Was the term "Vangelis Territory" a bad crack or a good compliment? I'd like to know. It left me a little unsettled. Vangelis is not only my favorite film composer of all time, but my favorite music artists in general. I own about forty albums and singles by the God of Sound and was wondering how I should take that... Help please

I hope that this reference to Vangelis was not to indicate that he is bad. I have to agree with you on Vangelis, one of the best ever in the mood music world.

Well Christian did give Alexander a ***** rating. And I believe 1492 got one too... but he hasn't done many Vangelis reviews so its hard to say for sure what he thinks of him.

> Was the term "Vangelis Territory" a bad crack or a good
> compliment? I'd like to know. It left me a little unsettled. Vangelis is
> not only my favorite film composer of all time, but my favorite music
> artists in general. I own about forty albums and singles by the God of
> Sound and was wondering how I should take that... Help please

> Well Christian did give Alexander a ***** rating. And I believe
> 1492 got one too... but he hasn't done many Vangelis reviews so its hard
> to say for sure what he thinks of him.

Vangelis hasn't done many OST's that would fit Filmtracks.

a few of the more conventional movies: (left out the old unknown ones)

Missing - no official score released (only some bootleg)

Chariots of Fire - will always have to fight with Raiders on this website, while the big 20min Chariots of Fire is a superb piece of music (truly unparalleled!), it's prolly too electronic for all these tender ears around.

Blade Runner - an album'esque official OST and a more complete/genuine bootleg. Blade Runner would deserve a Filmtracks review tho, eletronic as it may be, it *is* one of the best sci-fi movies around and the music has had a big role in making it a classic. Anyway, the world really needs an official *complete* OST.

The Bounty - No official OST, only a bootleg. Apart from 8..10 tracks that would make a great OST (when remastered), the rest is dull drums and repetitions.

1492 - album'esque OST, got a great review

Mythodea - imho not an OST, but got a fine review anyway

Alexander - prolly the most orchestral, and thus Filmtrack'ish OST from Vangelis yet, it got oodles o' stars here.

So, as you see, his recent (including 1492 and the 1994 blade runner) work is usually organised as an album without the dull moments you might find on typical OST's (it's dull, but it's there just to be complete) while older work isn't officially released.

So, in a nutshell: you can't blame anyone for the lack of reviews. :P

His Themes album might've a chance tho.. Clem: would you mind listening to it?

> So, in a nutshell: you can't blame anyone for the lack of reviews. :P

I'm not blaming Christian for not having reviews of Vangelis. I'm just saying it's hard to make conclusions about what he thinks of the guy's music without a proper frame of reference outside of three reviews that range between *** and ***** ratings.

> The Bounty - No official OST, only a bootleg. Apart from 8..10 tracks that
> would make a great OST (when remastered), the rest is dull drums and
> repetitions.

Got to disagree with you on this one. I have the bootleg of this and paid nearly $300 US for it and you know what? It was worth every penny. It has to be my favorite Vangelis score. I only wish I had it in a remastered form. Every track on this score is amazing. And I am very fortunate to have a copy.

> Was the term "Vangelis Territory" a bad crack or a good
> compliment? I'd like to know. It left me a little unsettled. Vangelis is
> not only my favorite film composer of all time, but my favorite music
> artists in general. I own about forty albums and singles by the God of
> Sound and was wondering how I should take that... Help please

theres no doubt that vangelis is considered as the pillar of new age music in movies ... he got me hooked to instrumental music, which later lead to osts and new-age
i would say zimmer has been honoured by the "Vangelis Territory" comment .. no doubt about that
even if the reviewer meant the other way (which isnt possible) ... you can comfort yourself by believing it to be a compliment

> Was the term "Vangelis Territory" a bad crack or a good
> compliment? I'd like to know. It left me a little unsettled.

It means that Zimmer, like Vangelis, has the capacity to write structurally simplistic music that is meant to overwhelm you with size rather than nuance... and, additionally, that such music makes for very enjoyable albums, but not necessarily a good fit within the parameters of the film itself.

I rate some of Vangelis' scores very highly because they make fantastic albums, but his big title scores don't usually work as well in the films themselves.

Christian