JON & VANGELIS

Review Nº 833

The Greek musician Vangelis, the keyboardist of Aphrodite's Child in the early of 70's, was a possible candidate, at the time, for the vacant position of the keyboardist of Yes in 1974 when Tony Kaye left the band. It didn't have happened, but there were lively contacts between Vangelis and the Yes' singer Jon Anderson. Already in the following year Jon Anderson appeared on the sixth studio album of Vangelis "Heaven And Hell", as a guest singer. But, finally, three studio albums appeared under the name Jon & Vangelis in the end of the 70's and early of the 80's, "Short Stories" in 1979, "The Friends Of Mr. Cairo" in 1981 and "Private Collection" in 1983. The duo had some commercial success with titles like "I Hear You Now" and "I'll Find My Way Home". In 1991, the duo appeared with another album "Page Of Life".

The genesis of this fourth album of Jon & Vangelis dates back to the summer of 1988, when Anderson went on vacation with his family to the Greek island of Hydra after releasing his fifth solo album "In The City Of Angels". Vangelis was also prowling around the Greek islands on his yacht with a built-in recording studio. As it could not be otherwise, the two old friends soon got down working in which what would be "Page Of Life" that would only emerge three years later.

In 1989 the duo would meet again in Rome for a week, as Vangelis was working there on their new solo album "The City". Again, Vangelis took advantage of Jon Anderson's visit to complete the Greek sessions, augmented and polished at the Sound Studios in Athens in 1988. A new final round of additional recordings and remixes of several previous tracks would take place in mid of 1990 in Paris, where Vangelis had returned after several years wandering around London, United States, Athens and Rome. Finally, in June 1991, "Page Of Life" was released, not without some changes in the content, at the request of Arista, such as the suppression of the dreamlike "Change We Must" and the cutting of the instrumental introduction of "Wisdom Chain", giving way to a more pop ballad of Anderson solo called "Is It Love".

"Page Of Life" is somehow a very interesting album for me. You may call it a beautiful showcase for Anderson's singing and for Vangelis' instrumentation, as always. The lyrics could be described as clever social commentary and messages for world harmony in musical landscapes that allow amazing showcases for both Anderson's angelic vocals and Vangelis' multifaceted synth textures. Half of the album contains music that sounds familiar compared to the previously released albums by Jon & Vangelis. They once again created a very spiritual and musical synergy, which combines elements of rock, classical music, symphonic rock, electronic music, new age and world music. However, the other half of "Page Of Life" contains influences of jazz and soul styles that you'll hardly hear on the previous albums of the duo.

Highlights include the beautiful title track song "Page Of Life", worthy of Jon & Vangelis in their prime, the whimsical and elegant "Is It Love" which is mostly an Anderson's creation with some very Vangelis like piano and electric guitar from several guest musicians, the dreamy and hypnotic ballad "Garden Of Senses" with a beautiful vocal arrangement and the Vangelis' nice sax sound, the sweeping gentle piano/vocal duet "Anyone Can Light A Candle" find Anderson at his most passionate and romantic and the melancholic "Genevieve", with its surging key strings and with an almost oriental backing. The latter has some of Vangelis' simplest but most attractive melodies while "Anyone Can Light A Candle" reappeared on Anderson's solo album "Change We Must" from 1994. That version is very similar to this one.

Other tracks include the graceful and familiar "Shine For Me", "Journey To Ixtlan" that has almost a classical feel and it's probably the most prog song, "Wisdom Chain" is in the familiar territory of the duo with Anderson's vocals and Vangelis' keys motif, "Be A Good Friend Of Mine" is an up-tempo mainstream song whith a 80's pop soud, "Money" is a pop rock song that sounds different from the rest of the album, "Jazzy Box", a light-hearted fusion instrumental with Vangelis creating all manner of effects and "Little Guitar" featuring a rare but sweetly effective acoustic guitar solo.

The bonus track "Sing With Your Eyes" is one of the few survivors from the original 1986 sessions but isn't featured on the original album. That is a shame because this is one of the strongest offerings with its classical style arrangement.

