Vangelis – Chariots Of Fire

It's 40 years since Chariots Of Fire the film and album were released and, to my mind, both have stood the test of time.
This is the only Vangelis album I own and it's right out of the top drawer.
Titles is a great opener, however Five Circles is the high spot for me.
I'm not always taken by 1980s music, however this one is entirely unmissable.

Abraham's Theme is quite breathtaking. Like an extension of the Blade Runner soundtrack. Insanely beautiful.

Anybody who survived the 1980s knows the opening "Titles" theme and has seen the album countless times, but listeners should probably forget the images of runners and finally give the entire set a listen...sheets of synthesizers waving in an electric breeze far above the earth below, alien ships and thunder approaching in the distance. Composed, arranged, produced and performed by the artist, the first side closing with Sir Hubert Parry's 1916 composition "Jerusalem" (which was inspired by William Blake's "And did those feet in ancient time" and earlier covered by ELP on Brain Salad Surgery in 1973). The flipside returns to the "Title" theme with a side long composition called "Chariots of Fire," which like sides of other soundtracks, may just be the artist filling the side with additional material inspired by the film rather than scores from the film. This flipside features plenty of acoustic piano, as well as plenty of synthesizers, sheets, flutters and laser beam shots, these elements dominating the closing moments of the compositions...fans of electronic music might be wishing for more of that throughout, and fans of classical music will likely roll their eyes, but the entire set is essential listening for fans...or a great entry point for fans looking to explore this composer. This certainly put the Greek on the map, and likely caused other film makers to seek him out, for projects such as the original Blade Runner (which was scored in 1982, but the soundtrack apparently wasn't released for a decade).

-- winch (Winch Records: only the good ones--the good, the odd, and the wonderful.)

Even though some class this as the holy grail of Vangelis' career, I actually find it very boring, much prefer Mask or China etc. Nevertheless, there's still some gems on here such as Abraham's theme and Jerusalem.

Polydor ‎– POLS 1026 and Polydor ‎– PD-1-6335 are not the same version. Polydor ‎– POLS 1026 is the first UK press, whit gatefold cover. Am I right?

While I am not a huge Vangelis fan by any means, I do own 3 cd's by him... This one here without any doubt being considered his best work & rightfully so... The other cd's I consider excellent are "Heaven & Hell" "Albedo 0.39" "Spiral" "Opéra Sauvage" "China" & "Beaubourg"...