Customer Reviews

Beaubourg

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

"Beaubourg" is an album that is often misunderstood by avid Vangelis listeners. The album is either hailed as a masterpiece in one corner while in another corner, there's a barrage of booing and hissing. In all fairness, an album like "Beaubourg" had to be done. It's quite a unique album and is one of the few nonmelodic works in Vangelis's large catalog of music.
Essentially, "Beaubourg" is a single 38-minute work divided into two parts. If you listen to the album, you'll discover that the piece is divided into even shorter sub-movements. The piece consists mostly of random blips and bleeps along with some harsh metallic-like tones and the occasional singable melody. Musically, it's along the same lines as some of the early electronic music composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Subotnick and Pauline Olivieros. "Beaubourg" can even be comparable to Beatle George Harrison's Moog opus "Electronic Sound". It's quite possible that Vangelis used the above influences as a blueprint for this piece.
When the album was released in 1978, opinions were obivously divided however, "Beaubourg" has become somewhat of a cult classic over the years. I first heard the album in 1990 and still enjoy when I play it. While it's not Vangelis's greatest achievement, it still is one of his most daring pieces of music and is quite an earful to listen to. It's worth checking out but use extreme caution when doing so.
So far, Vangelis has only released one other album that can be comparable to "Beaubourg". That album is "Invisible Connection" released in 1985 on the German Classical label, Deutch Grammaphon.

In my opinion this album is fantastic, however I want to warn those of you who are die-hard fans of Vangelis, looking to purchase this album.

DO NOT purchase the newer CD's released on Wyhdham Hill records, the master used to make the CD was messed up and there are subtle errors in the speed of the recording (kinda like when your answering machine tape gets messed up and has a section or two where it speeds up really fast or slows down).
If quality is important to you, I strongly suggest that you purchase only the vynyl or the earlier CD's with the RCA label on them. Sure, the album may have a lot of random surrealness to it, but if you are switching from vynyl/tape to CD, it can be a bit jarring when you hear the errors. For those who have never heard the album, it may not be noticable.
Beyond that it is one of my favorite Vangelis albums. It's randomness and unregulated "noise" has earned it top position in my collection for relaxation music/sounds

I bought it eleven years ago as a teenager and I still listen to it today. It's true that this album is more sound than music, but it's difficult to imagine anyone experimenting with sound and still making it this melodic. The mood of the album moves between the sinister and the melancholic - some passages in it are creepily brilliant, others achingly lonely and evocative. It's very unpredictable, as some people have hinted, but there's no justification for dismissing this album as a disorganised throwaway - it has way too much class for that. It's an acquired taste, but you should give it a listen.

If you've never heard a REAL synthesizer performance, try this out for size. I read the reviews here, good and bad and can't agree with either, even though I give "Beauborg" 5 stars. Why? This album is somewhat educating because not too many people understand the concept of a synthesizer or its sound. Vangelis conveys this quite well. If he is just jerkin' around, then Vladimir Horowitz never moved an audience in his life. I spin the old RCA white dog vinyl of this and enjoy it because of its simple originality. There are some unclear moments but if one listens subjectively, it is quite interesting and curoius. If you can't tolerate bizarre sounds and nonexistant rhythms, this is not for you. If you would like to delve into something that's musically on the fringe and more satisfying than any rap song ever written, it'll be worth your time.

Beware! This album is not even close to being a masterpiece like El Greco, Bladerunner, Chariots of Fire, and many more fan favorites. But don't let this album scare you.

Whenever you listen to his music, you can pretty much sing along to his tune or beat and the same time visually paint a picture in your mind - that's Vangelis's formula of success.

Beaubourg does not apply to this formula at all. There is no beat or chorus. You hear crazy synthesizer noises and repetitive bleeps...after a while the music blends to something else which is hard to describe. I thought this was a neat sound effect. Maybe there is a tune but its very faint and you REALLY have to have a keen sense of hearing. Vangelis challenges his die hard fans to listen to something radically different.

This strange music is only a skeleton of the work. It's incomplete. In other words, YOU have to provide your own thoughts and imagination to his strange music in order to get a complete grasp of what you're hearing. Beaubourg goes beyond the range of the ear and requires careful attention and maybe even meditation to really appreciate this album.

