Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Vangelis
Vangelis tabs Vangelis discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Vangelis guitar tabs

CD reviews

Heaven and Hell

Vangelis - Heaven and Hell Audio CD

A fair review of the Vangelis "Heaven and Hell" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Vangelis reviews here, or go back to the Vangelis tabs.

Band: Vangelis
Title: Heaven and Hell
Rating:

Release Date: 1989-08-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Heaven and Hell, Pt. 1/So Long Ago, So Clear 2: Heaven and Hell, Pt. 2 3: Heaven and Hell, Pt. 2

Forceful and full of impact!
We were told to find music that evoked emotion. Circa 1979--I was assigned to find music to accompany some 9th grade presentation. We were digging through a collection of vinyl looking for something, what, we weren't exactly sure.

We started listening to this record and it darned near knocked us over! The almost Gregorian opening and chant-like melody grabbed us immediately. I was deeply involved in music at the time and I remember thinking "It's wonderful. I don't like it, but it's wonderful. " I wanted the structure of truly classical music. But for some reason the album haunted me and stuck in my memory.

Several years later I rediscovered Heaven & Hell and gave it a more thorough listening. It has been one of my favorite recordings from that time forward. Some of the more delicate passages were plucked for use in "Cosmos" the ground breaking mini-series by Carl Sagan.

Vangelis was about 10 years into his career when he made this album and about 4 from winning an Oscar for his "Chariots of Fire" soundtrack. In my opinion, this is the keystone work in his library. As a concept piece, Heaven & Hell successfully evokes emotions in the listener. Good, bad, beautiful, ugly, happy, and sad. It's all here and is impressive in its scope.

.

sonic ecstacy!
western copies were, and still are abysmal,leaving the whole production sounding flat. this review of this particular album is really about the sound quality of this cd. this japanese copy, on the other hand, restores beautifully the full grandeur of the original sound recording making this a must for all vangelis fans and in particular, fans of this amazing and over the top album!also it,s a cheaper alternative to the recently announced Shm recording, provided of course, that you can still find any copies left!these japanese items have a nasty habit of disappearing quickly. Superb sounding stuff!.

Vangelis - 'Heaven And Hell' (Windham Hill)
Hadn't heard this CD in ages, as I've never really kept up with his work that much. Originally released in 1975, this looks to be his third solo effort - didn't know (until now) that Vangelis was a member of the Greek progressive band, Aphrodite's Child. Liked this ageless neo-classical / New Age title more so than I remember. Both tracks here - "Heaven And Hell, Part 1" and "Heaven And Hell, Part 2" - clocking in at over twenty minutes each. Jon Anderson (Yes) provides the vocals on "So Long Ago, So Clear" - a portion of the Part 1 cut, I'm sure I used to hear that song on late night FM radio many moons ago. Thoroughly enjoyed this CD reissue's beautiful symphonic passages that manage to take the listener(s) by surprize. Should appeal to fans of Patrick Moraz, Yanni, Tangerine Dream and Mike Oldfield. .

Hellish harmonies & malefick melodies...
The magical hands of the composer emerge from the whirling hellfires, touching upon the 'sin-thesizer' to entertain the infernal hordes with rippling and dancing notes, manifesting the mesmerizing Fates from the misty flames. .

Bombastic soundscapes from the genius of this one-man band, sonically describing the mythological battle between 'good' and 'evil', making for a great hypothetical soundtrack. But more than that, it is repleat with glorious choral rises, militant permutations, eerie interludes, and inspirational Ur sound bliss cascades upon the senses like a sonic waterfall, both placid and torrential.

In the last six minutes of "Heaven And Hell Part I", one can perceive the faint origins of "Chariots of Fire" right before gracefully floating into the melancholy "So Long Ago, So Clear", sung by the enchanting vocal talents of Yes' Jon Anderson, reminiscient of Bryan Ferry's style of singing, with Tangerine Dream-like orchestration. Quite moving.

'Heaven And Hell Part II' begins darkly brooding, until we are treated to a haunting aria slowly blending into a choral duet, then on to further arcane adventures of the mind. . .

A musical journey into the multi-dimensional subconscious where the imagination may project into the darkness, and otherwise can serve as ritual musick for victory and compassion.

A good Vangelis album that features a choir
Released in 1975, Heaven and Hell incorporates a full choir into the Vangelis sound. This is a wonderful Vangelis album and is fairly energetic, with enough experimental flourishes to keep the listener fully engaged.

Vangelis played all of the instruments on this album including synthesizers, electric piano, acoustic piano, a full drum kit, and percussion. Vangelis is joined by the English Chamber Choir (conducted by Guy Protheroe) with Vana Veroutis as the lead female vocal, in addition to Jon Anderson (vocals/lyrics on Heaven and Hell (Part 1 So Long Ago, So Clear). Vangelis is quite a good musician and really shines on the acoustic piano. As a huge Yes fan, I was delighted to hear Jon's excellent voice and cosmic lyrics. As far as the inclusion of the choir goes, I did not mind it that much and felt that it added a very interesting textural element to the recording.

The Heaven and Hell suite is divided into two lengthy movements including Part I (21'58") and Part II (21'16"). In general, the first part is more orchestral in nature and features the choir and excellent acoustic piano playing by Vangelis. Another general observation is that the first movement mixes vigorous sections that feature drums with spacey and haunting synth-dominated passages. Of course, my favorite part comes at the end of Part I, which is the 4'58" section with Jon on vocals. This short "song" is quite moving and uplifting. Movement II is a little darker and more experimental than the first movement and is my favorite of the two. The choir is featured on the second movement, along with a beautiful wordless vocal by the very talented Vana Veroutis. Part II closes with a very spacey and quiet synthesizer section, which provides excellent contrast with the preceding thunderous percussion section.

All in all, this is a good Vangelis album and is recommended along with Albedo 0. 39 (1976); Spiral (1977); and the excellent Opera Sauvage (1979).

You can see a complete list of all Vangelis discography, or go back to the Vangelis tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.