Albedo 0.39
| Albedo 0.39 | ||||
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| Studio album by Vangelis | ||||
| Released | 1976 | |||
| Recorded | Nemo Studios, London, 1976 | |||
| Genre | Electronica | |||
| Length | 42:30 | |||
| Label |
RCA (Original) Windham Hill (Reissue) Esoteric Recordings (2013) |
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| Producer | Vangelis | |||
| Vangelis chronology | ||||
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| Allmusic |   |
Albedo 0.39 is a studio album by the Greek electronic composer Vangelis, released in 1976. It was the second album produced by Vangelis in Nemo Studios, London, which was his creative base until the late 1980s. It contrasts with his previous album, Heaven and Hell, which was classically inspired and choral, while Albedo 0.39 has blues and jazz overtones. It was his first Top 20 UK album.
It is a concept album themed around space physics (the reflection of light i.e. physical truth). Its title is inspired by the idea of a planet's albedo, the proportion of the light it receives that is reflected back into space. The album title refers to the average albedo value of the planet Earth as it was in 1976. From the explanation on the back of the LP cover : "The reflecting power of a planet or other non-luminous body. A perfect reflector would have an Albedo of 100%. The Earth's Albedo is 39%, or 0.39".
As with Heaven and Hell, it was performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1977.
The album reached #18 on the UK Album Charts. In 2011 the album was included along with Heaven and Hell and Spiral in a 3-CD box set series "Original Album Classics" by Sony, RCA and Legacy Recordings. In 2013 the album was released in a remastered and reissued digipak edition by Esoteric Recordings.
Vangelis plays all instruments. Although it is uncertain which synthesizers Vangelis employs on this album, other instruments include acoustic drums, bass, percussion, a xylophone, a gamelan (track 2) and recordings of the speaking clock (courtesy of Post Office Communications) and the Apollo moon landing (courtesy of NASA). It appears Vangelis alternates synthesizer and acoustic basses on different tracks.
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