EL GRECO

Maybe Oceanic proved too light. El Greco, a tribute to a fellow Cretan, is a dark and rich as anything anywhere else. The tempos are slow, the melodies ponderous, seemingly to take minutes to run through a single line. Each piece is like the slow rising and falling of the waves of the deep sea. As he did in the mid-80s, there are no titles, only ten movements ranging from 3 ½ to nearly 12 minutes. The album thus functions as a whole, one that cannot satisfactorily be taken in bits and pieces. At 73 minutes total time, that's a lot to chew on. It is also incredibly satisfying. The sonorous tones express the times of El Greco, times where The Church still dominated. The tones also serve as a aural parallel to El Greco's style of painting: the long slow melodies follow the elongated bodies, the occasional flash of bright tone suggests El Greco's often spare use of color, the few pieces that sound uplifting emulate the upward gazing faces of El Greco's subjects. Both painter and composer have created work of a deep spiritual nature. None of this shallow fly-by-night C & E spirituality. No, here that which is deeper is also that which is higher. Yet it is the deepness that we experience primarily. It is only after several listens that the true richness of this album sinks in. The surface appears dark, underneath are the depths, the depths of the ocean which both artists crossed to fulfill their talents, the depths of creativity that could not be produced by a young inexperienced, albeit talented, artist, the depths of sound here, layer upon layer upon layer. If the words dark, deep, and rich keep coming up in this review it is because these words best suit the music. Those who introduced to Vangelis during his Direct period, or even Blade Runner, and enjoyed that style, would be put-off by this one. Those that appreciated Vangelis for lush orchestration must admit he has outdone himself here. If the opening of Oceanic was an attempt to present as much rich lushness into one piece, this album takes that attempt several steps further for its entire duration. Arguably his best work so far. If you measure your prog in notes per second, you will be disappointed. This one is best measured in seconds per note. I recommend you take the time to dip yourself into the wine-dark sea of this album, let the deep waves roll over you, fill you, and you will be richly rewarded.