Panthera 0 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 What are your thoughts on this composer? I've only heard his Chariots of Fire score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neimoidian 14 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 I have heard "Blade Runner", "Alexander" and "Oceanic" plus several single cues from his most popular works. I enjoy many of his cues, I love the first score. I appreciate the unique atmosphere and sound he can create with his synths, I also like the way he combines them with the real instruments. His work shouldn't be judged in the same terms like music from other composers, since it is unlike it. When I listen to "Memories of Green" from "B.R." I completely don't mind it is just couple of synth strings notes and the machine that makes "Bing", and not the late-romantic composition with several countermelodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 I think he serves his respective movies very well and I quite like some of themes. But like Brad Fidel - apart from the odd cue, he's nearly impossible to listen to on headphones as standalone music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Most of the movies his synth sound doesn't fit but when it fits , it's perfection like Blade Runner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panthera 0 Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 What is his music like to the Japanese film Antarctica? (Eight Below was the remake) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Awful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Barnsbury 8 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 The music ruined Blade Runner for me. I know it's a widely beloved score, but it just sounded ridiculous and horribly outdated to me. Perhaps if I had watched it in context, during those wonderful 80's...Ray Barnsbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldsmithfan 6 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I think he serves his respective movies very well and I quite like some of themes. But like Brad Fidel - apart from the odd cue, he's nearly impossible to listen to on headphones as standalone music.You say that like it's fact!The music ruined Blade Runner for me. I know it's a widely beloved score, but it just sounded ridiculous and horribly outdated to me. Perhaps if I had watched it in context, during those wonderful 80's...I thought the score worked wonderfully with the film and I didn't see it until 2005 for cryin' out loud! I think sometimes people hear synths and think "DATED!" without really listening. Although something can be dated and still good (Fright Night, Hour of the Gun) I don't find the score to Blade Runner to be remotely as dated as other scores that are more widely accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Mark 3,625 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 i kinda like alexander Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Barnsbury 8 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I thought the score worked wonderfully with the film and I didn't see it until 2005 for cryin' out loud! I think sometimes people hear synths and think "DATED!" without really listening.Oh, that's not me at all. You'll find that I'm more accepting in general of all things, film music included, than a lot of people here. It just sounded bad to me. I'm not even saying it's a bad score like most people would...just that it really distracted me and pulled me out of the film, and that I didn't enjoy it. At all.Ray Barnsbury Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joni Wiljami 1,206 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I hope you'll give it a second (and third) chance after 10 years of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 75 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 His music doesn't always work, but when it does, it works very well. Blade Runner is his best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romão 2,274 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Some tracks in 1492 are pretty fantastic, like The Monastery of La Rabia or Eternity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 His music doesn't always work, but when it does, it works very well. Blade Runner is his best.Absolutely! Blade Runner's multi-styled score is probably one of the best marriages between music and images. The two are so organically intertwined that they are inseperable. Vangelis was the perfect composer for Blade Runner because he let himself inspire solely by the visuals. For those who are interested, the latest issue of Empire magazine (UK) has a special of 20 pages named "25 years of blade Runner" which also includes words about the score and vangelis.Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panthera 0 Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 AwfulI heard it was very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 The only thing I really know if that Conquest Of Paradise track that suddenly became a hit single in 1995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigbob 0 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I'm a big fan of Vangelis. I like most of his soundtrack work, but really like his non-soundtrack stuff as well. Albedo 0.39 is masterful as is Heaven and Hell.What is his music like to the Japanese film Antarctica? (Eight Below was the remake)I never saw the movie, but I do own teh soundtrack and it is one of my favorites by him. I also like the Bounty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldsmithfan 6 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 I thought the score worked wonderfully with the film and I didn't see it until 2005 for cryin' out loud! I think sometimes people hear synths and think "DATED!" without really listening.Oh, that's not me at all. You'll find that I'm more accepting in general of all things, film music included, than a lot of people here. It just sounded bad to me. I'm not even saying it's a bad score like most people would...just that it really distracted me and pulled me out of the film, and that I didn't enjoy it. At all.Ray BarnsburyWell, in that case, at least you gave it a try. Some pople read "Vangelis" or "Brad Fiedel" and the idea of liking the music becomes completely alien to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ymenard 54 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Vangelis is somebody who's pretty bizarre in the world of movie music. All his work is often done in real-time, adding layer upon layer of synths. He doesn't write or knows how to read music.Antarctica (bootleg and official)Blade Runner (2CD bootleg and official)1492Chariots of FireL'Apocalypse des AnimauxAll essential Vangelis. But note that he has SO many unreleased stuff, he doesn't like to release his works. Instead he releases compilations, like Portrait, Themes, Themes II and Odyssey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AI 0 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Vangelis is somewhat unique in film music, as he essentially records his scores live to the picture, yes. That is his way, and if you learn something about him, you will understand why, and how he is able to do this. But, Vangelis does know how to read and write music. He is classically trained in piano. And he has many millions of 'fans' all over the world, far more than even John Williams, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldovia 0 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 'Blade Runner' is both a classic movie and soundtrack in my opinion. 