Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission -- 2001 Mars Odyssey

by Chris NicksonMythodea is subtitled "Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey," and it's certainly an epic work. If its aspirations were any higher, it wouldn't even need NASA to break earth's gravity. In essence, it's the focus of Vangelis' symphonic ambitions, utilizing not only an orchestra, but two sopranos and a full choir to go alongside his banks of keyboards. That itself isn't a problem. Epic can certainly be a good thing, and the rococo of grandeur can have its appeal. The problem, and it's certainly one here, comes when things are overblown, and the everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink attitude becomes wearying. After synth space noises, "Movement 1" shows its Mars intentions by borrowing the 5/4 rhythm from Holst's Mars (without credit) and overlaying it with symphonic stabs of melody, and voices galore. But, and this is true of the entire disc, it goes nowhere. There's no sense of journey, and certainly no sense of the mythic on the title. It becomes bombastic, even in the quieter moments, which act as mere preludes to more pomp without circumstance. The original concept might have been great, but along the way it became horribly overblown.