For example, whenever I listen to this album (Only my 3rd time), I like to picture strange insects or bizarre creatures.
The tracks are very long and repetitive. Sometimes even I can't take it any more and I lose my patience. I would immediately switch to something else worthy to listen to like 1492 or Bladerunner.

I recommend this album for the die-hard fans who want to explore every range of sound beyond what the ear is normally accustomed to hearing. Also check out "Invisible Connections" - very identical in music style to Beaubourg. Actually, its more bizarre! Hope this review helps out.

Near the end of the seventies Vangelis began experimenting with new directions and this album was the result. A lot of people hate this album but it's always been one of my favorites. It's all synth swooshes of sound criss crossing a direction he would try again with Invisible limits but this is far better. Not unlike Conrad Schnitzler's Contrasts or Klaus Schulze's Dune. But Vangelis's music always has so much emotive sound its hard to see this as a sci-fi epic. Really here he was trying to get away from his usual emotional stuff and go for cyborg sci-fi thing but his own style betrays him a bit. Part one is great part two drags in spots but over all its one of my favorite seventies synth albums and unlike Schnitzlers Contrasts I still own this album.

...is the musical equivalent of 'Finnegans Wake'. Beauborg is long, frustrating and largely incomprehensible. If you want to sit through it, try to visualize an underwater setting. Whalesong, perhaps, unstructured, uncomplicated and arrythmic. There are times when a hint of structure can be dimly perceived, only to remain just out of reach, like a half-remembered name.

All in all, this CD is recommended only for those die-hard fans who need it to complete their collections. If you are looking for a good introduction to Vangelis, try some of his more accessible works. 'Themes' or 'Bladerunner' are good places to begin.

Vangelis is the greatest composer of the 20th century, but Beauborg is one of his LEAST ACCESSIBLE albums - if you're looking for typical Vangelisian romantic melodies, lush orchestration, and/or amazing special effects, choose a different album. If Beethoven and/or Mozart were alive today, they would often be found kneeling before the altar in a shrine they had erected in Vangelis' honour. Vangelis' music transcends the barriers of time and space, it is cosmic and universal - His music is immediately spiritual without being dogmatic in any way. It evokes profoundly elemental visual imagery and allows the listener to access ancient primeval, chthonic memory sources.

This album seems to be the result of Vangelis purchasing a new synth. The synth in question is the Yamaha CS 80, which was one of the first truly polyphonic synths. The machine rated as Vangelis'favorite machine for many years to come because of it's it's controllability. It was a very expressive machine when in the right hands. Later on the CS 80 featured heavily on albums such as Spiral and China and is easily recognisable due to it's charateristic sound, which to my ears is very musical.

As far as the musical value of beaubourg is concerned, I think that this album is to demonstrate the tonal possibilities of a good synth in the hands of a master.

In the wake of Heaven and Hell, Albedo 0.39, and Spiral, Vangelis fans had absolutely no cause to anticipate the rambling "experimental" noodlings and inane wanderings of Beaubourg. Almost completely absent of any coherent structure or pleasurable dynamics, Beaubourg sounds every bit as if Mr. Papathanassiou had by way of unfortunate mishap super-glued himself to his keyboards, taken a nap with the tape running, then accepted whatever fitful sleep-driven chaos came forth. That dubious (although poetically accurate) imagery aside, Beaubourg may well have been pure contractual obligation; witness that Vangelis has since not repeated Beaubourg's - to be kind - style.

Among the progressive cognoscenti local to me, Beaubourg has become notorious and is now synonymous with any crashing disappointing failure and/or the off-putting, strange, and inaccessible. When, among our small group, we say that such and such album is a Beaubourg, we know exactly what to expect and, therefore, avoid. Indeed, we should thank Mr. Papathanassiou for his unwitting contribution to the lexicon of critique, for the album name alone, compact as it is, conveys so much of what has amounted to so little. Poor little Beaubourg.

An interesting side note: Some years ago, a friend had described a then recent progressive album as being "a Beaubourg", and this to someone of unknown musical interests and leanings. That someone's reaction? Laughter and understanding. Mr. Papathanassiou? Again, thank you.