Vangelis is a greek composer. He is one of the pioneers of electronic music along icons; Jean michel Jarre, Mike Oldfield and Tangerine Dream. He has elevated the electronic music scene to new levels by blending genres and creating new ones. His melodic and atmospheric music has inspired me a great deal. He has released an impressive number of albums throug the years. As a solo artist, as part of "Jon and Vangelis" (With Yes-singer Jon Anderson), plus a large number of projects with other musicians. I will describe some of his work, that has had the biggest influence on me personally.

In 1973 he composed the brilliant album "L'apocalypse Des Animaux" for the Frederic Rossif's wild life film. This album would mark the road toward the electronic era of Vangelis. The album has a sort of Ennio Morricone feel to it. The theme melody "La Petite Fille De La Mer" is my absolute all time Vangelis favorite. It's simple but brilliant. Also "La Mort Du Lout" stands out as one of his best tunes today. The rest of the album has a very warm jazzy feel to it. It's a nice blend of acoustic and electronic music

In the mid seventies he established his own studio in London called "Nemo". The first release from this studio was the album "Heaven and Hell" (1975), which became his first real commercial succes. The album also featured his first collaboration with singer Jon Anderson. The year after he recorded "Albedo 0,38" as a pure electronic peace. It has the classic themes of "Pulstar" and "alpha" (Another favorite), which are probably among his best known melodies. The rest of the album is rather experimental. Which brings us to the album "Beaubourg" (1978). This was a dramatic move in a new and experimental direction. It's a very strange and abstract piece of music. It features two tracks that are basicly a collage of sounds put together. It's probably more art than real music, but I do find it interesting.

By the end of the seventies, he had seriously turned to the use of synthesizers as a musical expression."Opera Sauvage"(1979), was a great result of this development. It's a very smooth album with well arranged synthmelodies. One of my favorites. The album has a great atmosphere and has a lot of catchy tunes. It features the unforgettable themes; "Hymne" and "L'Enfant" In this era he also released the albums "China"(1979) and "Spiral"(1977).

In 1981 he composed the soundtrack for "Chariots of fire", from which he was awarded an Oscar for best musical score. The main theme stands out as one of the most memorable electronic themes of all time. The following year he made the soundtrack for Ridley Scot's cult classic "Blade runner". The overall sound of this peace is very dark and moody, but suits the imagery of the film perfectly. The general favorite from this album is the "End titles" theme. Even though the film came out in 1982, the soundtrack was not released until 1994.

In 1983 he released yet another soundtrack. This time for a Japanese film called "Antarctica" directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara. "Antarctica" is a very soft and calming album, and is among his best work to date. Despite the succes he had with recent albums, he suddenly turned away from his characeristic sound in the mid eighties, and began to explore new styles of music. He released a couple of lesser known albums, demonstrating a more experimental aspect of his musical talent. In the late eighties he returned to his more melodic side, with the release of "Direct". A collection of very diverse melodies. This album introduced a new sound of Vangelis, as he started working with sampling. The next album "The city" (1990) gave a clue about the musical direction Vangelis would take next.

In 1992 he released the soundtrack for another Ridley Scott film. The epic: "Conquest of paradise". This turned out to be some of his best work ever. The main theme is very powerful with a grandious choir and a melodic theme. A few years after it's release, it suddenly and surpricengly became a huge single hit, and turned out to be one of the biggest selling instrumentals of the 1990's. The album has a very sad, almost tragic feel to it. Especially "Monastery Of La Rabida" is really sad but very beautiful. In my opinion this is probably the best soundtrack ever released, even though the film itself was less than spectacular. However the music from the released soundtrack album and the actual score of the film differs alot, and there are many passages and melodies in the film not represented on the album. Its a pitty, because those passages are really beautiful, and provides every scene in the film with great emotion. The music beautifully illustrates the senses of longing, despare, hope and dreams.

The following albums were released in 1995 and 1996. "Voices" and "Ocean". These are considered fairly mainstream, compared to his previous releases. However they are both great albums. Very relaxing and atmospheric music. I sense that he has reached a point in his career, where he feels comfortable and confident with his compositions. That shines throug the music. "Voices" also features 3 vocal songs, which are very well performed and suits his style of music well. I hope to see more of this in the future. The latest release is "El Greco" which tops his artistic performance. It's almost a classical peace - played on synthesizers. I imagine that he is very proud of this one. The album was actually released limited a few years earlier on a classical label. Fortunally it has been widely released now. It's somehow simular to "1492", but has its own sound and atmosphere. It's very dark and gloomy, yet very personal.

There has been released quite a few Vangelis compilations over the years. The most recent are "Portraits" (1996) and "Reprise 1990 - 1999 " (2000). Compilation albums seldom represents the true musical talents of an artist. So is the case with "portraits". Many great classic Vangelis themes are absent from the album, which is quite frustrating. Also I find that his work with "Jon & Vangelis" are out of place on this album. A Vangelis compilation should be pure Vangelis. "Reprise" however, perfectly captures the spirit and sound of Vangelis musical journey throug the 90's. The distinctive yet diverse sound of this Vangelis era is perfectly mixed together, and the compilation album gets a life of its own.

A few years ago he released; "Mythodea" dedicated to the NASA Mission: "Mars Odyssey". He also performed this material in a huge concert at the ancient Temple of Zeus in Athens, celebrating science and mythology.

He recently made the soundtrack for Oliver Stone's; "Alexander". While the soundtrack is far from the glory of "Conquest of Paradise", it certanly has the epic Vangelis sound. Unfortunately some of the great melodies of the film, is nowhere to be found on the soundtrack.