Ghiradelli Square

I first heard this cd on a business trip to San Fransisco in 1989. I was wandering through a shop, on one of my few breaks, and heard this hauntingly beautiful music. Luckily, the shop was selling copies of it. When listening to the tracks, it's best to put your self in a relaxed and open place. Just go with it wherever it takes you. It was a complete departure for me whilst in the hustle of non-recreational travel. I completely recommend.

Pleasant Vangelis, from the end of the 80's

There are times with "Direct" when you can hear hints of Vangelis's later, more epic albums, like "Voices" and "Oceanic". You can feel the direction in which Vangelis wants to go, progressing somewhat away from his patented "Chariots of Fire" sound that inhabits so much of Vangelis's work in the 70's and the 80's. "Direct" sits right on the cusp between the second and third decade of Vangelis's reign as the premiere mainstream composer of symphonic electronic music. A song like 'Elsewhere' or 'The Oracle of Apollo' soars close to the heightened grandeur of "Voices" and "Oceanic", while tunes like 'Glorianna' are almost premonitions for the Gothic oddities "El Greco" and "Mythodea". All in all, "Direct" is a must-have for Vangelis connoisseurs such as myself. But if you're looking for a truly definitive, one-time Vangelis album, I might suggest "Bladerunner" for the 80's and "Oceanic" for the 90's. I'd have given this album 4 stars if not for one track that really jangled on my nerves: 'Intergalactic Radio Station'

Starts Great but dribbles out

Vangelis switched over to some real rock'n loud beat stuff that was a decade ahead of Tangerine Dream's Mars Polaris CD. First five tracks are killer, I was truely blown away but then there is a bonus track that doesn't fit in followed but a not so great track and so on and soon it just crumbles. A couple of more good tracks come later... but... Very today sounding stuff really a decade ahead of the music scene back in 1988. If you love the lush floaty music of Apocalypse.. or Albedo etc you'll be put off. Much closer to late 90's Tangerine Dream.