Juno To Jupiter: the new Vangelis album has a release date

 

After a much troubled release process, which completely stalled due to unknown reasons after one classical music site started to sell digital download of the album material... the epic new Vangelis album has a release date.

According to several announcements, it is to be released on 24 September 2021. A full review of the album was posted on this blog and it can be found here.

The Decca announcement in full, below:

VANGELIS

"JUNO TO JUPITER"

AT THE DAWN OF CONSUMER TRAVEL INTO SPACE,
JUNO TO JUPITER IS A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MUSICAL JOURNEY IMMERSED IN
SOUNDS FROM THE COSMOS

THE RECORDING BY VANGELIS FEATURES

ANGELA GHEORGHIU, SOPRANO, AS JUNO

CD ALBUM AND DIGITAL RELEASE BY DECCA RECORDS ON SEMPTEMBER 24TH
VINYL AND A LIMITED EDITION BOX SET TO FOLLOW

Decca Records announces the release of Vangelis' new album "Juno to Jupiter" on September 24. The album will be available on CD and digital formats, with vinyl and a limited edition box set to follow.

The work, inspired by NASA's ground-breaking mission by the Juno space probe and its ongoing exploration of Jupiter, is a multi-dimensional musical journey featuring the voice of opera superstar Angela Gheorghiu. The album includes sounds from the Juno launch event on earth, from the probe and its surroundings and Juno's subsequent journey that have been sent back to earth from the probe, which continues to study Jupiter and its moons: 365 million miles away from the earth at its closest point.

The Juno mission, one of NASA's most challenging and scientifically ambitious planetary missions ever attempted, is named so after Hera (in Roman Juno), who, according to Greek mythology, was the mother of Gods and humans and the wife of Zeus, in Roman Jupiter, who was the father of Gods and humans. In order to hide his mischiefs, Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself. However, Hera/Juno was able to peer through the clouds and discover her husband's activities with her special powers. Similarly the Juno spacecraft is looking beneath the clouds revealing the planet's structure and history and how our solar system has been formed.

"I thought to put emphasis on the characteristics of Jupiter/Zeus and Hera/Juno that according to the Greek Theogony, had a special relationship. I felt that I should present Zeus/Jupiter only with sound, as the musical laws transform chaos into harmony, which moves everything and life itself. Unlike, for Hera / Juno, I felt the need for a voice. Angela Gheorghiu, represents in this historical depiction of the mission to the planet Jupiter, Hera / Juno, in a breathtaking way. " - Vangelis

This July marks the five-year anniversary of the Juno spacecraft's orbit insertion at Jupiter. Launched in 2011 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Juno arrived at Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Due to its importance the mission that primarily was scheduled to be completed 31st of this July, has been extended by NASA and now Juno will continue exploring the full Jovian system - Jupiter and its moons - until September 2025.

Voices featured on the album, courtesy of NASA, include scientists Randall Faelan (Lockheed Martin, Deep Space Exploration Real-Time Operations Lead), Chris Leeds (Lockheed Martin, Telecom Sr. Engineer), Jennifer Delavan (Lockheed Martin, Spacecraft Systems) and Matt Johnson (Juno Mission Manager, JPL/Caltech).

Vangelis, a pioneer in electronic music, with his ever expanding imagination and innovative experimentations, is the one that, as no other, has made the perfect blending between the acoustic and electronic world. His orchestrations for this new album expand once again the horizons of electronic music by blurring the line between it and acoustic symphonic music which culminate in a breath-taking and in the same time soothing musical journey. Vangelis' characteristic use of synthesizers, bold brass riffs and expansive strings convey a sense of mystery about life beyond our own world, and commemorate all those who have dealt and still deal with the observation and the exploration of the stars, the planets and the Universe; and who have dedicated their lives to understanding the final frontier and the secrets of our solar system.

"The music of a film is instrumental in the feeling one gets, this idea is clear to all film makers, as the music touches our souls in a way that far surpasses the visual experience. This is the case in so many films that Vangelis has scored, and is again true for Juno to Jupiter which provides a new dimension to our connection with nature and humanity's quest to reach out beyond Earth and touch the part of us that is present throughout the solar system and beyond. " - Dr. Scott Bolton, Juno Mission Principal Investigator

Vangelis, without formal training, began playing piano at the age of four and by age six was giving public performances of his own compositions - his natural gift coming from a place he calls memory - a place he says we can all tap into if we can only remember. Since his childhood, Vangelis is constantly composing music and has released over forty albums, over twenty movie/TV soundtracks, two ballets, one modern dance performance, six plays, three choral symphonies and has major audio/visual spectaculars to his credit.

