Tangerine Dream (mega thread)

[J3FF3R00]

In the past year or two, I've discovered a keen fondness for this band, particularly their mid 70s -> mid 80s output. Just about every album in there is

Let's talk.

[usagi]

I just finished watching Near Dark, which they scored. I like their film scores - also Miracle Mile springs to mind - but I've never heard a full album of theirs.

[manmower]

I bought all those 'definitive edition' CDs of theirs for cheap a couple of years ago, and honestly I'm still working my way through those.

 

But yeah... some of their soundtrack work is just perfect.

 

 

[cwmbrancity]

a band where the term "everything" is the only appropriate answer, everything they put out & every member's collaboration side-projects too (of which there are many)

 

i had Choronzon & Remote Viewing cued up for a mix recently, but couldnt quite squeeze em in, but thats just 2 out of a possible 50-60+ compositions

 

would also have a nose for/@ Julian Cope's "Krautrocksampler" text if you ever fancy a deep journey into late 60's/early 70's German musical realms, its superb at individual and group biographies, albums & collaboration projects that might fly under a lot of radars, plus there's the addition of youlube now so you can fire off titles and tons of good gear will emerge

 

https://monoskop.org/images/2/21/Cope_Julian_Krautrocksampler.pdf

[purlieu]

Even though they're not my absolute favourite group, I own more TD than any other band. As it's a mega-thread, it deserves some mega-posts, so here's my rundown of their main studio (and 100% original material live) albums. I'm not touching the soundtracks, as I don't know them so well (I've listened to all the commercially released ones once or twice, but never owned them).

 

The Pink Years

I actually have a 2CD compilation of this entitled Sunrise in the Third System which contains a considerable portion of the material from each album, simply because I rarely fancy listening to any of the albums in their entirety. Electronic Meditation - great chaotic kraut-psych stuff, totally un-electronic (despite the name). Not often in the mood, but the opening two tracks are particularly excellent. Alpha Centauri is a more spacious version of the sound, pretty far out for 1971. Zeit is definitely the highlight of this era, a stunning dark album totally devoid of rock music. 'Birth of Liquid Plejades', with its droning cellos and Florian Fricke on Moog, is a monumental piece. Atem feels like a bit of a creative dead end to me. More emphasis on rhythm and density, but mostly jarring and totally lacking the trance-like nature of their best material. Admirably experimental, but one of my least favourites.

 

The Virgin Years

Rightfully lauded as their creative peak. Almost every album from this era is gold. Obviously Phaedra is beyond comparison for its originality and sheer atmosphere - incredible that the title track came about by pure chance and inadvertently created the entire Berlin-School genre which went on to shape new age and trance in the long run - but Rubycon is the superior of the two for me. One of the all-time peaks of ambient music, just stunningly beautiful, effortlessly veering from starkly scary to lush and euphoric. Ricochet is a bit of an awkward transitional record - not a big fan of the rockier first side - but the second side is impressive solely for being an example of how far you could push sequencer-based music. It's no surprise they moved away from this sound after it, as I don't think they could have done anything else or gone further with the sequence-led approach. Utterly intense, hypnotic music. Stratosfear introduces a much more thematic, melody-led approach with hints of prog; I love the inclusion of piano, harpsichord, harmonica etc. Gives it a creepy, baroque feel. Encore, as a live document and a farewell to the Frose / Franke / Baumann lineup, is fine, but it's too heavy on the soloing for my taste. I know Cyclone has its fans, but for me it's the first of a run of albums that really showed how bad TD + vocals is. Really just a bad Pink Floyd ripoff with some sequencer sections thrown in. Force Majeure returns to form, picking up the melody-driven sound of Stratosfear and going with it full pelt. Pretty intense album, lots of huge tunes and a rare example of the band showing a sense of humour at the end of the title track. 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks' is wonderful proto-techno.

The arrival of Johannes Schmoelling gives them a real revitalisation, moving away from darker sounds to gorgeous, emotive pieces that wonderfully capture both euphoria and melancholia brilliantly. His debut is on Tangram, my favourite TD album. Just one of the most lush sounding albums ever recorded. The opening five minutes is particularly beautiful. I once heard Exit described as the band doing a showcase for film studios, and it definitely foreshadows their soundtrack work which, in turn, helped shape the sound of film scores throughout the '80s. There are some wonderful tracks - the haunting title track and 'Kiew Mission', as well as their best pop piece, 'Choronzon' (which always sticks in my head for days), but it does kind of feel like a selection of works knocked together. White Eagle is one of my least favourite - way too much improv soloing on the first side - but the title track is delicately pretty and 'Convention of the 24' is a marvellously moody piece. Their final albums of this era, the trio of Logos, Hyperborea and Poland, are really stunning. Incorporating samples, wonderful digital synths, pre-house usage of the TR-808 and some really evocative melodies, it's incredible to think all three were recorded in the space of less than a year. It's the last time the band sounded truly ahead of their time, and they went out in style.

