SPIRAL

I like this album even better than its excellent predecessor "Albedo 0.39". "Spiral" recaptures and maintains the aforementioned album's spirit, although I find the material in this album more solid and cohesive in terms of composition, despite not achieving the same level of excitement in the most epic passages. The amazing namesake opener is yet another Vangelis classic, catchy, atmospheric, and full of well crafted adornments: the section that fills the last two minutes is pure keyboard-centered progressive music, indeed, pompously seasoned with drums, tympani, bells and other orchestral percussives. After the splendid climatic closure the listener has to feel stunned and excited about what will come next. And the following track turns out to be an instrumental ballad precisely titled 'Ballad': keeping a similar symphonic flare to the previous track, this one explores more intimate realms, with a fluid interaction between the electric piano and the synths providing romantic nuances. 'Dervish D' is more pop- oriented, with a catchy motif and recurring synthesized sequence played on a funky pattern: I remember that, back in the late 70s, there were lots of Spanish TV and radio programs that used this track and 'Spiral' as background ambience and/or promo jingle. The most prominent touch of solemnity is reserved for the last two tracks, 'To the Unknown Man' and '3 + 3'. The former is constructed as some sort of symphonic poem, instilling a mixed ambience of melancholy and majestic celebration; the martial rhythm pattern is increasingly enriched by the addition of various textures and orchestrations craftily ordained, until the fade-out smoothly slides away. The latter is more frontally bombastic, almost Germanic (Wagnerian, may I say), albeit keeping a strong cohesion regarding the album's overall splendorous tendency. In conclusion, "Spiral" stands out as an absolute gem of electronic music's tradition, and of course, it serves as a vehicle for the expression of Vangelis' musical ambitions in a crossroad of electronic avant- garde and symphonic prog.