1492 - CONQUEST OF PARADISE (OST)

I usually avoid rating film soundtrack albums, but I make an exception here as I did with Chariots Of Fire as these albums contain some of Vangelis most famous pieces. Very often when music is explicitly made for a film, rather than to be heard solely on its own merits, the result is not very interesting musically. This is partly true of both Chariots Of Fire and the present album, but it is certainly not wholly true. Several moments and passages on this album stand up well on their own. Still, listening (as opposed to merely hearing) to the whole album in one session can however be a quite daunting task.

Vangelis is known for his minimalistic electronic soundscapes, with which he nonetheless sometimes manages to create something quite bombastic. Chariots Of Fire is one example. On 1492 he relies not only on electronic sounds but brings in male and female choirs as well as a plethora of acoustic instruments. The influences are New-Age, World-Music and Classical. It is typical Vangelis, yet at the same time different from anything else I've heard from him. This is majestic, heroic and pompous but without being overblown. There is no doubt about the fact that Vangelis is talented and that the present work is the result of much care and attention to detail. The sonic quality of the recording is simply impeccable.

I have not seen the film for which this music was made, but it is easy to imagine pictures of the vast Atlantic Ocean, the majestic ship, the long coastlines of the unknown land, etc. This is mostly a very pleasant listen and considered as a film soundtrack it is surely among the best of its kind. It is not in any sense "progressive" though, and it is by no means related to Prog Rock. It can thus hardly be put side to side with Vangelis' best works of the 70's such as Spiral and Heaven And Hell where the relation to Prog is more apparent.

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