Unfortunately, if you're like me and were expecting that a double CD album from Despina Vandi would be jam-packed with exotically swirling, trance-inflected dance anthems like her singles "Gia" and "Opa Opa," you may be in for a bit of a letdown. Of the 24 tracks on the "Gia" album, only six of the songs really fall into the dance category (seven if you count both of the versions of "Gia" featured).
Now it’s worth mentioning that these other dance tracks are just as refreshing and as exciting as the singles with their melding of Ms. Vandi’s mysterious Greek vocals with glittering 4/4 beats, and for some this handful of nightclub-friendly melodies may be worth the purchase price alone. "Ti Kana Moni Mou" is one of CD1’s best tracks as Despina slams through the staccato rhythms of the verse before gliding into a spinning chorus and another highlight is the high-flying Trance stomper "Alo Lipis" that is ideally suited to be the album’s third single. A bit more mellow are the sparsely vocalled "I Melodia Tis Monoksias" with its temperamental bleeping and the mid-tempo "Chrone" but even they steam along with enough beats and attitude to keep rhythm-centered listeners happy.
But move beyond these songs and we’re definitely out of disco territory. I want to be clear that rest of the album isn't bad with lots of rocky pop tracks and ballads flavored with traditional Greek elements, but it's just not really what I was expecting based on the singles. So while I can't give this whole album a complete blessing for the dance fans, I can say that it's very much recommended for open-minded fans of world music and progressive pop.
