CAN YOU HEAR THE DOGS BARKING? [AKA: IGNACIO] (OST)

In Italy this album was released in a double compilation together with La Fete Sauvage. The compilation was simply entitled "Vangelis Papathanassious" and the cover was totally black with a photo of the artist in the internal sleeve.

Even if the package was quite poor, I have to say that the two albums listened together are better than taken alone. I have given a low rating to La Fete Sauvage, but listened together with Ignacio (aka "Entends, Tu Le Chiens Aboyer") the effect is enhanced. They are more than the sum of the parts.

The side A of this album is dark and symphonic. Maybe for the low pitch choir, maybe because of the deadly bells, a great part of side A is like a journey into the ancient Greek "Ade". Close to the infernal part of Heaven and Hell. There are no demons. Only lost souls. When it pauses from being dark it becomes celestial but it's just question of "moments". As on La Fete Saucage there is a central recurring theme that comes and go several times, but unlike La Fete Sauvage, this central theme is good enough. It closes the Side A.

What next? the B side is totally different. It opens jazzy. It has rhythm, something that is totally absent from Side A. 6 minutes of this jazzy part and it stops. What we have now are "noises" of the kind that Vangelis will exploit more on his controversial "Invisible Connections" eight years later. I remember a review on a magazing of that time comparing Ignacio, and in particular this noisy part to Ummagumma. I totally disagree. Ummagumma was usually taken as a reference for each "noisy" music by some reviewers without a prog background.

However the problem with this album, as well as for La Fete Sauvage, is that the two sides are totally disconnected. This noisy part is not bad, but there's not a fall and a rebirth, as on "Echoes" or on "Saucerful of Secrets" (just to speak of noisy Floyds). We move from the jazzy start to a noisy, then to a spacey and psychedelic section that apparently doesn't lead anywhere. The spacey part is very good and people who likes Tangerine Dream will really appreciate it.

The last five minutes with a mandolin and minor chords don't have anything to do with the rest. The taste is Mediterranean, more Italian than Greek maybe. I personally don't like this genre, even when played by Vangelis. A bad filler to reach about 40 total minutes.

Having rounded down "La Fete Sauvage" I will now round up its twin that's a bit better. 3 stars for the dark, the noisy and the spacey parts. Let's ignore the rest.