SHORT STORIES

A friendship that turned into collaboration. Not too surprising, really, considering Vangelis provided much assistance on Jon Anderson's first solo album, Olias of Sunhillow, and that Jon had appeared on Heaven and Hell, See You Later, and Opera Sauvage. This is also the first of four collaborative albums they did. The two had a distinct style not found in any other works of theirs. Short Stories has a unique sound to, independant of anything else the duo did collectively and separately. There is a lyricism to it all that I can only describe as mystical. Curious Electric starts of with one of those driving rhythms Vangelis excels at. The music virtually stops and an irregular section begins which features Jon's vocals. This comes to an end and the piece returns to its original drive. Many of the tracks are along the same lines of what they would do later: Each and Every Day/Birdsong, I Hear You Now, Love Is/One More Time. The Road is the standout beauty in this set, with a luminous mellow mysticism to it, and acoustic guitar to boot. Far Away In Baagad is odd in much the same way curious electric is only the roles are reversed. Thunder seems a meditation on innocence and death as a good thing. The album closes with A Play Within A Play which is mellow for the most part except for that one section where Vangelis brings the drive back but with considerable more bombast than before. After the climax, the album winds down to end on a soft note. Serious Vangelis fans might find this the most appealing of the Jon and Vangelis recordings since it is less popish and more adventurous. Eclecticism strikes again. Yes fans generally don't get into it too much. I find it interesting because the style here is different from anything either has done although we do find typical Jon Anderson and Vangelis things going about. Some of their worst tendencies are brought out, notably Jon Anderson's sentimentality; Vangelis occasionally wallows in simple pop rhythms. These tendencies will be brough out more strongly in later releases. But still, there are the neo-mysticisms and the lush spaciness, so we know whom we are listening to. And anyone who knows will recognize a Jon and Vangelis recording instantly.