Conclusion: Of the four albums of Jon & Vangelis, "Page Of Life" is the weakest and certainly the less prog. It's full of lyricism but musically is somewhat dispersed and that has aged considerably worse than the previous three albums of the duo. So, whether you like "Page Of Life" or not, it strongly depends on your personal musical taste. If we can forget the prog and that it isn't very cohesive, we must admit that it's an album with some interesting and good moments and when you can still hear the same sound of the duo on many tracks. For me, it has mainly a problem. It contains too much music that was mainly written to chart a single. But others might judge it differently and regard it to be an album equally good as the other three. Again, it's all a matter of taste. So, I don't recommend this album to everybody. I only recommend "Page Of Life" for those who like the gentle side of the things and who likes Anderson's solo work, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

The title song of the second JON & VANGELIS album The Friends of Mr. Cairo is an impressive prog epic in its entire 12- minute length. The single edition (4:20) is basically the first third of it and functions as a catchy, melodic pop song. On the other hand, in my opinion the complete version gets more interesting when the tempo comes down and the duo finds a more sensual approach to the piece inspired by the golden era of Hollywood in the 30's and the 40's. Especially the serene final third of the album version where Jon Anderson sings of "Clark Gable, Fairbanks, Maureen O'Sullivan" is among the definitive highlights of this partnership.

The more straightforward song section nevertheless deserved to be edited into the single format. The main melody has an old-fashioned adventure spirit, and there are sound effects such as bullets flying and car brakes screaming, and voice impressions from the movies -- some of them a bit irritating, to be honest --, while the lyrics are filled with movie references. Mr. Cairo (Joel Cairo) is the character played by Peter Lorre in the film noir classic The Maltese Falcon (1941).

As a side note, the first time I heard any version of 'The Friends of Mr. Cairo' was an instrumental version of the song section, on a Vangelis tribute compilation performed by Ed Starink. Yes, I'm guilty of having bought that sort of a cheap supermarket CD in the early days of my Vangelis listening.

The single's B side song 'Beside' was also taken from the album. It's a romantic, peaceful song. The piano is the main instrument but all kinds of synths join along the way and give the piece a bit of a kitchy feel. Perhaps the song would have functioned better with a simpler piano-centred arrangement.

Vangelis' discography in the early 80's revolved less around his solo albums and more around some of his most iconic soundtracks along with projects with other artists. Three of the albums released during this time was this collaboration between Jon Anderson and himself (named simply as Jon & Vangelis) and this also allowed vocals/lyrics to be better brought into Vangelis' distinctive style. The third album of this particular collaborative effort is called "Private Collection". This one has six shorter tracks and one very long epic track, most of which is very beautiful music that quite effectively spotlight the talents of the two artists. Where "Mr. Cairo", the previous album had a more concept driven affair, this one seems to be more about the individual tracks.

Italian Song - A simple song consisting of Jon singing in Italian and Vangelis providing minimal synths and choral effects.

And When the Night Comes - A staccato and rhythmic background is established before Jon begins singing. This time the song is much more accessible with a chorus/verse structure and with the lyrical subject about love along with the clichés we've come to associate with popular music. The only guest on the album comes along in the second half of the track: Dick Morrissey on saxophone, and this gives the track a warm and Kenny G-like atmosphere. A little too sappy at that point, but at least Vangelis' contributions make it listenable.

Deborah - Probably the duo's most well known track. It's a beautiful and appealing melody, simple, yet lovely. At first, the vocals are accompanied by a piano with reverb, something we have grown accustomed to with Vangelis' style. Symphonic effects are added in as the song progresses along with the passion. In the end, it becomes like a lullaby with a heart-rending melody added to Vangelis' coda to the tune.

Polonaise - This track remains quite peaceful and simple with Jon's vocals being the centerpoint of the track, but after the halfway mark, it suddenly becomes more regal with the dramatic use of percussion for a short section before calming again at the end. The melody here sounds classical-European-inspired. Vangelis adds another coda on this one which simply repeats the main melody with his synths.

He is Sailing - A nice, floating and steady rhythm brings this in immediately with staccato synth riffs and a mostly one note verse and a chorus with a nice hook that meshes quite well with the persistent rhythm. Soaring synth melodies add in the patches between the vocal sections. Excellent track that gives a very positive vibe and Vangelis' contribution stands out quite well making things extremely appealing to listen to. It's music like this that constantly draws me to both artists as it elevates my spirit (in a good way, not a religious way at all).

