Direct (album)
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Direct is a 1988 album by the Greek synthesizer artist Vangelis. The album marks a new development in Vangelis' music, employing a somewhat more popular format. After Mask (1984) and Invisible Connections (1985) there was a brief pause of album work, during which Vangelis moved his creative base from London to Greece, and was involved in theatre work.
The album sleeve mentions that Vangelis called the album "Direct" to reflect his way of composing. Rather than preparing the music on paper or sequencer tracks, he works from a synthesizer workstation that is controllable real-time (something considered quite novel in the late 1980s). Occasionally, though, some of the album's tracks belie sequencer use.
According to the sleeve, Direct was to be the first of a series of albums along the same concepts. For no clear reason, there is no more mention of this on following albums (e.g. The City, 1990). Yet, Page of Life by Jon & Vangelis closely follows Direct in style.
Tracks:
- The motion of stars
- The will of the wind
- Metallic rain
- Elsewhere
- Dial out (bonus track)
- Glorianna (hymn a la femme) - note: the word hymn appears to be a misspelling
- Rotation's logic
- The oracle of Apollo
- Message
- Ave
- First approach
- Intergalactic radio station (bonus track)
The album is almost completely instrumental, employing mainly (perhaps exclusively) synthesizers and drum machines. Operatic vocals on 6 are by Markella Hatziano. The mumblings of a young child on 9 are most likely from a highly processed Vangelis voice and the male narrative on 12 is from Casey Young, a British DJ.