 447. Vangelis - Themes

"Themes" is a compilation that features tracks released when Vangelis was signed to the Polydor label. Whilst record companies will often license recordings to each other in order to make a more comprehensive "Best of" compilation, the clever marketing people at Polydor avoided this cost by persuading Vangelis to hand over music from his unreleased film soundtracks.

By the time this compilation was released the music from the film "Blade Runner" had begun to take on mythical status. Vangelis's original score had not been released alongside the movie and the public had to be satisfied with a rather curious orchestral adaptation of the music instead. So, when excerpts from Vangelis's original work were included on this record, it was considered quite a coup. 

The music that was used on the end titles of "Blade Runner" is an iconic piece of electronic music that features a superb sequencer riff, bombastic timpani samples and an atmospheric melody. However, as a paid up member of the IHTSC ("I hate the saxophone club") I find it hard to like the "Love Theme" from the film; but I can see why it is revered nonetheless.  

"Themes" also features music from the unreleased soundtracks to "Bounty" and "Missing". Personally I like the ponderous and slightly intimidating "Opening Titles" from "Mutiny on the Bounty" and the "Main Theme from Missing" is quite touching.

Elsewhere, "Chung Kuo" and the first movement of "The Long March" are conflated to a single track that is mistakenly titled "Chung Kuo" - but as discussed in the "China" review, this seems to have been a common mistake. The standout tracks "Hymne" and "L'Enfant" are taken from "Opera Sauvage" and "La Petit Fille de la Mer" from 1973's "L'Apocalypse Des Animaux" is also included. It would be incomprehensible for this album to not include the titles from "Chariots of Fire" and it dutifully delivers with the last track. This is a nice compilation that would serve as an excellent introduction to the uninitiated. 4/5

One record at a time: 446. Vangelis - Direct

"Direct" served as my introduction to the music of Vangelis. Obviously I knew of the theme to "Chariots of Fire" and some of his more commercial work, but this was the first time I had delved into a full length album.

I don't know what drew me to buy "Direct" in particular, but it was amongst the first titles I bought when I acquired a CD player back in the late eighties. This record dates from an era when the compact disc had begun outselling vinyl and artists decided to take advantage of the higher capacity the new format afforded them. 

As a result, the compact disc of this album has twelve tracks, whilst the LP only has ten. The two tracks that are dropped from the wax are "Dial Out" and "Intergalactic Radio Station" - both of which I like. I remember "Dial Out" in particular because it was used on natural history documentaries of the period - but we will have to do without out it for this listen through.

The sleeve of this record makes references to an enigmatic new system that allowed Vangelis to compose and record simultaneously. This was set to be the first in the "Direct Series" of albums that would utilise this new technology to create modern symphonic works that covered a number of different styles. Sadly, none of the planned sequels emerged and the mysterious new techniques turned out revolve around the Zyklus MPS-1 sequencer and the imaginatively titled Direct system - which was a custom made sequencer. 

The first track "The Motion of the Stars" makes use of this new sequencer with an arpeggio played on a Prophet VS synthesizer. As various shiny digital tones emerge from the ether you can detect a distinct change in sound palette from the album "Mask" (I'm discounting the dreadful "Invisible Connections" at this point). Whilst there are still various analogue synthesizers being used, it is the FM generated sounds and EMU Emulator samples that shine brightest.

As much as the advent of sampling and digital technology resulted in some amazing new sounds, it also brought us some terrible ones too. There's something about the badly sampled electric guitar presets of the late eighties that are particularly disconcerting to me. Unfortunately, Vangelis deploys these sounds throughout "Direct" and the album does have a tenancy to sound a little tacky in places. 

The new age clichés come thick and fast on the second track "The Will of the Wind" which uses guitar samples alongside the much used Emulator II shakuhachi. I like the track "Elsewhere" with its almost perfect ending and "Metallic Rain" proves to be entertaining. On the downside I'm not keen on "Glorianna (Hymn à la Femme)" and "The Oracle of Apollo" sounds a bit underdeveloped. Having said that there's a lot to like here. This album has a new age feel with distinctly eighties sounding instruments - this might not be to everyone's taste, but it is to mine. 3.5/5

One record ata time: 445. Vangelis - Invisible Connections

I can only imagine that whoever bought this record from an Our Price store back in 1985 felt they had just wasted £6.99. Like "Beaubourg" that came before it, this is a Vangelis album that polarises opinion. I've seen one website rather generously describe this record as an "avant-garde puzzle". Personally I would describe it as a "flaming pile of crap". 

I dislike this album as the 'music' it contains consists of nothing but intermittent bleeps and rumbles that are bathed in a long reverb. The fact that the tracklisting on the sleeve is completely incorrect has absolutely no bearing on the experience of the victim....sorry listener. 

I acquired this record without having heard it and, like the person who bought it originally, I feel like I wasted my money (admittedly I didn't spend as much as £6.99 but the statement still applies). There's a lot you can do with thirty nine minutes of your life; whatever you think of, go do that instead of listening to this.  0/5

One record at a time: 444. Vangelis - Mask

Stylistically "Mask" could be considered a companion to Vangelis's earlier album "Heaven and Hell". Both records adopt a classical style and utilise a choir alongside the usual assortment of keyboards. However, this later record has a much broader sound thanks to the inclusion of samples and sequencer driven patterns. I acquired this LP in 2016 and found it quite fascinating from the outset. Whilst the music might not make an immediate impact, it becomes more impressive with repeated listening. 

"Mask" consists of six movements which are divided equally between the two sides of the record. The first movement is a ten minute long, rather grandiose piece that revolves around a synth arpeggio and a complex choral arrangement. Whilst this is an impressive opening, things get really interesting on the second movement. 

I find the string arpeggio here rather amazing and it allows Vangelis to drape his melody seamlessly over the top. By contrast "Movement 3" is much more angular and offers more than a hint of the great man's work on "Blade Runner". As well as their dramatic sound, one aspect of these composition I enjoy is the use a string synthesizer.  

In the days before poly-synths or ROMplers, string synthesisers were a cheap and convenient way of imitating the sound of an orchestra. Vangelis used many different string synthesisers over the years but he is most likely to have used a Roland VP-330 on this record. Personally I much prefer the sound of these analogue keyboards to the sampled sounds Vangelis used towards the end of his career. 

Rather than replicating common or garden acoustic instruments a string synthesizer has a much more intriguing sound. I liken this to the case of the TR-808 drum machine. Yes it was trying to provide an approximation of a drum kit, but it wasn't a direct emulation by any stretch of the imagination. It is the unique sound of the TR-808 that helped make it such a wonderful and unique instrument. I don't see many people waxing lyrical about the sound of a Alesis SR-16 even if it could accurately replicate the sound of an acoustic drum kit. 

On the flip side of the record the fourth movement almost reminds me of something we might have heard on "L'Apocalypse des animaux"; yet this time around the marimbas, percussion and double bass all sound like they are coming out of an Emulator sampler. "Movement 5" is another ten minute long opus that uses a choir alongside a synth arpeggio and Vangelis's trust Yamaha CS-80. Whilst this is an impressive piece, it's just a rehash of the first movement and I'm not sure it offers us anything different. Fittingly the record finishes with the drifting string synthesizer sounds we have heard throughout this album and reprise of the standout second movement. 4/5