Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear)

Performer: Vangelis
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: PORTRAITS is a collection of popular songs from throughout Vangelis' recording career. Personnel includes: Vangelis, Jon Anderson. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Personnel: Vangelis (keyboards). Photographer: David Scheinmann. Portraits (So Long Ago, So Clear) is a set of 15 pieces covering approximately 20 years of Vangelis' career. He is, undoubtedly, the most commercial electronic musician ever. He has recorded dozens of major motion picture soundtracks and dozens of delightful albums. This CD is an accurate cross section of those efforts. Vangelis is a brilliant musician. One of the major events of his career, however, was his unfortunate pairing with Jon Anderson, the vocalist from Yes. Anderson's high-pitched falsetto is an excellent compliment for that band's progressive rock & roll. As the accompaniment for the deep atmospheres and sequences of Vangelis' soundscapes, however, Anderson's vocals are grating and irritating. So, about two-thirds of this disc is excellent; one-third of it is a throwaway. ~ Jim Brenholts

Greek electronic composer Vangelis's first taste of fame was as a founding member of the 1960s rock group Formynx, who enjoyed wild acclaim in their home country of Greece. In 1968, Vangelis left Greece for Paris, where he formed the prog-rock group Aphrodite's Child, whose main legacy is a long-form concept album called 666, based on the book of Revelations. In 1974, after a tentative foray into film scoring, Vangelis released his first solo album, the synthesizer-laden EARTH. He continued to record both as a solo artist and as a member of the duo Jon & Vangelis, with Yes's Jon Anderson, but didn't hit it big in the U.S. until the early '80s, with his smash hit film score for CHARIOTS OF FIRE. He followed this with the critically loved BLADE RUNNER score, and has continued to craft well-loved electronic/New Age solo albums and film scores notable for their expansive, dramatic lushness.

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