 

The Blue Years

Starting with Poland, their move to Jive started well but is notable for making a decline in the band's music and fortunes, as well as a staggeringly high number of film scores. Le Parc, their second album on the label and last with Schmoelling involved, is much poppier than anything they'd done to date, at nine tracks. As a fan of '80s pop I really like it, but it's hard to deny that it's somewhat generic in sound (some pieces could be backing tracks to pop songs of the day). Paul Haslinger joined for Underwater Sunlight, which I love, but once again really shows its age with bombastic '80s rock production. Vocal album #2, Tyger, isn't worth a listen at all, although the video album recorded the same year, Canyon Dreams, has some very pretty pieces on. The rich analogue sound has disappeared altogether by this point, and it's all tinny FM synths and early computer sequencing, meaning it's all sounding pretty rigid by this point. Livemiles ends the Blue Years, and Chris Franke's time with the band, with a mix of some truly inspired melodies and hideously dated sounds (that FM slap bass has no place in TD).

 

The Melrose Years

The first Froese / Haslinger album, Optical Race, is strangely one of my favourites. It lacks almost everything TD are recognisable for - it's a very rigidly programmed instrumental pop album - but the tunes are great. Other than the title track, which sounds like the theme to a shit game show. Lily on the Beach followed in similar style, with a slightly looser sound, some very forgettable pieces and way more guitar solos. Cheesy as fuck but pretty fun in places, and 'Long Island Sunset' is a gorgeous piece. The introduction of Edgar's son Jerome on one track, a saxophone solo, and the daft title of opener 'Too Hot for My Chinchilla' look ahead to the '90s. Melrose finishes the trio from this era with Jerome joining as a full-time member. Again some great melodic tracks, but also a number of forgettable noodling pieces of new age. The poppy approach from two years prior has almost disappeared by this point.

 

The Seattle Years.

Down to the father-son duo of Edgar and Jerome Froese, TD sign to new age label Miramar for their least new age-sounding work, and what is almost universally agreed to be their low point. The late '80s was far from their peak, but they still had some good pop tunes to back it up. For the most part, the early '90s finds the group playing with the same old FM synth sounds, topped with endless soloing by the two Froeses alongside various guest guitarists, and sax solos from Linda Spa. Rockoon has a few decent tracks - opener 'Big City Dwarves', 'Touchwood', the title track - and has a fairly consistent moody production throughout, but is mostly forgettable. The live album 220 Volt is in similar territory, but with a punchier production. Features a hideously awkward version of Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. Turn of the Tides is the band's nadir, a tuneless void of endless guitar shredding, dated synth sounds and unrealistic drum samples. Tyranny of Beauty picks things up a little, with Jerome bringing in some techno influences, particularly in the rhythms which now at least sound electronic.

1996's Goblins Club is a bit of an orphan album, their only release on Castle before going independent (Castle picked up their contract by being given rights to the Pink and Blue years). It's the best of this era by far, with fewer solos and much more in the way of electronic production and samples, as well as a few very memorable pieces. Average at best, but at least listenable.

 

The Millennium Years

After a few years of new age video soundtracks and scores for TV documentaries nobody seems to be able to track down, 1999's Mars Polaris finds the duo recording an album that actually sounds like Tangerine Dream again. Longer pieces, dark spacey moods, a fully electronic production. Jerome brings in some of the techno and jungle elements he'd experimented with on the Dream Mixes compilations, and even Edgar's fondness for the same old FM presets is at least tempered somewhat. The Seven Letters From Tibet, Edgar's tribute to his recently deceased wife, is almost a beautiful ambient record, but the production veers too heavily into new age for it to be anywhere near as affecting as it should be. The Dante Trilogy that followed is mostly guff - three double albums forming an absurdly long electronic opera, complete with various aria and choral sections, that all sound the fucking same - although some of the instrumental sections of Purgatorio are fantastic, and the whole project is at least admirably daring and different. 2005's Jeanne D'Arc, the only album with the lineup of Edgar, Jerome and Thorsten Quaeschning, finishes the Millennium Years on the band's own TDI label in style. Epic, hugely emotional sweeping pieces, the group's most melodic and affecting material since Johannes Schmoelling was involved.

 

The Eastgate Years

This is the point where Tangerine Dream became a bit of a factory line, churning out music at a ridiculous rate, most of it Edgar solo material. He referred to it as a diary approach, which translates as 'no quality control'. Another vocal album disaster in the electronic prog of The Madcap Laughs (a well-meaning but hilariously ill fitting tribute to Syd Barrett) was followed by the stunning Springtime in Nagasaki, the first in a five-part suite called The Five Atomic Seasons. Edgar's side of Springtime is a decent set of classic TD-style sequencer tracks, but it's Thorsten's side that really makes this - Persistence of Memory Parts 4-6, the first two of which are incredible ambient post-rock, the last an epic sounding synthpop banger. Edgar took the second in the series, Summer in Nagasaki, as a solo album, which did a reasonable job of building up the tension foreshadowing the atomic bomb blast of the city (the moment of it actually hitting is chillingly understated, not a phrase often associated with Tangerine Dream). The remaining three parts of the series, Autumn in Hiroshima, Winter in Hiroshima and The Endless Season are increasingly bland and forgettable, relying on the exact same synth sounds and compositional ideas time and time again. Increased use of electric guitar doesn't help (particularly one track on Autumn, which combines new age pads with shredding). 