Horizon - This makes up the entirety of Side 2 as it is nearly 23 minutes long. It starts off with a repeating synth/percussive pattern with a distinctive moderate rhythm that follows a descending chord pattern. It draws you in quite well and this repeats for a few minutes before Anderson's vocals start. The melody here is a bit more complex than the previous tracks, but it is still quite accessible. The vocal melody soon gets more repetitive later as the voice and synths throw in little improvised embellishments as it floats along for several minutes. About halfway through, the chordal and rhythmic pattern breaks down in a somewhat climactic way as the song changes direction. Now it becomes quite ambient and peaceful as the track seeks to develop (or at least make a variation) of the original theme. This quieter section relies more on the treated piano to provide melody while synth effects flow around it. Eventually, more vocals come in with a new melody, some washes of sudden dynamic outbursts flood over the ambience, but are only short dramatic waves as the ambient section continues, but it does eventually build to quite a cinematic ending.

Jon & Vangelis would not do another collaborative effort again until 1991, about 8 years later. In the meantime, Jon Anderson would continue his work with Yes while Vangelis resumed work on his own discography, producing soundtracks and also other collaborations. This album, however, is a shining jewel in the discographies of both artists and seems to be a little underrated. Yes, there are a couple of weak tracks ("And When the Night Comes" and "Polonaise"), but they are still okay and the other tracks outshine them enough to not affect the entire album that much in my opinion. This is a beautiful album that should be a part of the library of fans of either one of these artists and other music collectors.

Both Jon Anderson and Vangelis have discographies (as solo artists) that are sort of hit or miss, some are really great while others are weak. But when they teamed up, they had, for me at least, some very memorable albums, some of my favorites from both artists (minus the Yes albums of course).

"The Friends of Mr. Cairo" is their 2nd collaboration, released 2 years after their first one, in 1981. I have to say that as far as both artist's solo albums, this one has aged quite well. Being as both artists at the time were trying to fit into the new decade at the time, they did so without selling out. In this album, we tend to move away a bit from the experimental feel of the first album "Short Stories" and they work on making this one a bit more accessible, yet they don't compromise in the quality of their output and ingenuity.

The album, for the most part, is more of a homage to old classic cinema, especially evident in the title track, where snippets from films are edited into the music, and done so with class. Vangelis and Anderson both incorporate snippets of themes from a few of the classics along the way, yet they do it without making it feel like they are stealing from the soundtracks while they incorporate the music so that it flows well together. This track, which surpasses 12 minutes, never gets old or stale and, in fact, seems to be divided into two (or maybe more) sections. The talents of both artists really fit together quite well, better, in fact, than their 3rd collaboration "Private Collection". This also helps to elevate this track, and the entire album for that matter. The 2nd track "Back to School" ends up being a little corny and just a bit too happy, but the beat is nice and might even make you tap your foot, just a little bit. But "Outside of This (Inside of That)" comes off a bit more naturally to the pair making up for that somewhat childish track.

The 2nd side of the original version of the album starts with "State of Independence", which was later covered by Donna Summers and, a decade later, a band called "Moodswings" with Chrissie Hynde on vocals, which is where I first became familiar with it. I was a big fan of that version, and when I finally heard this earlier version, I was impressed that the song was written by Vangelis and Anderson. It's a beautiful song and both versions are quite acceptable, yet quite different from each other in their own ways with only the melody being the constant between the two. "Beside" is a shorter track, one that really doesn't stand out much for me. The final track is more cinematic and progressive sounding with complex melodies and lyrics from Anderson and with Vangelis' cinematic flair, both of which work very well together and close the album quite impressively.

Overall, this is a very good album. It's biggest fallback is that it isn't necessarily the most progressive work of either artist, but it is, in my opinion, one that I would still place among my progressive albums. I have always loved the sounds of Vangelis and own almost all of his albums. The same can be said of Yes and Jon Anderson, but many of Anderson and Vangelis' solo albums can be pretty bad, while others are stellar. I place this one in with the best of both artist's works. I can easily give it 4 stars, and about half of the album could be considered progressive, but mostly in a lighter sense of the style. It's definitely not deserving of 3 stars, so I don't feel bad rating at 4, even with the cringe- worthy "Back to School". It is the best of their collaborations.

