Vangelis takes to the world of exploration and space. Since man was able to look at the stars, he comprehended a dream to conquer and explore the heavens above him. It has taken man nearly two million years to reach from the making of superior weapons to launching a satellite in orbit. The year is 1975 and the Voyager, Magellan, Pathfinder and Space Shuttle were all speculation and non-existent. Vangelis captures the desire of being in space and seeing all its splendor.

[1] PULSTAR
This is a well-known Vangelis track and it was used in Cosmos. A pulsar (yes, there is a misspelling of it and the reason for that being there is unknown) is an astronomical object that was originally a star, but died off and shrunk to the size of a city. It is named so because radio astronomy detected the star's "pulses." Vangelis might have illustrated it, but it gives the feeling of exploring and witnessing the chaotic side of the universe.

[2] FREEFALL
Vangelis knows his physics very well! He describing, in my opinion, the sensation of feeling weightlessness. Whether you are on a parabolic flight (like the "Vomit Comet") or in orbit (like Mir or the Space Shuttle), you are experiencing free fall or falling towards Earth. The sensation is great (for the first 90 minutes!) and the feeling is well... light! The melody is just this rolling, flowing and almost continuous line of percussion with nice synthesizer sounds.

[3] MARE TRANQUILITAS
Mare Tranquilitas (Latin for "Sea of Tranquillity") is obviously a reference to the landing site of Apollo 11. This one I thought will be perfect for a BRIEF (I do mean brief!) infomerical on an aerospace company like Boeing or Lockheed Martin. It combines nice melodies with actual conversations between Mission Control and Apollo astronauts (to this day, it is not known on which Apollo mission that was) that Vangelis somehow obtained from NASA. (Michael Cretu used this song in "The Eyes of Truth" from the album, The CROSS of Changes)

[4] MAIN SEQUENCE
There is an interesting story to this song. I remember doing a school assignment on the Howard Gardner theory of multiple intelligences (musical, kinetic, spatial, mathematical, linguistic, spiritual, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) and on a paranormal topic. For the kinetic or the physical mode of thinking, I decided to do a "dance with alien-like music." For the presentation, I used this very song and the fourth graders loved it (I was in fifth grade at the time). To me, it is "alien" in sound or the better word is "futuristic" especially for its time. Interesting way of looking at Vangelis... an alien musician!

[5] SWORD OF ORION
The "sword of Orion" refers to the Orion Nebula which is located below the three stars that make "Orion's belt." This piece is very tranquil and peaceful, and gives the impression of being on another world, looking at familiar celestial beauties (like in the paintings of Jon Lomberg, Adolf Schaller, Ron Miller, etc.). This piece was also used in Cosmos.

[6] ALPHA
This piece was used in Cosmos a lot. The Greek alphabet is used to classify the magnitude of stars (like Alpha Andromedae is the brighest star in the constellation Andromeda; Beta Andromedae is the second brighest, and so on). I've wondered about the "clock winding" sound in the beginning. To me, it symbolizes the order that the universe can be and that everything is just this continuing pattern, like what the Deists strongly believed in. The main melody is just this continuing and developing stream of notes, symbolizing a "heavenly dance."

[7] NUCLEOGENESIS
(Originally, this was two parts. Because there is no distinction between the two, I decided to treat them as one). It starts with an organ, almost like a tribute to the great keyboard master himself, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). It is sincerely fast-paced, with very changing melodies and modes of thinking and playing. When one listens to it, it is not a one-theme idea, but rather a chaotic collective of different melodies, all united by a continuous stream of sixteen notes. At the end, it slows down after the telephone clock sound to a nice finale.

[8] ALBEDO 0.39
Albedo 0.39 is the core of this Vangelis album, where all this space exploration stuff ends and we return to our own shore. Albedo 0.39 refers to the albedo, or refraction, of the Earth. To have 100% albedo means the light the planet or celestial body reflects covers it entirely. Albedo 0.39 (or 39% albedo) is for the Earth. The music accompanies the facts and statistics of the Earth very nicely, making like you're floating and soaring above Mother Earth... a dream of mankind (including myself).

Trance Altantic Air Waves (or TAAW for short) has taken a twist on several synthesizer melodies from the 70's and 80's. This was the brainchild of Enigma founder and producer Michael Cretu and fellow guitarist Jens Gad. Their intent was to transform these familiar melodies into something completely different. One of the songs they used was "Pulstar." After listening to it, I was amazed by this transformation. In this remix, it feels like more a ballad with a delicate synth sound playing the familiar melody. It doesn't follow like the original song but it is a beautiful adaption. Besides, it goes great with the psychedelic environment of the techno dance club scene. Where can I get this CD? Go to any store (on-line or on-ground) and look for Trance Atlantic Air Waves' The Energy of Sound under the techno or dance club section.