Decca Records announces the release of Vangelis’ new album ‘Juno to Jupiter’. The work, inspired by NASA’s ground-breaking mission by the Juno space probe and its ongoing exploration of Jupiter, is a multi-dimensional musical journey featuring the voice of opera superstar Angela Gheorghiu. The album includes sounds from the Juno launch event on earth, from the probe and its surroundings and Juno’s subsequent journey that have been sent back to earth from the probe, which continues to study Jupiter and its moons: 365 million miles away.
Inspired by the groundbreaking mission of NASA's Juno space probe and its ongoing exploration of Jupiter, Juno to Jupiter is Vangelis' multi-dimensional journey through electronic, progressive, ambient, techno, orchestral, and vocal music. The project features soprano Angela Gheorghiu and sounds from space recorded by NASA.
Soil Festivities dates from 1984, before Vangelis was working with orchestras. Some would say that it was before he "sold out" or when he was a "real musician," but those opinions are totally subjective. It is certain that this is a different kind of work. The album features five movements, each a self-contained soundscape. Vangelis surrounds a subtle drone with heavy sequences and dense atmospheres. He uses a symphonic synth to create pastoral textures. This is a very accessible album. It will appeal to fans of Constance Demby, Wendy Carlos, Victor Cerullo, and Yanni.
Themes is one of the most entertaining and thorough of any of Vangelis' collections, with excerpts spanning such albums as Opera Sauvage, China, and the ever-popular Chariots of Fire release from 1981. Most of the selections from Themes speak for Vangelis' movie contributions, including the infamous "Chariots of Fire" track as well as the lonesome-sounding theme from Missing and the powerful openings from Mutiny on the Bounty. With this music, Vangelis has implemented some variations in rhythm and some noticeable fluctuation in his synthesizer work, making these tracks much more colorful and animated than his new age meanderings of the '70s.
Jon Anderson's first project following his departure from Yes was to reunite with the equally airy Vangelis for a collaborative effort as Jon and Vangelis. Short Stories actually marks their second collaboration – the first took place on Vangelis' 1975 album, Heaven and Hell, with the track "So Long Ago, So Clear." The pair returns to that song's successful formula of combining Anderson's otherworldly voice with Vangelis' pithy melodies in a few spots on their debut together, notably for the popular single "I Hear You Now" (which recalls Vangelis' "To the Unknown Man") and the middle section of "Far Away in Bagaad." Otherwise, Short Stories favors amorphous arrangements that feature wisps of melody and little more (a style that has its precedent on Yes' Tormato rather than their own solo work to date).