'The Bounty' is also a great movie and the Vangelis soundtrack is also very good,plus the two scenes in 'The Year of Living Dangerously' in which two diff versions of L'enfant are used are simply timeless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farawyn 0 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 His music doesn't always work, but when it does, it works very well. Blade Runner is his best.Absolutely! Blade Runner's multi-styled score is probably one of the best marriages between music and images. The two are so organically intertwined that they are inseperable. Vangelis was the perfect composer for Blade Runner because he let himself inspire solely by the visuals. For those who are interested, the latest issue of Empire magazine (UK) has a special of 20 pages named "25 years of blade Runner" which also includes words about the score and vangelis.AlexI definitely agree, Alexcremers. The score from Blade Runner, one of the weirdest ever conceived, is also one of the best. It illustrates perfectly the movie.It's quite a pity that Vangelis doesn't make scores more often. Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire (the main theme and the gorgeously delicate "Abraham's theme" are fantastic), 1492, Alexander and a couple more... Quite a small production for so many years.However, I must say I am FURIOUS that Chariots won the oscar over Raiders ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Bladerunner is the only Vangelis score I really like. I find his non-soundtrack albums to be superior in general. Earth, Albedo 0.39, Soil Festivities, and China are masterpieces of synth-rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire (the main theme and the gorgeously delicate "Abraham's theme" are fantastic) ...There's a weird cue on this album that I like. It sounds very "alone in space" and it's strangely followed by a hymn. The other cue that I like is when one of the runners makes a fall. We see it in slow motion together with some sad Blade Runneresque music. Is that by any chance Abraham's Theme?AlexBladerunner is the only Vangelis score I really like. I find his non-soundtrack albums to be superior in general. Earth, Albedo 0.39, Soil Festivities, and China are masterpieces of synth-rock!Me too, actually. But for me it goes downwards from Soil Festivities. China is a classic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 For me Soil Festivities is his last great album. Since then he tends to either do overblown opera-style pieces which just sound like he's making it up as he goes along, and whic have way too much reverb making everything sound like a wishy washy mess ("Mythodea", "El Greco", etc), or he does digitized easy-listening pop albums like "Oceanic", "Direct", "The City" etc. Between 1970 and 1984, however, he seemed to take more risks, and make consistently fresh sounding and unpredictable good music. I'd even take his early jam session albums "The Dragon" and "Hypothesis" over his post-1984 music. They are so much more interesting.Whatever happened to Stewdog? This is his kind of thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farawyn 0 Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 There's a weird cue on this album that I like. It sounds very "alone in space" and it's strangely followed by a hymn. The other cue that I like is when one of the runners makes a fall. We see it in slow motion together with some sad Blade Runneresque music. Is that by any chance Abraham's Theme?Abraham' s Theme is played, if I remember well, when Ben Cross' character, Abraham, remembers loosing against Eric ; the hymn could be Eric's theme (track 4 in the album). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 There's a weird cue on this album that I like. It sounds very "alone in space" and it's strangely followed by a hymn. The other cue that I like is when one of the runners makes a fall. We see it in slow motion together with some sad Blade Runneresque music. Is that by any chance Abraham's Theme?Abraham' s Theme is played, if I remember well, when Ben Cross' character, Abraham, remembers loosing against Eric ; the hymn could be Eric's theme (track 4 in the album).Actually the hymn is Hubert Parry's masterpiece "Jerusalem". The piece immediately preceding it is called "100 Metres". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maglorfin 196 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I'm not a big fan of his work, but I like the guy, listen to some of his CDs I own on a regular basis and admire some magnificent themes he composed, most of which have already been mentioned here. I also like his non-soundtrack work. In my opinion, he is good at what he does (synth work etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,792 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 i kinda like alexanderin the context of this movie... that was so wrong.... My opinion on Vangelis ( ): Chariots wining over Raiders is a crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 The main title to Chariots is phenomenal, but only in it's original synth and piano version. I think the orchestral version is extremely dull and tacky. The rest of the Chariots score is nice in places, but avoid the 20 minute final track, it's just Vangelis improvising at the piano for the most part, and not particularly well or interestingly. Chariots should by no means have beaten Raiders for best score Oscar, but it's a damn site better than Fame beating Empire Strikes Back the previous year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I do not concider Vangelis to be a serious film composer. His forays into the art-form have rarely been impressive, and, when they have, only in that he came up with a good melody, rarely in a truely impressive film score. Chariots of Fire and 1492 are terrific themes, but they're just that. Nothing else about the scores are impressive. Anyone can write a melody. It's what you do with it that counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Skywalker 1,792 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 I rather prefer the orchestral chariots than the synthy one... :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewdog1 50 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Whatever happened to Stewdog? This is his kind of thread!I'm alive. I just have been away for a while. Life has taken over. But I feel dirty because I haven't been into movie scores much in the past year. Maybe it's time to change that.The guard must have changed around here while I've been gone, cause the last couple of Vangelis threads had several spewing forth venom for the