Vangelis' music is often linked to themes of science, history and exploration. Alongside his Academy Award-winning score for Chariots of Fire and his acclaimed Blade Runner music, he has written the choral symphony 'Mythodea' for NASA's 2001 Mission to Mars, as well as films including Antarctica, 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Alexander. Vangelis also collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) on his album Rosetta to mark the culmination of the Rosetta Mission to land a probe on a comet for the first time in history, as well as for the broadcasting by ESA into space of his CD single dedicated to the late Professor Stephen Hawking, as a mark of respect and remembrance. His music has also been used in the documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan.

NASA has presented Vangelis with their Public Service Medal. Also, the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory named the Asteroid 6354 which is located between Jupiter and Mars "Vangelis" in his honour, due to the international impact and appreciation of his work as well as his rapport with the Universe.

"Vangelis has composed all of the music for Juno videos, documentaries, and simulations of observations […]. It is not often that an Oscar-winning (and not only) composer is inspired to write music about space. So, the Juno mission has had its public impact multiplied by the unique talent of Vangelis' music. This libretto is a continuation of the Juno story.... " - Stamatios (aka Tom) Krimigis, Principal Investigator, Voyager 1 and 2

Vangelis' position and strongest wish is that we shouldn't forget that Space, Universe, Cosmos, in whichever name we call it, is our hope and future and we need to be careful not to make the same mistakes in space that we constantly made in our planet, as it is the only chance we have - our future.

Vangelis Juno to Jupiter, CD and Digital, is out via Decca on September 24 and available to preorder here. Vinyl and a limited-edition box set to follow.

CD Track list:

     1. ATLAS’ PUSH  
          Spoken word samples courtesy of NASA
     2. INSIDE OUR PERSPECTIVES  
     3. OUT IN SPACE   
     4. JUNO’S QUIET DETERMINATION 
     5. JUPITER’S INTUITION 
     6. JUNO’S POWER 
     7. SPACE’S MYSTERY ROAD  
     8. IN THE MAGIC OF COSMOS 
     9. JUNO’S TENDER CALL  
          Angela Gheorghiu, soprano, as Juno
    10. JUNO’S ECHOES 
    11. JUNO’S ETHEREAL BREEZE 
    12. JUPITER’S VEIL OF CLOUDS 
    13. HERA/JUNO QUEEN OF THE GODS 
          Angela Gheorghiu, soprano, as Juno
    14. ZEUS ALMIGHTY   
    15. JUPITER REX 
    16. JUNO’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
          Angela Gheorghiu, soprano, as Juno
    17. APO 22 
          Spoken word samples courtesy of NASA. (*) 
    18. IN SERENITATEM 

(*) Voices: Randall Faelan, Lockheed Martin, Deep Space Exploration Real-Time Operations Lead; Chris Leeds, Lockheed Martin, Telecom Sr. Engineer; Jennifer Delavan, Lockheed Martin, Spacecraft Systems; and Matt Johnson, Juno Mission Manager, JPL/Caltech.

Juno To Jupiter: a vast musical journey by Vangelis

 

The concept album, inspired by NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter, and recorded in collaboration with the superlative soprano Angela Gheorghiu, has had a turbulent adventure even before its official release.

Vangelis fans could acknowledge with a contented smile that the entire album is absolutely unmistakably the work of the Greek master, with entirely new tracks.

Not only that each track has, as it will become apparent in the review below, signature sounds and technical aspects we encountered on some of the most fondly remembered Vangelis releases of previous decades, but... each track perfectly expresses its respective title, and they perfectly blend together into a truly epic musical adventure. 

It is considered "old-fashioned" nowadays in electronic music, which is understood by many to be just EDM, to have a proper and programmatic approach to composition. Well, Vangelis, once again, approaches the album's concepts with meticulously developed and executed compositional intent. 

Each track is a musical description and an enthralling artistic interpretation of that track's theme - and it all fits into a phenomenal and truly epic journey through time and space. It takes us from references to ancient mythology to the vast spectacles staged by the giant of our Solar System.

As this is a Vangelis album, this is not a cold, cerebral space ambient work. 

Even if it had been, and even if it had resorted to classic space-rock means, one could still point out that, well, most of those musical means were actually invented and made instantly recognisable by Vangelis...

However, this is a passionate, epic, genuinely enchanting record, with seemingly superhuman imagination and compositional skills taking us from the most serene and ethereal harmonies to the most thundering unleashings of cosmic forces one can possibly imagine. 

Until its September release, hopefully the below track-by-track review can be a useful taster for what awaits the avid fans and those who may not have heard previously Vangelis's works.

1. Atlas's Push
The references to ancient mythology and space exploration run alongside each other throughout the entire album. The opening track refers to the Atlas V rocket that lifted the Juno space probe beyond our atmosphere, named after the Titan who had to hold, for all eternity, the celestial heavens.

