Greeces has been in trouble for some time now so I gathered it was high time Sundaze put on a positive spin and set the spotlight on Greece's biggest music star Vangelis, I did post a compilation I had compiled at Rhotation 47 but that page got ripped out, still you'll find it at the bottom of the page. Anyway Vangelis has had a long career now and it's interesting to see where he came from that's why I start with his first real solo album " Earth" be it that he still used his full name there, Vangelis O. Papathanassiou the advances in skill and technology become apparent on the album that followed 2 years later Heaven and Hell, the next 4 years he released 10 albums and one of it's most intriguing was Odes , a collabaration with Greek filmdiva Irene Papas. Don't miss it... and that's it for today there will be more later..
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On March 29, 1943, Vangelis was born near Volos, Greece. He apparently began composing at the age of four, and is largely a self-taught musician as he refused to take traditional piano lessons, and throughout his career did not have substantial knowledge of reading or writing musical notation. He studied painting, an art he still practices, at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens. In the early 1960s he was one of the founders of pop group The Forminx (or The Formynx), which became very popular in Greece. The five-piece band played a mixture of cover versions and their own material, the latter written mostly by Vangelis but still sung in English. The Forminx released nine hit singles and a Christmas EP before disbanding in 1966 at the peak of their success. Vangelis spent the next two years mostly studio-bound, writing and producing for other Greek artists.
Around the time of the student riots in 1968, Vangelis founded progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child together with Demis Roussos, Loukas Sideras and Anargyros "Silver" Koulouris. After an unsuccessful attempt to enter the UK, they found a home in Paris, where they recorded their first single, a hit across much of Europe called Rain and Tears. Other singles followed, including two albums, which, in total, sold over 20 million copies. The record sales led the record company to demand a third album, and Vangelis went on to conceive the double-album Aphrodite's Child - 666, based on Revelation, the last book in the Bible. Tensions between members during the recording of 666 eventually caused the split of the band in 1971, but the album was still released in 1972.
While still in Aphrodite's Child, Vangelis had already been involved in other projects. In 1970 he had composed the score for a film called Sex Power (Demis Roussos provided vocals). In 1971, some jam sessions with a group of musicians at Marquee Studios in London had resulted in two albums' worth of material, unofficially released without Vangelis' permission in 1978, titled Hypothesis (aka Visions of the Future), and The Dragon. In 1973 Vangelis' solo career began in earnest. His first "official" solo album was Earth, though it did actually feature a group of musicians including ex-Aphrodite's Child guitarist Silver Koulouris and also vocalist and songwriter Robert Fitoussi (F.R. David). Later in 1974, Vangelis was widely tipped to join another prog-rock band, Yes, following the departure of Rick Wakeman. After a couple of weeks of rehearsals Vangelis decided not to join Yes, he did, however, become friends with Yes' lead vocalist Jon Anderson, and later worked with him on several occasions, including as the duo Jon & Vangelis.
After moving to London, Vangelis signed with RCA Records, set up his own studio, Nemo Studios, and began recording a string of electronic albums, such as Heaven and Hell (1975), an album with classical overtones, occasionally branching into ethnic themes, in contrast with the progressive rock on both the previous and the following albums, Vangelis would return to classical style work ten years later, on Mask (1985). Parts of Heaven and Hell were later used as the theme to the PBS television series Cosmos by Carl Sagan. A melody from Albedo 0.39 called "Alpha" was also used in Cosmos. Another part (the song "So Long Ago, So Clear"), featured guest vocals by Jon Anderson, marking the start of the partnership. They released four albums together, Short Stories (1980), The Friends of Mr. Cairo (1981), Private Collection (1983) and Page of Life (1991).
Albedo 0.39 (1976), a concept album around space and space physics.The title refers to the average albedo value of the planet Earth as it was in 1976. "The reflecting power of a planet or other non-luminous body. A perfect reflector would have an Albedo of 100%. The Earth's Albedo is 39%, or 0.39". Spiral (1977), is a futuristic album, and Vangelis , who designed the cover aswell, makes extensive use of the synthesizer technology of the day; this album is probably the most sequencer-based of his recording career. Each piece has a unique style, and deserves individual treatment. Beaubourg (1978), it contains experimental, atonal and jazz elements, and even elements of musique concrete. The album is meant to reflect life in the Beaubourg district of Paris, when Vangelis lived there in the early '70s. China (1979), although he had never been to China, Vangelis employed Chinese instruments and compositional styles on this concept album. China was conceived during a very active period in Vangelis' recording career, during which he explored the possibilities of electro-acoustic composing. Vangelis employs his synthesizer arsenal to the fullest, generating sound effects and various Chinese-sounding patches on all tracks. Also that year he recorded an album with Greek filmdiva Irene Papas, an electronic rendition of eight Greek folk songs, issued as a record called "Odes".
