Irene Papas – Odes

2 reviews for Irene Papas – Odes

1. 

   Ivar de Vries – 1999-11-22

   On this album Vangelis teams up with an old friend (similar to what he did around this time with Jon Anderson on ‘Short Stories’) who’d worked with him before on the Aphrodite’s Child album ‘666’ (as Jon Anderson did likewise on ‘Heaven & Hell’). Most songs Greek actress Irene Papas sings on this album are Greek traditionals with the exception of two instrumental tracks by Vangelis. She hasn’t got a great voice but quite an effective one, a bit like Marianne Faithful, and she speaks Greek of course. Vangelis makes sparing use of his synthesizers with Papas sometimes even singing on her own or simply accompanied by a single melody-line. He often uses that deep expressive bass-sound also employed on his album ‘Earth’. The music itself is rather austere with unsophisticated straight harmonies, while the texts consist of ancient Greek poetry (translated and/or explained in the accompanying booklet in French).
   A sincere work by two Greeks keeping the flame of their ancient culture burning.

   1999. Ivar de Vries

2. 

   Joe McGlinchey – 2022-11-22

   Irene Papas is an international star best known for her work in the films The Guns of Navarone and Zorba the Greek (both with Anthony Quinn) and her lead in Elektra. She had worked previously with Vangelis earlier on in the 1970s and in Aphrodite Child‘s 666

   Odes is really like a Vangelis solo album bequeathed in Papas‘ name, as he is clearly the driving force of this. The synthesizers and percussive effects fit snuggly within his 70s Polydor albums. However, what sets this one apart from the other albums of this prolific period in his career is that most of the material is comprised of traditional Greek songs, save for two instrumentals, La Danse du Feu” and “Racines”.
   Combined with the space drawn by Vangelis