Vangelis - Earth (1972)

I probably would have uploaded this album for the cover shot alone. Can you believe that this disheveled wreck of a man is the very same Greek who gave us the lush and beautiful score to Chariots of Fire? Perhaps by the time of that movie's release in 1981 Vangelis had cleaned up his act. In the early 70's, though, he was really letting his earth mother hang out. This album was his attempt to fuse early christian music with rock, and in so doing he creates some really beautiful songs. "My Face in The Rain" is a particular standout. A gorgeous, swelling lament, that sounds like an inspiration to bands like Spiritualized and the Verve. Other highlights include opener "Come On", which is a sweet slice of hard stomping prog rock. Then there is "He-O" with its Eastern influenced guitar lines , hand percussion, and incanted vocals that sound like a chorus of monks. The variation continues with the grooving "Let it Happen", a song that wouldn't sound entirely out of place on Air's Moon Safari. The rest of the album is given over to prog-ish meditations on nature, freedom, spirituality and life. If you can get past the new-age-ness of it all (or if you get off on lyrics like, "I would like to write a song that is so vibrant and so intimate, that the Earth would adopt it, as if it had sprung like a stream from the land's memory") then you NEED this album. Highly recommended.