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JULY 24, 1997
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Source: Publiczny Dostep do Internetu

http://www.pdi.net/~eristic/yes/tr_26.html

Jon And Vangelis: Page Of Life: (released 1991)

By Christopher Currie

Track: Rating:
1. Wisdom Chain***
2. Page Of Life***1/2
3. Money***1/2
4. Jazzy Box****
5. Garden Of Senses****
6. Is It Love***
7. Anyone Can Light A Candle**1/2
8. Be A Good Friend Of Mine****
9. Shine For Me***1/2
10. Genevieve**
11. Journey To Ixtlan***1/2
12. Little Guitar***
Personnel:
* Jon Anderson: lyrics, vocals
* Vangelis: keyboards

* Rory Kaplin: keyboards
* Sean Murray: keyboards
* Brad Ellis: keyboards
* Jimmy Hahn: guitar
* Eduardo Singore: bass
* Derek Wilson: addition percussion on "Wisdom Chain" and "Money"
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Comments:

Page Of Life, the fourth Jon & Vangelis album, was released with virtually no fanfare in 1991, close to the time of the Union release. The mere presence of three additional keyboardists (let alone Jimmy Hahn!) on such a project might lead one to conclude that the production fiascos which occurred on the Yes release might have carried over to this particular work as well. Fortunately, the absence of Jonathon Elias means that this wasn't quite the case. Page Of Life is far more a masterwork, but it nevertheless accounts itself fairly well as a "good enough" display of the respective talents of the individuals involved.

"Is It Love" seems to be the track on which the "other" musicians are most prominently featured; aside from this, though, Vangelis generally retains control of the musical direction for this album. Given the occasional dearth of quality songwriting here, this is probably a good thing -- Vangelis's keyboard flourishs frequently add an extra element of colour to an all-too-frequently barren canvas.

There's no question that this album could have been better if the two individuals involved had devoted more time to the project, though with other pressing deadlines this was perhaps not a strong option for either. As it is, Page Of Life qualifies as a interesting sidestep in the careers of both Jon & Vangelis: substantial enough to generally appease the faithful, yet not so substantial as to necessitate further collaboration between the two artists. Most of the album is set in a somewhat new-age ethos, which occasionally drifts unfortunately close to MOR schlock; fortunately for the listener, though, tracks such as "Jazzy Box" and "Be A Good Friend Of Mine" break this cycle, and provide music closer to the levels of what these two artists are capable of on their best days.

The album begins with "Wisdom Chain", a decent melody which unfortunately gets bogged down in a somewhat flat arrangement. Jon's voice seems to be somewhat higher than usual here, and it isn't clear whether this is a case of studio trickery or not -- no matter though, and the vocal arrangement is interesting enough to counterbalance the more negative aspects of the work. A decent opening track, albeit one far removed from the greatness that both artists are capable of. The lyrics are extremely Jungian.

"Page Of Life" is a more atmospheric piece, largely devoted to Anderson singing over a musical bed provided by Vangelis. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the track is the harpsichord arrangement, which is actually included fairly well. If the track seems a bit "drippy" at times, the strength of the vocal melody generally carries it through fairly well.

"Page Of Life" abruptly ends where "Money" begins. This work is granted its "* * * 1/2" rating not on the strength of the song itself (which is actually not very interesting ... similar to the music on In The City Of Angels, it sounds regrettably close to standard late-'80s lite-pop music). The piece rather gets its higher rating by virtue of some extremely interesting passages by Vangelis, including an opening section that sounds similar to Tony Banks's style, and a very good solo towards the end. With more careful writing, this could have been something really special; instead, it has to settle for being an average track with better-than-average arrangements.

"Jazzy Box" is, not surprisingly, a jazz detour. The work is perhaps slightly outside of Vangelis's usual style, but he nevertheless pulls off the performance rather well (the canned drum beat gets annoying rather quickly, though). A few odd keyboard settings emerge in this piece as well. It would be foolish to create an entire album from pieces like this, but this particular work isn't bad at all.

"Garden Of Senses" is perhaps the most successful (ie. best organized) of the "new age" tracks on the album, with a slow-but-steady development and a drum beat internally diverse enough not to upset the balance of the piece. Vangelis gets in a few decent fills, and Jon's vocal line is quite commendable. I have a strange feeling that this track may have been one of the earlier ones written for the project ...

"Is It Love" begins with dangerous soft-rock-influenced keyboards, and only really succeeds on the virtue of Jon's vocal lines (though the keyboard lines also get better when Jon begins singing). This may be a fair example of a good performance saving a mediocre song (and Jon's rather abstract lyrics at least avoid the banalities usually associated with music of this sort). Jimmy Hahn adds a nondescript guitar solo here.

"Anyone Can Light A Candle" is a more banal offering, featuring a return of the harpsichord and not terribly much else. A few "highs" exist in this piece, but there simply isn't very much to speak of here. Vangelis's lines should a bit more uninspired than usual.

The mere title of "Be A Good Friend Of Mine" is probably enough to put off many of the more prog-oriented Yes fans. This is a shame, since it's actually the most "progressive" piece on the album. Beginning with a drum-heavy passage, the piece develops to contain several good lines on Vangelis's part (not to mention a diversity of sounds, including flute programming, guitar programming, etc.) Jon's lyrics regarding an alien visitation are easily his most interesting on the album. Unlike many of the other tracks here, this could easily have been an above-average Yes piece.

"Shine For Me" earns its high rating almost solely for the extent to which J & V are capable of creating powerful mood with ascending "triumphant" lines. The lyrics aren't terribly much to speak of, but Jon manages to carry them through with the vocal line.

Sadly, this is followed by "Genevieve", a throwaway love song involving a startlingly high number of corporate soft-rock cliches. The keyboards are fairly silly, and the only thing even remotely interesting about the song is the vocal melody in the "chorus" (which wears thin rather quickly).

"Journey To Ixtlan" gets off to a rather rough start, with Jon appearing rather silly by speaking of a woman (perhaps archetypal, perhaps real - it doesn't really matter) giving "vibes" to him, accompanied by a somewhat cliched sitar accompaniment. Thankfully, the piece itself is somewhat better than this, with the music eventually developing to the climax wherein Jon sings the title of the piece one single time. The faux-Caribbean effects at the end could probably have been done away with, but this isn't terribly significant of a criticism.

"Little Guitar" is essentially a throwaway conclusion: Vangelis playing a decent-but-forgetable synth-acoustic guitar line. In the proper setting, this could have created a decent moment of denouement; here, though, it just seems unnecessary.

The primary danger of this album is that Yes fans may become disenchanted with the "new age" qualities of the opening tracks, and subsequently lose sight of the more distinctive tracks here. With any luck, this review will cause at least a few people to take note of the highlighted tracks.


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