SPIRAL

Back to the electronics, akin to Albedo 0.39, but again, this album is very different. Vangelis is clearly making the best use of existing technology. The title track explodes with an abrupt blast of sound, its arpegiations echoing into the cloudy distance. This pattern is the core of the piece onto which a dramatic theme is overlaid, powerful and majestic. The next track, Ballad, is a gentler piece accented by a vocalization and augmented with bombastic flourishes. Dervish D moves the album into a driving mid-eastern bit of techno. This song is not for the tired or those seeking relaxation. If Ballad had lulled you to drowsiness, Dervish D will wake you up. What was once the second side begins with To the Unknown Man. Here we have a melody, deceptively simple, that is repeated and orchestrated more and more grandly. A military drum beats a march towards the end, which brings the piece to a climax. Actually, this is one of those pieces that could go on for an hour and that would be just fine with me. Having already taking it where it needs to go, though, Vangelis fades this one out. The album closes with 3 + 3, a piece that is both driving and mellow at the same time. Sound processors provides the drive, in a pattern somewhat similar to the title track, but another deceptively simple melody overlays it. This piece, too, fades out, leaving a space behind it, as if we have been spiraled out into the infinite void. The absence of the sound is palpable, yet is also satisfying. Essential Vangelis, and not as eclectic as its predecessors, Spiral represents a new step in the development of an outstanding musical career.