Search - Vangelis :: L'Apocalypse Des Animaux (1972 TV Documentary)

Timeless beauty...

Manny Hernandez | Bay Area, CA | 10/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The unattentive listener might overlook a fact that makes this already big album, simply a classic: it was produced in 1973. Almost thirty years have gone by without taking anything away from the remarkable beauty of each of the tracks that make up this, Vangelis' second solo album, after leaving prog band Aphrodite's Child.Almost any song in the album can be picked to go down the caves of one's soul, but particularly touching are the atmospheric 10-minute epic, "Creation du Monde" (Creation of the World), the liquid "La Mer Recommence" (The sea begins once again) and the three most touching tracks of the album: "La Mort du Loup" (The death of the wolf), "Le singe bleu" (The blue monkey) and one of Vangelis' most eternal works, "La Petite Fille de la Mer" (The little girl from the sea.)"

Excellent Start for Collecting Vangelis' Early Work !

Armando M. Mesa | Chandler, AZ | 08/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"L'Apocalypse Des Animaux is Vangelis' masterpiece recording for a 1973 French ecological/wildlife film documentary by director Henry Rossif. It is light years ahead of it's time for being over 30 years old and has aged tremendously well!...Only clocking in at a little over 35 minutes, it is one of the most compelling and captivating soundtracks I have ever heard (and I have heard tons over the years by various artists in various genres)! Much of this musical tapestry is somber, moody, melancholy and atmospheric in nature;The track Le Singe Bleu is a primary example of this with it's beautiful horn/trumpet arrangement done in an almost bluesy-soft jazz-like manner. I call this soundtrack the "soundtrack for the electronic blues"...This particular track is a precursor to another track called Blade Runner Blues that would be recorded 10 years later for the Harrison Ford Sci-Fi film-noir Blade Runner. The music of L'Apocalypse Des Animaux will take you far away into a journey of the mind's eye and will create some striking mental visuals and evoke feelings of mystery and mood ! This is an excellent start for anyone seeking to compile their collection of Vangelis' projects. It makes one wonder about the fascinating mindset this artist must have been in to create something so ethereal and advanced. While Vangelis is known the world over as the Godfather of New Age or movie-soundtrack electronica, you will hear no cold meaningless blips and outdated synth work. Some of it's structure is almost classical in nature and global/world music sense (particularly the opening track /title track with it's African rhythms). There is much diversity to be enjoyed on this soundtrack. On the downside, when the soundtrack is over it leaves you wanting more---and there probably is a lot more music from the film or score that is not present in this edition or release..."

Utterly haunting....a portal to a coastal forest at twilight

Johnny S Geddes | Enlgand | 03/12/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Irrefutably, this is Vangelis's BEST work from the 1970's and, very possibly, could pass as the definitive work of the master. That's a very big claim, seeing as most critics and fans feel duty-bound to link Vangelis's peak with the later albums like 'Albedo 0.39', 'Spiral', 'China' or 'Bladerunner'. No sooner has the CD started than the fast, short title track rushes in on a flurry of percussion. The only up-tempo number of the album, this song serves to prepare your senses for the rest of the tracks by putting you in an aware mode. 'La Petite Fille de la Mer' is truly haunting in structure and delivery. Its melody could easily have been borrowed from a Turn of the Century (1900's) music box or pocketwatch. As mechanical in form as that may make it, to hear it again is as rewarding as to hear it for the first time. 'Le Singe Bleu' is a long, wind piece that catapults the listener into deep space at one moment and a darker part of the enchanted coastal forest at twilight the next. 'La Mort du Loup': poignant keyboard piece that sounds like the tide of deathly dark water lapping against the beach at dawn. 'L'Ours Musicien': the listener is now lying on the beach by the forest, gazing up at the stars, hearing the sound of the lumbering Ursa constellation as it trys to move in the Heavens. 'Creation Du Monde' - a very long, synth track which has the listener contemplate how little has changed about his surroundings since their formation. This is truly space music in that it can transport the mind to a swirling, lofty, other realm. This long, contemplative piece leads off into eternity. From that void, 'La Mer Recommence' comes back to the listener who, now watching the tide at late dawn, sees the pattern of life in the rhythm. Taken as a whole, 'L'Apocalypse des Animaux' offers well over half an hour of Vangelis's finest mood music. Vegetative? Call it what you may, this album is one for listening to with all the lights turned down. I can appreciate how it's deemed as music to make love by but it can trigger many more things in the senses and imagination of whoever is listening to it as well."