Jon + Vangelis

Artist: Jon and Vangelis
P: 1994  / 1998
This compilation contains highlights from the first 3 J&V albums and ignores the 4th one, also issued earlier than this record (maybe because that belongs to a different label). So here we have a compilation which has 14 tracks out of the total 21 on the first three albums.

Artist: Jon and Vangelis
P: 1991
Jon & Vangelis have never sounded better. Sadly this may turn out to be the last of this miraculous combination as it has been nearly 10 years since its release. This version is the essential one. If you only buy one copy of this album, this is the one to buy. Each song is fantastic in its own right. From the opening notes of Wisdom Chain to the last notes of Little Guitar this is a flawless album.

Artist: Jon and Vangelis
P: 1983
'Private Collection' is the third in a series of, at present, four Jon & Vangelis albums.
At the time of making, Jon Anderson had just previously rejoined prog-rockers Yes for their 1983 album '90125' and it shows here, because his voice appears a bit strained at times and needed a bit of post-production here and there (notably on 'Horizon').
Mind you, it's still very good, and none more so than on the beautifully romantic opening piece 'Italian Song' which he also "performed" at the 1992 Rotterdam concert by Vangelis (apparently, it was a play-back). Next follow a couple of sweet love-songs set to nourishing melodies, both of whom were also released as singles, but not doing much chart-wise.
The last two pieces on the album are the most ambitious musically, with more elaborate orchestration and multiple vocal parts as well as various percussion-effects.
'He Is Sailing' has the same sort of free-going spirit as 'State Of Independence' on their previous album but at the same time has a Yes-like quality to it, certainly lyrics-wise.
The very pretentious long closing track 'Horizon', when taken as a whole, must be considered a failure, the long form not being one of Vangelis' strengths (excepting the 'Chariots Of Fire' piano-concerto). It starts off impressively enough with a dramatic section which however fails to really develop, Jon Anderson going on far too long trying to get his "message" across. But, after some 10 minutes, Vangelis redeemes the situation with a really inspired piano-piece (in fact, one of his all-time best) which deserves a better place than smack in the middle of this track. Its spirit remains in the rest of the piece where Jon returns with a few more vocal sections and Vangelis finally elaborates a bit more on the music that started off the piece, the pair of them managing to bring it all to a satisfactory conclusion, but only just about.
Having a sound-picture of its own (more "strings" than "piano"), 'Private Collection' certainly stands equally tall next to the other Jon & Vangelis albums (some people like it best actually), but it was eight years before their next one would be released, which was probably just as well.

Artist: Jon and Vangelis
P: 1980
This album is the first in a series of four 'Jon & Vangelis' albums after Jon Anderson sang the one song on the 1975 album 'Heaven & Hell'. It's also the freshest of the lot, the two friends evidently relishing the chance to finally work together on a full album with Jon temporarily having left Yes.
Improvisation is the word here, with Vangelis wandering through many short musical ideas and Jon Anderson making up lyrics along the way it seems - he is one of those lyricists who hardly ever make any sense but do make their lyrics sound good. Anyway, it's his voice that counts - an easy high-pitched voice that works wonderfully well with Vangelis' electronics. The album gives the impression of having been made in just a few sessions without any messing about with it afterwards, an impression which is confirmed in some interviews they gave about their work together.
They scored a minor hit with 'I Hear You Now' and other highlights include 'One More Time' and 'A Play Within A Play' (with its surprising outburst in the middle) but the overall quality of the music is consistently good. Some will find it all overly sweet and lovely (it must have presented a complete opposite to the punk movement of those days) but it makes for some nice easy listening, and anyway the "positive vibes" are clearly meant sincerely.

Artist: Jon and Vangelis
P: 1984
The musical partnership between Yes-frontman Jon Anderson and larger-than-life Greek keyboardist and composer Vangelis Papathanassiou generated some truly outstanding works. This album does a very god job at compiling their best works, considering how difficult it is to find effective "Best of..." albums these days. For collectors, these are the single versions, which are not on the original albums.

Artist: Jon and Vangelis
P: 1981
This album is the second in a series of (at the time of writing) four Jon & Vangelis collaborations. It is certainly more conventional in nature than its predecessor 'Short Stories' because the songs on it are more self-contained and structured. At the same time the album is also more diverse as it presents a wider array of structures, ranging from world-music (in 'State Of Independence', sort of anticipating Paul Simon and later covered by Donna Summer) to classical (in 'The Mayflower') to straight boogie-woogie (in the strange but funny 'Back To School') and more.
The hitsingle 'I'll Find My Way Home' (which wasn't included on the first LP-pressings of the album) has that Vangelis touch of genius to it: a simple tune set to a repeated high-pitched 4-chord figure alongside multiple Jon Anderson vocals - all to very striking effect. Here and on most other tracks Vangelis makes use of his typical sweet electronic piano sounds.
Even Jon Anderson's lyrics sometimes make sense here, being mostly about "belonging" somewhere, sometime or with someone after times of hardship (as the pilgrims landing in America in 'The Mayflower'). The one sort of deviation from this theme is the nostalgic title-track which relates a fascination with Hollywood movies and its stars of the thirties and forties.
A fine album with Jon Anderson in top form vocally.

 

Artist: Jon Anderson
P: 1975
This is an album where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. It holds together beautifully and can be a very uplifting experience. The lyrics also deserve a mention. Jon Anderson has created a story in which there is no interpersonal conflict and yet has a hero. While this may seem to be a yawnworthy concept based on hippy idealism.
This is a must have for any Yes fan, but beware. While Jon Anderson's other albums do have their good moments, none come anywhere near this in terms of quality.
 

Artist: Kitaro
P: 1992
Featuring the vocals of Yes’ Jon Anderson, Dream is full of awe-inspiring moments that revolve around the themes of the spiritual, romanticism and love. It is beautifully scored with Kitaro’s signature sound along with orchestral instrumentation.

This is a different version with some more and some track less than the Kitaro-Dreams CD.

Here the last copy of the Japan import CD.
 

Artist: Vangelis
P: 1975 / 2008
With ‘Heaven and Hell’, the first album to be produced at the Nemo studio in London, Vangelis really explodes onto the music scene, establishing his unique style. Being a very protean album, it contains just about everything: chorales, songs, instrumental passages, experiments and more.
If the title of the album is anything to go by, it starts off in hell with a primitive siren-like piece featuring hard-edged choral work and lasting about four minutes. After this a new theme gets introduced which goes through a dazzling set of variations, mainly on the piano, accompanied by either an all-male choir or heavenly female voices (premonitions of ‘Mask’ here) and constantly changing in tempo, lasting about nine minutes. The piano then introduces the famous Cosmos theme which slowly builds to massive proportions before achieving its maximum effect by changing in key. Surely we’re in heaven now where Jon Anderson awaits us for the first of many collaborations with Vangelis, the angelic ‘So Long Ago, So Clear’ which ends the first part.
The second part, although very different, does sort of follow the same route. At first an uneasy, almost sinister atmosphere is established after which some order is seemingly introduced through a fast-paced second piece. A choir of monks and angels then appears to take over with a beautiful melody but they are quickly brushed aside by a collection of highly irritating hellish voices. Fortunately the monks and angels return along with Vana Veroutis singing a stunning wordless melody. The sirens which started off the first part briefly return in different form before it all ends in complete tranquillity.