Vangelis Papathanassiou
Sex Power

Vangelis has shown himself to be an eclectic experimenter from the very beginning, with albums like HypothesisThe DragonFais que ton rêve soit plus long que la nuit, all very different from each other but united by the presence of long compositions that are often challenging to listen to. The soundtrack for the film Sex Power, released in 1970 as the Greek musician's first album, is a partial exception. Here, short tracks prevail (11 untitled tracks), mostly without particularly original elements. On paper, this album might appear more conventional than the others. However, it is no less interesting, especially for the sounds.

After a brief introduction (little more than an organ warm-up exercise), the first movement features a layer of sinuous percussion over which Vangelis lays gentle and majestic piano phrases, synthetic sounds, cosmic effects, and Morriconian choirs. The second movement is the main theme, a delicate and melancholic guitar melody, recorded amid false starts, abrupt interruptions, and car noises in the background. The rest of the first part alternates percussive tracks and reprises of the main theme (with piano, synthesized mandolin and choirs, and a piano variation).

The second part of the album, introduced by percussion with a sinister flute solo, is much more dramatic and experimental. Here we find the only long composition (the 8 minutes of percussion in the seventh movement, perhaps excessive) and above all a further reprise of the main theme, enriched and deepened by Moog, percussion, and choirs, with innovative sounds that Vangelis would later revisit (this track is very reminiscent of the famous Hymne). In the ninth movement, amid an unsettling sabbath of percussion, squeaks, and noises, a woman's song rises accompanied by organ, which flows into the main theme, presented in a fleeting and graceful piano reprise to ease the tension and close the disc.

In conclusion, "Sex Power", despite its originality limitations, is the album most representative of the earliest Vangelis and the most indicative of the musical path the Greek artist would embark on in the years to come, a light yet substantial appetizer of the magical atmospheres he would go on to create.