HEAVEN AND HELL

I was surprised to see Vangelis here, despite his outstanding work 666. And more surprised this album has been rated this high. I myself believe it's a masterpiece, but it certainly doesn't have some features that a mainstream prog album has (like guitar), but it has Jon Anderson anyway :)

Nothing to add to the previous reviewers ideas, Ivan said all that needs to be said. Just a few remarks: This one has almost nothing to do with the albums featured in the Beta section. (well, phaedre and rubycon come closer, but not really) This could be possibly compared to Stratosfear to an extent, and maybe Cyclone, because of the vocals (though everyone will agree that the vocals here are much better!) Vangelis really has it, this is the fifth different style of albums out of 6 (and there's Sex Power of 1970, which is not listed here). He shows what "progression" is. Among the previous 5 albums, only Dragon and Hypothesis sound similar, probably because they are recorded as rehearsals around te same time, most probably with the same line up...

another thing: so far Earth has received better reviews, but I think this one has the capability to overrule it! Surely Earth looks more like a conventional progressive/fusion album, but it falls short of production and innovation. Heaven and Hell stands out as Vangelis' accomplishment point, after 666 of course! That was the accomplishment (and sadly, the offical end) of Aphrodite's Child.

Those who liked this one should definitely check on Spiral and Albedo. Those are the two albums which continue in the footsteps of this album, but this one is definitely superior. And to an extent it can be compared to Tangram (sorry, too many Tangerine Dream talk!!!)

Vangelis proves once again that prog-rock could be made without a guitar.