The Best of Vangelis

Taking eight of Vangelis' most ambient and electronically melodic tracks from his mid-'70s albums, The Best of Vangelis may be somewhat of a misleading title, but it's still a justifiable excursion into his sweeping use of the synthesizer and his more elegant type of keyboard journeys. With cuts from 1976's Albedo.39, 1977's Spiral, and 1978's Beaubourg, among others, this period of Vangelis' music represents his bare and simplistic utilization of the synthesizer. "Spiral," "Aries," and "To the Unknown Man" are time-tunnel voyages of softened keyboard washes and rhythm-absent clouds of uncluttered synth. It was during this period that Vangelis crossed the border into new age territory, emerging from his roots with the progressively doused Aphrodite's Child six or seven years before. The last track, entitled "So Long Ago, So Clear," features Yes' Jon Anderson on vocals, ending the album on a high note. Brief, but to the point, The Best of Vangelis carries out its task of grouping some of Evangelos Papathanassiou's most extravagant keyboard pieces.