EARTH

The first solo album by Vangelis following the disintegration of Aphrodite's Child and the long battle to get "666" released combines the psychedelic rock stylings of his former group - heard most clearly on opener Come On - with hints of the direction his career would eventually take, with early New Age and synthesiser experiments mashed in with various "world music" influences from several continents. The general concept appears to be environmental and political in nature, going by the (somewhat hokey) narration in We Were All Uprooted, but on balance the point of the album is difficult to make up, and I find I'm often left wishing Vangelis would pick a direction here and stick with it rather than meandering all over the musical landscape turning up good ideas but not developing them properly. This is far from an essential Vangelis release.