man. I'm surprised KM actually likes Alexander.For me Soil Festivities is his last great album. Since then he tends to either do overblown opera-style pieces which just sound like he's making it up as he goes along, and whic have way too much reverb making everything sound like a wishy washy mess ("Mythodea", "El Greco", etc), or he does digitized easy-listening pop albums like "Oceanic", "Direct", "The City" etc. Between 1970 and 1984, however, he seemed to take more risks, and make consistently fresh sounding and unpredictable good music. I'd even take his early jam session albums "The Dragon" and "Hypothesis" over his post-1984 music. They are so much more interesting.I pretty much agree with you here. Although Oceanic is just one of my favorites. Maybe it's because it was the first album of his that I purchased on a whim. It's probably the most New Agey of all his records.However, the final two tracks in 1492 are some of my favorite pieces he has ever done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Anyone can write a melody. It's what you do with it that counts.Actually, what the music does to the images is what counts and sometimes Vangelis establishes incredible emotion and mood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morlock 11 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Indeed you are right. But it seems to me like it's a fluke if Vangelis's music work. The mood he creates will work for a very limited selection of movies. He is just such a limited composer, in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Indeed you are right. But it seems to me like it's a fluke if Vangelis's music work. The mood he creates will work for a very limited selection of movies. He is just such a limited composer, in my book.As pixie_twinkle will agree, I think for the past 20 years he tends to limit himself. His evolutionary progress as a composer seems to be heading downwards instead of upwards. Maybe he bumped his head on a Yamaha CS-80 while adjusting the volume pedal.Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Maybe be bumbed his head to a Yamaha CS-80 while adjusting the volume pedal.In part I wonder if he has become too heavily influenced by the grandieur of many of today's film scores. His earlier albums (and scores) tended to have a smaller ense,ble feel to them and sounded rather more personal. His score for Opera Sauvage is especially good IMO. The final track is hauntingly beautiful (Flamants Roses). His more recent work lacks that emotional connection for me. From the outset Alexander feels like Vangelis is trying too hard to sound like Howard Shore, but substituting violins for synths. The end result feels grand but empty. Welcome back Stewdog! Send me a PM if you're still interested in any of those early Vangelis CDs. (Dragon, Hypothesis, Sex Power, Fais Que Ton Reve etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,326 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 His more recent work lacks that emotional connection for me.I think this is the main difference between then and now. During the 70s Vangelis revolutionized the world of electronic music because he proved that synths can sound "emotional". While synthesizers were considered cold and sterile, he could make a synth "sing" like a real instrument. I also liked the way he combined electronic instruments with real instruments. I don't know whether it's out of laziness or practical convenience but the acoustic percussion (timpani, bells, cymbals, gongs, drums, etc.) that once colorfully enhanced his recordings suddenly had to make way for dull sounding samples, something he started during Blade Runner (with the E-Mu Emulator sampler). I still prefer Vangelis' old synth sounds over today's "sophisticated" sampled sounds. I still remember how blown away I was the first time I heard the synthetic harmonica in Flamants Roses or the opening track on China (still his best album, IMO).Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLUMENKOHL 1,068 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Vangelis is why we have synths in film music. After Chariots of Fire....virtually every director in Hollywood sought a Vangelis sound. There had been synths even in 60's films, but limited only to science fiction or horror films. Vangelis made it possible for that sound to expand into a wider range of genres. And for that my opinion of him is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maglorfin 196 Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Anyone can write a melody. It's what you do with it that counts.Hm, that's an interesting observation, although I couldn't agree with it completely. I'd rather say that there are many who can write a melody, but quite a few who can write a really good melody. Otherwise, it's certainly of great importance how, when, where etc. the melody is actually used, so good point, Morlock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 I still remember how blown away I was the first time I heard the synthetic harmonica in Flamants RosesI'm glad I'm not the only one who loves that piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farawyn 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 By the way, how is "Vangelis" pronounced exactly ? I had always thought the g was pronounced as in "jerry" ; however, I was interested to hear Jack Black's character in The Holiday use a soft g, as in "great". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romão 2,274 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 It is pronounced as in "great". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farawyn 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AI 0 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Yeah, and Hans is pronounced like "Hands"...and Jack Black is really a film composer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_twinkle 48 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Yes, it's pronounced with a hard G as in Great. However, his name is often mispronounced VanJelis. In fact there was a Reeves and Mortimer sketch on TV in the UK where someone dressed as Vangelis is seen on a beach playing Chariots of Fire, with "Vanjelis" printed on his piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawel P. 738 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 New album Nocturne in January. Listen to this. Beautiful. Obi and Corellian2019 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,465 Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 From what I understand, it's not really a 'new' album, but rather piano versions of his old tracks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corellian2019 383 Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 It'll be a combination of new material plus piano versions of his legacy tracks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obi 404 Posted December 21, 2018 Share Posted December 21, 2018 I would ask myself all my life "why no one called him for Blade Runner 2049?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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