1968 was a hot year in De Gaulle’s France. The old general was France’s president since World War II, but his policies were not to the liking of many socialists and communists in the country. After student protests were violently suppressed by police, the protests found a sympathetic ear with the unions, and a general strike was called. The economic damage brought the government to its knees, and even De Gaulle was forced to flee the country. At the end of the month he dissolved the National Assembly and called for new elections. Which he won by the way.
That year Vangelis was in Paris, and he witnessed the protests in and around the Paris University. Recordings of those events, made by sound engineer Luc Perini are used here as the basis for what I can only describe as a dream in music. This is a collection of hopeful, simple melodies, guided by the frantic sounds of the streets in those days.
When you’re looking for Vangelis’ first album, it is either this or the two albums (Hypothesis and The Dragon) resulting from the BYG sessions. All of these are not official Vangelis albums, so they’re not on Spotify. Certainly in this case that is a waste, because I think those simple melodies deserve to be released.