Vangelis - Chariots Of Fire - 1981 (24/96 Vinyl Rip)

"Chariots of Fire" is a 1981 musical score by Greek electronic composer Vangelis for the British film "Chariots of Fire", which won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Original Music Score.
The London Olympics 2012 ; have you seen the opening ceremony yesterday? Mr. Bean played (dreamed) a very funny parody in the "Chariots Of Fire" movie. A nice opportunity to listen the soundtrack of this movie; I hope you enjoy this Vangelis masterwork!

Note > No silence was deleted; please burn this album gapless..

Review:

This is the album that put progressive electronic composer Vangelis on the map and brought him to a wider audience. In fact, Chariots of Fire (1981) was the first synthesizer score to win an Oscar and was dedicated to Vangelis' father (who happened to be a sprinter) who died just before Chariots of Fire was released. Although I am extremely fond of his work with Aphrodites Child and his solo albums from the 1970s, there is enough of the sweeping, sunlight-beaming-down-through-the-clouds analog synthesizer "thing" on this album to keep this hard core progressive rock/electronica fan extremely satisfied. In fact, this may very well be my favorite Vangelis album.

What I find most impressive about this album is the care with which Vangelis composed each piece - the arrangements are excellent, with skillfully crafted melodies and harmonies plastered throughout. The different voices of the analog synthesizers used on this album, e.g. ARP 2600 modular; Korg PSS3300; Moog Minimoog; Oberheim 4-Voice; Roland Jupiter 4; Sequential Circuits Prophet 5; Yamaha CP80 electric grand; Yamaha CS80 etc, are used very well, lending each piece a very symphonic feel. For those of you that are curious, the synthesizer tone colors are very warm and analog sounding - as an analog synthesizer fan, I enjoyed this album a great deal.

The seven tracks on the album range in length from 2'04" to the epic 20'41" Chariots of Fire suite and are very contemplative and at times quite gloomy. In the midst of this grey mist, there is a rousing and uplifting version of Jerusalem (an English hymn written by Blake and set to music by Parry) complete with the grandeur of a pipe organ and a choir. The theme on the opening track Titles, is restated in the closing piece Chariots of Fire, thus bringing all of the pieces together.

Well there you have it. This is an excellent album by Vangelis that stands as the first synthesizer score to receive recognition at such a high level. Very highly recommended along with Opera Sauvage (1979).

Jeffrey J. Park@Amazon.com


Track List:

01 Titles
02 Five circles
03 Abraham’s theme
04 Eric’s theme
05 100 metres
06 Jerusalem
07 Chariots of Fire

Musicians:

Vangelis - All Instruments
Ambrosian Singers - Choir on Track 6
John Mc Carthy - Choir Director