The menacing electronic pulsations underpin mission control commentary... and when latter gives way to an evocation of outer space, we are suddenly propelled into the swells of characteristic sounds we may have heard last time on Antarctica and the Alexander soundtracks.

This is not a depiction of Juno leaving our atmosphere via some abstract and clichéd space ambient sound painting - this is the emotion, the exaltation that the humans who created and launched this probe must have felt.

Once again, Vangelis is the Great Romantic of human endeavour and exploration - depicting the human emotion rather than the abstract cerebral aspects of the central theme.

2. Inside Our Perspectives
This is a youthful, jazzy track of a laid-back, but distinctly head-bobbing, character. Vintage synth leads fly above pulsating waves of electronic percussion and bass arpeggios, with exquisite care taken in sound design, too.

The track induces in the listener a sense of dynamism, expectation, and excitement that must have surrounded the entire mission.

3. Out In Space

Again, we could have been treated to some space ambient collage of sounds, but Vangelis choses to depict in sounds a sense of awe. We have here the unmistakable brass and string sections that enchanted us on  the Alexander soundtrack and during The Thread ballet score.

Great swells of mighty chords are punctuated by crystalline piano arpeggios, this is again about our human emotions as we follow the mission from our tiny blue dot, as Carl Sagan described our cosmic home. 

The Earthly majestic sounds are underscored by a quite contrasting and eminently electronic sound pattern that, as a simple but effective artistic solution, manages to describe the alien strangeness of outer space.

4. Juno's Quiet Determination

It would not be a Vangelis record if it had not seized on the ancient mythological possibilities offered by the central theme.

Bouncy, staccato patterns of electronic pulsations are providing a shifting structure above which lush chords, ethereal vocal sounds, crystalline harp and glockenspiel notes start to hover.

And then there is an ethnic woodwind motif, which manages to sound ancient and futuristic, giving a mysterious and timeless feel to the music. As Ridley Scott said about the soundtrack to 1492 Conquest Of Paradise, Vangelis is uniquely able to sound ancient and contemporary at the same time...

5. Jupiter's Intuition

Orchestral swells and ominous timpani evoke mental imagery of Jupiter, the almighty deity and the giant of our Solar System. 

The thundering crescendo that elevates us to emotional heights is suddenly restrained, with a brief ethereal repose… before tidal waves of sounds return. 

Walls of our listening room swiftly vanish, we are in the realm of vast stretches of space and time.

6. Juno's Power

We are again elevated, propelled up and up on the emotional scale, with swells of grand string and brass chords supported by thundering staccato patterns from the electronic orchestra... 

If we recall Heaven & Hell or parts of the colossal Mythodea, well, we can again realise that only Vangelis can depict the Cosmic in this way with his unmistakable tuned timpani punctuating those lush textures.

Huge forces are unleashed here, but they never cross into the realm of uncomfortable. There is a majestic, but seductively simple, melody that appears above the vast sonic landscape, making this another hugely uplifting track.

7. Space’s Mystery Road

A playful, and once again a surprisingly jazzy track, with a laid-back electronic percussion pattern that provides solid structure for the playful piano improvisations, latter being sometimes punctuated by Vangelis’s instantly recognisable  timpani. 

One has to make a reference to Albedo 0.39, as Vangelis treats us to cosmic jazz-rock motifs during our cosmic journey, as he had done several decades ago on that classic space-rock album.

8. In The Magic Of Cosmos

Would we be hearing some predictable new age-ish electronic texture to evoke what the title of this track expresses? Perhaps yes, if this were not a Vangelis album...

Instead, we have an achingly beautiful, uplifting and expansive, but astonishingly economical motif of just three notes… brought to life by an epic orchestral arrangement. Just three notes build the poignant melodic motif that makes us feel as if we are expanding beyond our physical body’s confines.

Again, this is the Cosmos translating all its mysteries into a few sounds that we, infinitesimal beings, can just about grasp with our limited senses.

9. Juno's Tender Call

The track marks the first appearance of the sublime Angela Gheorghiu on this album. Her celestial vocals, which are intertwined with the vast orchestral tides, feel effortlessly improvised. 

One cannot imagine a more splendid evocation of Juno, the ancient goddess, than this blend of almost otherworldly vocals and exquisite synthesizer textures.

10. Juno's Echoes

We move from the ancient to more abstract and mysterious realms, this being an eminently electronic meditation. Melodic fragments appear and reverberate in those signature Vangelis sonic spaces, amongst gentle bell-like sounds. 

This is another peaceful track where the melodic motifs feel as if they were playfully improvised, but they are eminently restrained and highly effective in their beautiful simplicity.

11. Juno’s Ethereal Breeze

Angelic vocal textures conjure up the imagery suggested by the track’s title. Ethereal might become an over-used word in describing passages of this album, but this track's title is perfectly fitting.

