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Vangelis: Albedo 0.39

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Polydor Records
Released: 1976
Time:
 41:49
Category: Electronica
Producer(s): Vangelis
Rating: ******.... (6/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.vangelisworld.com
Appears with: Aphrodites Child, Jon & Vangelis
Purchase date: 2001.09.26
Price in €: 5,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Pulstar (Vangelis) - 5:45
[2] Free Fall (Vangelis) - 2:20
[3] Mare Tranquillitatis (Vangelis) - 1:45
[4] Main Sequence (Vangelis) - 8:15
[5] Sword of Orion (Vangelis) - 2:05
[6] Alpha (Vangelis) - 5:45
[7] Nucleogenesis, Pt. 1 (Vangelis) - 6:15
[8] Nucleogenesis, Pt. 2 (Vangelis) - 5:50
[9] Albedo 0. 39 (Vangelis) - 4:30

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


VANGELIS - Synthesizer, Bass, Arranger, Drums, Keyboards

DAVID ELLIS - Photography
RAY MASSEY - Photography
KEITH SPENCER-ALLEN - Engineer, Narration on "Albedo 0.39"

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


LP:
RCA AVS-4662 (Argantina) 1976 (cover in black purple)
RCA 104.7105 (Brazil) 1982
RCA RS 1080 (France) 1976
RCA LPL1-5136 26.21817 (W Germany) 1976
Polydor 2421 095 (Greece) 1976
RCA RVP-6156 (Japan) 1976
RCA SPL1-9410 (Spain) 1976
RCA RS 1080 (UK) 1976
RCA LPL1-5136 (USA) 1976

CD:
RCA ND 74208 (W Germany)
RCA BVCP-5025 (Japan)
Windham Hill 01934-11234-2 (USA) 1997

Recorded at Nemo Studios London, England, 1976



Having dealt with good and evil, Vangelis turned his attention to astronomical matters. The title track is genuinely thrilling, as the narrator recites astronomical facts, concluding with the reflectivity of the Earth. A wonderful and energizing album.

Steven McDonald - All Music Guide
© 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



Superb! My first encounter with Vangelis was, of course, through Chariots Of Fire. After hearing it for the first time I went down to the music store and got his Greatest Hits-album Portraits. The album was exraordinary all the way through but two songs really got me hooked from the beginning(aside from Chariots of Fire). Those songs were Pulstar and Alpha. Both of them can be find on this masterpiece of lucid electronic music. There is no other album quite like this, with its perfect blend of electronic and symphonic music. And that is a shame.

Fredrik Aahlsten from Trollhattan, Sweden



The Definitive "Planetarium" Soundtrack... Anyone who worked in a planetarium during the late 70's-early 80's used music from this album for background music ("Alpha" was featured prominently in the Carl Sagan miniseries "Cosmos"). Nucleogenesis Part 2 is the funkiest synth jazz this side of the moon. If you want to start a Vangelis collection, get this and Spiral.

Tom R from Maryland



Classic Vangelis! My first exposure to Vangelis was in 1978 when my mother brought this album home from vacation in Los Angeles. I was an 11-year-old still entranced by the Star Wars craze and I found the album utterly fascinating. It was avant garde compared to the mainstream music of the time, but that's what made it more compelling. I love the dynamic blend of electronic harmonies, such as those found in Pulstar and Alpha. Mare Tranquillitatis makes you feel like you're on the Moon, with actual excerpts of some Apollo transmissions in the background. The lullaby-like melodies of Sword Of Orion put one in a trance. The title track, Albedo 0.39, is planetarium music. In the background, a man states facts about the Earth, such as maximum distance from the Sun and length of the tropical year. . . interesting. By the way, Albedo is the ratio of reflectivity, the percentage of light and radiation that strikes a planetary body that is reflected back. Earth's is 0.39 or 39%

Richard Gruver from Seattle, WA USA



The crowning achievement of "Cosmic music".

My credentials: Countless hours of listening to electronic music since I was a child.

My favourites: Klaus Schulze (the 70's analog albums), Tangerine Dream (the 70's analog albums), Jarre (the first 3 albums), Vangelis (the 70's analog albums).

The favourite of my favourites(of the lighter tone space music): Albedo 0.39 and Spiral by Vangelis

Because a review is not helpful if you dont know the taste of the reviewer. I think that the above comments will give you a hint.