In 1979, Vangelis provided the score for another animal documentary by Fr�d�ric Rossif, Opera Sauvage. Almost as well known as L'Apocalypse des Animaux, the resulting soundtrack would bring him to the attention of some of the world's top filmmakers. In 1981, Vangelis wrote the score for the film Chariots of Fire, set at the Paris Olympics in 1924. The movie won a half-dozen awards, including an Academy award for Best Picture of the year. Vangelis won the Academy Award for Original Music Score. The opening theme of the film was released as a single in 1982, topping the American Billboard chart for one week after climbing steadily for five months. Other notable Vangelis soundtracks were Antarctica for Nankyoku Monogatari in 1983, and The Bounty in 1984. Vangelis also collaborated in 1981 and 1986 with Italian singer Milva, achieving a large success especially in Germany
In 1982, Vangelis began a collaboration with director Ridley Scott, writing the score for the science fiction film Blade Runner. Capturing the isolation and melancholy of Harrison Ford's character Rick Deckard, the Vangelis score is as much a part of the dystopian environment as the decaying buildings and ever-present rain. A disagreement led to Vangelis withholding permission for his performance of the music from Blade Runner to be released, and the studio instead hired a group of musicians dubbed "The New American Orchestra" to record the official LP released at the time. It would take 12 years before things could be worked out and Vangelis's own work be released in the United States in 1994. In 1992, Vangelis's wrote the score for 1492: Conquest of Paradise, also directed by Ridley Scott. In May 2000, Vangelis composed the music as well as designed and directed the artistic Olympic flag relay portion of the Closing Ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In 2001, Vangelis performed live and released Mythodea, a predominantly orchestral rather than electronic piece that was originally written in 1993, and used by NASA as the theme for the Mars Odyssey mission. In 2002 Vangelis created 2002 FIFA World Cup Official Anthem for the 2002 World Cup, in that work the Korean folk song, Arirang, is the main recurring theme and melody. In 2004, Vangelis released the score for Oliver Stone's Alexander.
In 2007, Vangelis released 2 albums. First was a 3CD set for the 25th Anniversary of Blade Runner, titled Blade Runner Trilogy. Second is the soundtrack for the Greek movie, El Greco, titled El Greco Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
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Originally released in 1973 (with a 1996 PolyGram CD reissue in Greece), Earth is Vangelis' first real solo album. It was made in Paris after the release of 666 and the eventual dissolution of Aphrodite's Child. There's plenty at work on Earth, from the straightforward Euro-rock of the era, to progressive flourishes, to flashes of mysticism, and those ever-prominent synthesizers. So the record represents a moment in time, for sure -- Vangelis seems stuck between rock, pop, and epic scope -- but for the same reason it's an intriguing, engaging listen. Earth's stylistic melting pot means it's not always effective. But its creative drive can't be faulted, and Vangelis consistently favors melody over melodrama.
Vangelis - Earth (flac 232mb)
01 Come On 2:09
02 We Were All Uprooted 6:52
03 Sunny Earth 6:42
04 He-o 4:12
05 Ritual 2:46
06 Let It Happen 4:20
07 The City 1:14
08 My Face In The Rain 4:23
09 Watch Out 3:03
10 A Song 3:28
Vangelis - Earth (ogg 96mb)
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Those used to Vangelis' later and lighter synthesized outings may not be quite ready for this dark, thundering album. While it did provide us with the theme music for the TV series Cosmos and bring Jon Anderson into partnership with Vangelis (following an abortive approach to Vangelis joining Yes) on "So Long Ago, So Clear," it also served up massed Gothic choirs and a musical depiction of all the tortures of the damned, with an impressive amount of string-driven shrieking. Even so, it's a brilliant piece of work that should not be absent from any Vangelis collection.
Vangelis - Heaven And Hell (24bit) (flac 240mb)
or
Vangelis - Heaven And Hell (24bit) (flac 240mb)
1 Heaven And Hell Part 1 17:00
2 So Long Ago, So Clear (Voc.Jon Anderson) 5:03
3 Heaven And Hell Part 2 21:14
Vangelis - Heaven And Hell (24bit) (100mb)
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Papas began her early career in Greece (she was discovered by Elia Kazan), achieving widespread fame there, before starring in internationally renowned films such as The Guns of Navarone and Zorba the Greek, and critically acclaimed films such as Z and Electra. She is a leading figure in cinematic transcriptions of ancient tragedy since she has portrayed Helen in The Trojan Women, Clytemnestra in Iphigenia, and the eponymous parts in Electra and Antigone. She appeared as Catherine of Aragon in the film Anne of the Thousand Days, opposite Richard Burton and Genevi�ve Bujold in 1969. She co-starred in The Trojan Women with Katharine Hepburn, who once said that Papas was "one of the best actresses in the history of cinema".
One of the more unusual moments in Papas' career came in 1970, when she guested on the album 666 by Greek rock group Aphrodite's Child on the track "?" (infinity). She chants "I was, I am, I am to come" repeatedly and wildly over a percussive backing. The track was considered lewd by record company executives, and resulted in the album being withheld from release for two years by Polydor Records. Upon its release in 1972, the song caused some furor in Greece and was again accused of lewdness and indecency by Greek religious figures and government authorities. (but tax dodging is OK) In 1978, Papas collaborated with composer Vangelis in an electronic rendition of eight Greek folk songs, issued as a record called "Odes". The words for the album were co-written by Arianna Stassinopoulos (Arianna Huffington).
Excellent album, inspired Vangelis with the grand old dame of Greek cinema (she was 52 at the time) sometimes feels like a prelude to what was to come with Dead Can Dance.
Vangelis and Irene Papas - Odes (flac 219mb)
01 Les 40 Braves 5:15
02 Neranzoula (Le Petit Oranger) 4:49
03 La Danse Du Feu 6:03
04 Les Kolokotronei 3:16
05 Le Fleuve 6:45
06 Racines 8:50
07 Lamento 8:29
08 Menousis 6:37
Vangelis and Irene Papas - Odes (ogg 113mb)
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Vangelis - Dimension (Greats) ( 80min ^ 188mb)
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Source: http://rho-xs.blogspot.com/2012/02/sundaze-1209.html
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