`Short Stories' is the 1980 debut album that resulted from a collaboration between avant- garde keyboard player Vangelis and the lead singer of symphonic prog legends Yes, Jon Anderson. Although not even remotely as daring as the Seventies work of the Greek composer, nor as exciting as the classic Yes output from that same era, this first work still holds some moments of worthwhile music, with the two artists frequently blending together and complimenting each-other in interesting ways. On this album, the pair occasionally succeed in grafting Anderson's quasi cosmic/hippie enlightened words and Vangelis' spontaneous keyboard flair to mostly strong melodic compositions without truly aiming as low as obnoxious and vapid popular chart/top 40 music. Some moments get a bit drippy here and there (with Anderson involved, that's probably not all that surprising!), but there's a constant airy variety on display, and both the artists bring enough inspiration.

A lengthy and dramatic instrumental build from Vangelis offering reverberating fan-like beats and energetic Hammond runs brings just a touch of unease and mystery throughout opener `Curious Electric'. Jon Anderson soon pops up to offer some matter of fact stream- of-consciousness musings over jagged discordant slicings, and I'm sure ever so briefly his melody drifts to the opening of Yes' `The Revealing Science of God'? `Each and Every Day' begins as a dreamy spacey drift of synths around a protective vocal from Jon that soon grows in power. `Bird Song' is a twinkling synth rumination with a grand chorus. The romantic `I Hear You Now' was a deserved hit single on it's release in the UK, and it's all pretty synths, a lovely melody and a sprightly Anderson vocal with swirling deep-space effects. `The Road' is an acoustic gospel piece with an unsurprisingly reflective lyric punctuated with big churning synth stabs.

`Far Away in Baagad' could be a distant relative to Anderson's `Olias of Sunhillow', droning chanting harmonies and frantic vocals weaving around building synth fanfares. Sadly, from here on the second side of the album takes a sharp dip in quality. `Love Is' has a swooning overwhelming loved-up vocal from Jon over New-Age ethereal synth washes, sweet but get's a little overwrought and definitely overstays it's welcome. `One More Time' is even more sickly-sweet, a late-night jazzy electric piano ballad with a syrupy vocal. A playful, almost theatrical vocal from Jon is seriously grating throughout the quirky `Thunder' too. Thankfully the closing track `A Play Within A Play' is much more interesting, with longer instrumental shimmering synth passages around a soothing vocal, before breaking into an up-tempo synth freak-out in the middle! If only more of the second side had been this inventive and promising!

One thing instantly noticeable is how confident and freed Jon Anderson's vocals are throughout `Short Stories'. Compare his performance on this album to his by-the-numbers going through the motions on the 1978 Yes album `Tormato'. Likewise, Vangelis seems up to the challenge of reigning in his more self -indulgent tendencies, and it's nice to hear him focused and a little more subdued after his schizophrenic mid to late 70's solo works! Although hardly a progressive blowout, and despite some of the later stretches getting a little too cute, `Short Stories is still an intelligent and often tasteful adult pop release. It's gentle, but there's still moments of artistic inventiveness and quirky flourishes to keep things interesting.

Three stars.

(Special thanks to Sam (Archives member Meltdowner) for mentioning this one to me, glad I gave it a chance!

A wonderful, magical album that came at just the right time. Jon was leaving Yes and found a nice place to express his more laid-back musical tendencies of the time. Apart from the weak opening track, this collection of songs is a delight for fans of Anderson the vocalist and melodist. The high points are the through-composed "Each And Everyday/Bird Song" and the absolutely mesmerizing "One More Time." These two display such a mastery of advanced melodic and vocal composition I get goose bumps. Just wonderful. Turn off the lights, put on the headphones and slip into this album!