This album is a recording that belongs to the highest achievements of music as a whole. It is a treasure and I am glad that I was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment that appreciated this kind of music. Vangelis explores the universe with this music and all listeners around the world follow him in a journey through creation, evolution and nucleogenesis. Carl Sagan used this music for his popular TV series "Cosmos", a great influence for my point of view of the world and probably one of the reasons that I became a particle physicist!

As I have written in another review for Tangerine Dream, Vangelis is not only a musician. He is a researcher. His studio is not only a music studio but an experimental lab. It is not far from the accelerators that physicist use to unveil the laws of the universe. They do it with mathematics, Vangelis does it with analog synthesizers. It is the same thing. Another thing that adds up to the brilliance of the album and to the musical genius of Vangelis is that he was among the first to explore this kind of technology. He was at the forefront of this "research". Not only he mastered it well but he became the world leader in space music.

I really dont have words to describe this brilliant, inspiring, captivating music. No one deserves to be called a music lover if he or she has not listened to this album (a rather strong statement but its true).

P.S. This review applies to both Albedo 0.39 and Spiral because these 2 albums comprise a musical entity of Vangelis work (and not because I want to repeat myself).

Felix Matathias from Stony Brook, NY USA



SPACE ELECTRONICS AT THEIR FINEST

Greek keyboard wizard Vangelis was one of the pioneers of popular electronic music, before he became famous for film soundtracks such as 'Blade Runner' and 'Chariots of Fire', for which he won an Oscar. ALBEDO 0.39 was released at the height of his commercial success during the late 1970s, and remains one of his most focussed and appealing albums. Not only does it avoid the classical pretensions of his earlier works, but also the tiresome experimental dabblings of subsequent efforts. ALBEDO represents the composer at his most 'electronic'. The album can best be describes as 'Space Rock', with each of the eight tracks having an astronomical theme and a cosmic atmosphere. There is little in the way of the orchestral simulations that have typified most of Vangelis' work, and we are left with a series of very precise pieces full of lively fuzzy basses, jangly fills and synthetic solos. This does not undermine the composer's celebrated sense of melody, however, as ALBEDO is loaded with catchy tunes, and every piece shows lots of musical interest. The standout track must be 'Main Sequence', a blistering assault of stunning percussion work and dazzling keyboard virtuosity. This is electronic rock/fusion at its wildest, punctuated by sudden bursts of melody amidst a crashing cacophony. 'Sword of Orion' is one of Vangelis' most beautiful and soaring pieces of electronic music. 'Pulstar' is instantly recognisable owing to its frequent use on television programmes, while the album concludes with the title track. This features the man himself, reciting a series of cosmic facts about the earth as it travels through space. Not that musical, but a fascinating science lesson for those who are interested! For Vangelis fans, ALBEDO 0.39 is essential listening. Fans of electronic music with an astronomical theme should also check out Brian Eno's 'Apollo' Soundtrack.

A music fan from Canterbury, England
 

 L y r i c s


PULSTAR

[speaking clock]

At the third stroke it will be 10.03 and 40 seconds
[peep, peep, peep]
At the third stroke it will be 10.03 and 50 seconds
[peep, peep, peep]
At the third stroke it will be 10.04 precisely


MARE TRANQUILLITATIS

[Astronaut conversation during Apollo Moon landing]

-"Base (??) or: Nick?"
-"How are you doing?"
-"ha ha ha" [laugh]
-"very strange"
- "o.k."
- "hello mom"
...around looks just great.....
-"Roger (?)"
-"Hey John, how you doing"
- "It looks like ..."
-"It's what I see around all that ... here"
-"You know ...."
.........


ALBEDO 0.39

Maximum distance from the sun: 94 million 537 thousand miles
Minimum distance from the sun: 91 million 377 thousand miles
Mean distance from the sun: 92 million 957 thousand and 200 miles
Mean Orbital velocity: 66000 miles per hour
0rbital eccentricity: 0.017
Obliquity of the ecliptic: 23 degrees 27 minutes 8.26 seconds
Length of the tropical year: equinox equinox 365.24 days
Lenght of the sidereal year: fixed star fixed star 365.26 days
Length of the mean solar day: 24 hours and 3 minutes and 56.5555 seconds at mean solar time
Length of the mean sidereal day: 23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds at mean sederial time
Mass: 6600 milion milion milion tons
Equatorial diameter: 7927 miles
Polar diameter: 7900 miles
Oblateness: one 298th
Density: 5.41
Mean surface gravitational acceleration of the rotating earth: 32.174 feet per second per second
Escape velocity: 7 miles per second

Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39
Albedo: 0.39

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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