Albedo039FrontIntroduction

In September 1976 Vangelis released “Albedo 0.39”, his second studio album for RCA records. As with his first, “Heaven And Hell” (1975), the music for this album was recorded in Vangelis’ own Nemo Studios in London, probably during the summer months.

The music of the album has a cosmic theme, as is highlighted by the title of the album, which is explained on back of the album sleeve: “Albedo: the reflective 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”.

To promote the album the opening track ‘Pulstar’ was released on a 7" single, with ‘Alpha’ on the flipside, which not coincidentally are the best known songs of the album. ‘Pulstar’ for instance has been widely used as a theme for television shows all over the world, and the song has been covered by many artists, like Armin van Buren in 2024 for André Kuipers’ film “Beyond, Ode To The Earth”. Both songs were also used as a score by American astronomer Carl Sagan in his popular science television series “Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” (1980). On behalf of the new album release Vangelis planned a concert, to be performed in April 1977, but for reasons unknown this concert was cancelled. 

In 2013 the Albedo 0.39 album received a re-release which was personally remastered by Vangelis. Due to the added reverb this version is a different listening experience compared to the original release, and for that some may prefer the original master of this album.

 

AlbedoUSAFrontTracklist and credits

  1. Pulstar
  2. Freefall
  3. Mare Tranquillitatis
  4. Main Sequence
  5. Sword Of Orion
  6. Alpha
  7. Nucleogenesis (Part One)
  8. Nucleogenesis (Part Two)
  9. Albedo 0.39

 

  • Composed, arranged and produced by Vangelis.
  • Keyboards, various synthesizers, drums, bass and all other sounds by Vangelis
  • Speaking clock: Post Office Communications
  • Astronaut conversations during Apollo moon landing courtesy of NASA.
  • Sound engineer: Keith Spencer-Allen.
  • Voice on ‘Albedo 0.39’ track: Keith Spencer-Allen (uncredited).

 

PulstarFrontFDiscography

LP

  • 1976 RCA, released worldwide.
  • 2021 Music On Vinyl MOVLP2577 Europe (Limited edition re-issue with blue transparent vinyl)

CD

7” single

  • 1976 RCA, released in the UK, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, US, and Brazil.

 

Albedo039CDFrontRecording studio

The album was recorded in Vangelis’ Nemo Studios in London.

 

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