The Friends of Mr Cairo is a much more accessible album than Jon & Vangelis' first album "Short Stories". I like this work very much. By this, the second album of thiers, there are fewer dreamlike quailities and more simple and evocative structures. Some may find the electronic arrangements dated. I never had a problem with that, there are some lovely spacious moods in this music that some listeners don't appreciate. Perhaps you could say it is of its time, but that is what is fragile and charming about it in many ways. I have the second edition of the ablum and it starts with "I'll Find My Way Home" which is simple, catchy and very laid back. One of my favourite Jon & Vangelis tracks follows, it's called "State of Independence". I would forgive a lot of people for appreciating the Donna Summer version of the song more. She covered it a year or so after this album's release, and her version was good, but if you get to hear this version first, and give it plenty of spins, it kind of gets under your skin. In a good way of course. It has a nice bouncy rhythm but still manages to stay on a mellow key. I like the sax in this song. It brought in some interesting textures to thier music. There are some different ideas and themes that run through the songs and I think some listeners complain it is inconsistent in that respect, but don't let that put you off, just enjoy the music. "The Mayflower" and the titile track are good pieces and quite interesting but my favourite of all on the whole album is the last song "Outside Of This (Inside Of That)". It is very much in the same spacey vein as most songs from the previous album. A very good album for your collection. Three and a half stars.

An interesting album indeed, Jon&Vangelis' first effort. I definitely find it is the most progressive and complex in its arrangements compared to the other albums I have heard of theirs. "Curious Electric" opens, it's very unusual and grand as well. The futuristic electronic sounds are spectacular in places and what a finale Vangelis produces! Jon's lyrics are playful and innocent which I like. "Each And Everyday" and "Bird Song" present the more sentimental and dreamy qualities the album holds a lot of the way through. It is difficult to get these songs to stick in my head, they certainly aren't as memorable as the ones on the other albums, but very pleasurable nonetheless. The ones that do stick to me are heavenly. "I Hear You Now", might be the first to grab your attention. I think it could be their best piece ever, or at least one of the best. "The Road" and "One More Time" are really nice but the last track "A Play Within A Play" is fabulous, a track I love more every time I hear it. "Short Stories" is worth a few listens especially if you enjoy Vangelis' music and of course if you enjoy anything Jon Anderson has done too! But most would agree that they work very well together. Three solid stars.

I have the original 1991 version of this album which starts with "Wisdom Chain". A decent starting song. Jon is in good voice with his high vocals. The usual interesting keyboard arrangements by the great Vangelis are there. There is something more uplifting about this, the duo's last studio album. The title piece is the second track and one of the more memorable examples. "Money" is a nice take on the music industry I think, though is one part of the album that sounds quite dated. However, from the lovely "Garden of Senses" it becomes really perfect for winding down, the moods become more romantic and ambient. The second half pretty much keeps to spacey, sometimes ethereal, relaxing sounds. "Is It Love", "Anyone Can Light a Candle", "Shine For Me" and "Geneviere" are all splendid pieces. I believe the CD I have is a re-release because it has "Change We Must" as a bonus track, also a very nice song and quite a fine closer. I have been listening to this album a lot recenty as well as Jon & Vangelis' first two releases, this in particular is a rather pleasant and elegant piece of work. As I said, there are a number of songs that reveal their strengths and magic more from towards the second half, so in all "Page of Life" gets three and a half stars.

This album is generally the less interesting for me from their discography, but anyway it is a good album. "Italian song" is a song without real lyrics, with Anderson singing in what he maybe considered to be an "italian language" without being really sung in the Italian language, with the vocals with some added echoes and very good "atmospheric" keyboards by Vangelis. "And When the Night Comes" is a simple mellow ballad not very interesting for me."Deborah" is another slow song maybe wrtitten about Anderson's daughter of the same name. "Polonaise" has some interesting Classical Music keyboards playing by Vangelis. "He is Sailing" is a bit more "energetic" song which is different from the previous 4 songs, which are slower and quieter. "Horizon" is a 23 minutes long song, the most interesting and the best from all the songs in this album, with more contrasts in moods, but "romantic" anyway, with a very good keyboards instrumental section by Vangelis with a lot of influence from Classical Music, and a very good final section with vocals by Anderson. The general sound of this album is of echoes added to the vocals and "atmospheric" keyboards. There is the use of more programmed keyboards and drum machines, updating their sound for the mid eighties. I think that Jon and Vangelis created very good music together, even if this album is not one of their best albums in their discography.