Swirls and crystalline twinklings of sounds embellish the choral notes, preparing us for another very visual track that follows in our cosmic journey.

12. Jupiter’s Veil Of Clouds

Another immersive track, perfectly prepared by the previous composition - we glide into the mysterious world of Jupiter's clouds, we shift from mythological references to the scientific mission of exploring a fascinating alien world.

Vangelis is stunningly able to depict musically both the fragile translucent cloud formations and unimaginable atmospheric forces unleashed by the planet. The musical solution is elegant and effective, once again.

Synthesizer arpeggios, with very short, almost spiky sounds, are contrasted by floating, lingering notes on a piano - the Earthly meets the otherworldly. The pulsations get stronger, the timpani sounds appear with ominous rumbling and thundering… There are vast Cosmic forces at work here, not just ethereal and mysterious beauty.

13. Hera / Juno Queen of the Gods

After we have been shaken and stirred by Jupiter's unimaginably vast and powerful atmospheric currents, after we managed to marvel at its strange beauty thanks to Vangelis’s’ sonic wizardry, we land in an ocean of splendid tranquility.

The gentle notes from woodwind and harp-like synthesizer sounds melt, this really is the right word, they melt into gentle string textures - which, in turn, give way to soaring vocals by Angela Gheorghiu. 

Hera, and her Roman mythology equivalent Juno, are evoked here with reverence.

14. Zeus Almighty

The longest track on the album is dedicated to, whom else, the almighty Zeus of course, Jupiter’s equivalent in the mythology of Vangelis’s homeland. It is as if we are taking a journey in the mind of the Greek supreme deity, before we move back into Roman mythology with the following track. 

This is also a journey into the tumultous unleashing of forces that the planet shows us in unprecedented footage acquired by the Juno probe.

For those who have seen the documentary Vangelis And The Journey To Ithaka, perhaps one could describe the track as something like that literally breathtaking improvisation we can see in the film. The track feels improvised, with a firm structure but many gear changes, and an almost superhuman ease in going from translucent, fragile, ethereal sounds to thundering orchestral unleashings of immense forces.

For the technically minded, one side-note would be that we can hear those phenomenal and highly characteristic string patches we have marvelled at during the period marked by the albums Mask, Soil Festivities, and Antarctica.

One can almost see Vangelis unleashing these forces with impossibly effortless gestures on the stacks of keyboards. We hear Zeus's capricious temper, his human escapades, his dark and luminous moods... A very human deity, with an inner world as turbulent as the mighty planet's.

15. Jupiter Rex

The track is a natural continuation of the previous one, with thundering timpani and vast, ominous choirs… 

It feels almost as if we have moved seamlessly from  the ancient Greek to the Roman evocations of the supreme deity.

At the same time, both tracks conjure images of the colossal forces the largest planet in our Solar System is capable of demonstrating on Juno's unprecedented images.

16. Juno’s Accomplishments

Angela Gheorghiu’s ethereal vocals provide us with a respite after the mighty sonic tides we heard in the previous two tracks. 

Harp arpeggios and gentle piano notes are effortlessly gliding over waves and swells of characteristic string chords, whilst the vocal gives this track, too an almost mystical feel.

17. Apo 22

From timeless chapters of ancient mythology, from boundless expanses of the Cosmos, we suddenly return to Earth for a moment. 

We hear NASA mission control again, marking the joyous moment of the Juno probe successfully executing the crucial Apo-22 manoeuvre, which avoided the long flight through Jupiter's shadow that would have depleted the solar powered probe's batteries. 

The voice recording is infused with shimmering synthesizer sounds, giving the brief intermission a suitable spacey feel.

18. In Serenitatem

Only at the end of China, during the mesmerising finale entitled The Summit, and in the last movement of Mask could once one hear such ethereal sounds...

The fragile, translucent sonic elements are conjured up via the inimitable Vangelis alchemy of choral and string synthesizer patches, we are hearing evocations of cosmic waves, a sense of vastness and tranquility, made all the more atmospheric by electronic chimes as if they were emanating from some crystals from the depths of Jupiter.

The track fades into total silence and proves that once again, Vangelis has an unsurpassable ability to capture a sense of cosmic vastness via the most economic and restrained palette of sounds.

If one was mesmerised by the sublime finale of China, then the finale of this album will definitely have the same effect on that listener.

Vangelis has, again, taken us on a quintessentially human journey through near-impossible to comprehend distances of space, to colossal scenes effortlessly created by Jupiter... Once again, it is an ode to human endeavour, human ingenuity.

As the Rosetta album demonstrated, and Juno To Jupiter makes it all the more evident, Vangelis can surprise, mesmerise, and stun us with a musical and sonic inventiveness that knows no fatigue even in 2020... after so many decades of relentless and astonishing creativity.