PAGE OF LIFE

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*)

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