Delectus

"Come 1970, Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou was on course for rock'n'roll's event horizon. A founder member of the Greek progressive rock band Aphrodite's Child, his grand and apocalyptic musical visions were the guiding force for the group's third album, 666 - a musical retelling of the Biblical Book Of Revelations, inspired by Sgt Pepper and The Who's Tommy. All this was too much for the group's other members, and the band dissolved shortly afterwards.By now, though, Vangelis was already on another path. His next project was the soundtrack to Frédéric Rossif's 1970 wildlife documentary L'Apocalypse Des Animaux, and its sound - a set of poignant, symphonic pieces for Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes and trumpet - give a glimpse of what was to come. Come the early '80s, the Greek composer would be one of the most sought after in all of Hollywood, thanks to his scores for Blade Runner and Chariots Of Fire - the latter of which won an Oscar in 1981. Now, Delectus, abeautifullypresented 13CD boxset, collects remasters of Vangelis' early work for Vertigo and Polydor, freshly remastered under the supervision of the composer himself".

"This being the apposite title of this huge deluxe re-mastered 13 cd box set collection of electronic pioneer Vangelis' mostly important work, this modern day Greek god of music comes bearing many audio gifts for novices and aficionados alike.Overseeing the re-mastering of all output from his Vertigo and Polydor label years, this comprehensive collection follows hot on the heels, for a musician who nowadays works at a more glacial pace, of his recent 2013 re-masters none of which are included or duplicated here.Taking 13 releases from 1973 to 1985 one can fully appreciate how prolific Vangelis once was during this 12 year period ... Having been released on a different record label, the only niggling point is that the dark brilliance of his soundtrack to the futuristic film noir Bladerunner is not included in this otherwise superb collection. A further collection, maybe?Being both a playful and immersive sonic experience there is a goldmine of pioneering visions containedwithinthis lavish box set, which come with rare B-sides and 4 previously unreleased tracks and a 64 page book illustrating his career, taking all Vangelis fans on an amazing and perfectly remastered set of musical adventures".

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