A number of 'cupdiscs' (the band's term for EPs and mini-albums that are suitable length for drinking a cup of coffee or tea) are similarly dull, with the occasional good track, although the three track Purple Diluvial is excellent, helped by the significant presence of Thorsten once more. Views From a Red Train is the last album of the era to feature a solid band lineup, with drums and guitar on everything. Better produced and composed than the Seattle Years material, but frequently as tedious. The two parts of Chandra - The Phantom Ferry are pretty decent. The first half of the first album is probably the most experimental and fascinating music put out as TD since the early '80s, with a great range of textures and moods, but the second half fades into new age pap. The second is more consistent but less surprising: a nice set of melancholic ambient pieces. 

The four Sonic Poems are a great example of the quantity of quality nature of the Eastgate Years. Despite being supposedly inspired by four totally different novels, all four have a very similar feel, with minor key chugging sequencer tracks punctuated by the occasional experimental abstract piece. Many of the best pieces feature Thorsten, as usual, and a compilation of the best bits of all four albums would be up there with the group's all-time greats. Instead, there are simply four long, underwhelming albums with great moments scattered throughout. 2013's The Castle, inspired by the Franz Kafka novel, is the best of the four.

 

The Quantum Years

Throwing out the fairly arbitrary 'series' releases, removing all the guest drummers, guitarists, saxophonists and vocalists, and bringing in Ulrich Schnauss to form a trio of synth players - Froese / Schnauss / Quaeschning - to finish off the Tangerine Dream project in 2017 on the 50th year of the band in a 'synth trio' style reminiscent of the band's peak years seems like, despite his many questionable creative decisions, Edgar still knew what the heart of TD was and what made it great. The first album of this era, Mala Kunia, is beautiful, with Ulrich bringing a new textural element to the band, and even Edgar's solo pieces sounding more focused than usual. And then the bastard went and died. I've never been so upset by a celebrity death before or since - the only time I've ever cried at one. He was getting frail - footage of him on stage showed an old, skinny guy where a more built, confident man stood only a few years prior - so he was probably ill and knew it. He'd explained his plans for The Quantum Years to his wife, and she helped Thorsten and Ulrich complete those plans, incorporating his own demos for the album. The only main release so far, the Quantum Key EP, is incredible, four blistering pieces of shimmering, energetic electronica that sound both like classic TD and completely contemporary at the same time. Last year's Particles EP included some live recordings, a studio improv and a cover of the Stranger Things theme as a nice nod to the inspiration that soundtrack took from TD. The previews of Quantum Gate, out later this year, all sound great so far, and I'm confident it will be a brilliant way to say goodbye to Edgar. There's an album-length cupdisc to accompany Edgar's biography, out later this month, and another disc of extras from recent recording sessions to accompany the album, and if they're anywhere near as good as the other releases then The Quantum Years could well be the best era of the band since they left Virgin in 1983.

 

I do hope they call it quits after the end of the year though. Completing Edgar's vision for Quantum Gate is wonderful and hugely respectful to him and a great way to commemorate his life and the band, but continuing on afterwards I don't think it'll really be Tangerine Dream. TD without Edgar isn't really TD.

 

 

tl;dr: pretty good band.

[J3FF3R00]

Even though they're not my absolute favourite group, I own more TD than any other band. As it's a mega-thread, it deserves some mega-posts, so here's my rundown of their main studio (and 100% original material live) albums. I'm not touching the soundtracks, as I don't know them so well (I've listened to all the commercially released ones once or twice, but never owned them).

 

The Pink Years

I actually have a 2CD compilation of this entitled Sunrise in the Third System which contains a considerable portion of the material from each album, simply because I rarely fancy listening to any of the albums in their entirety. Electronic Meditation - great chaotic kraut-psych stuff, totally un-electronic (despite the name). Not often in the mood, but the opening two tracks are particularly excellent. Alpha Centauri is a more spacious version of the sound, pretty far out for 1971. Zeit is definitely the highlight of this era, a stunning dark album totally devoid of rock music. 'Birth of Liquid Plejades', with its droning cellos and Florian Fricke on Moog, is a monumental piece. Atem feels like a bit of a creative dead end to me. More emphasis on rhythm and density, but mostly jarring and totally lacking the trance-like nature of their best material. Admirably experimental, but one of my least favourites.

 

The Virgin Years

Rightfully lauded as their creative peak. Almost every album from this era is gold. Obviously Phaedra is beyond comparison for its originality and sheer atmosphere - incredible that the title track came about by pure chance and inadvertently created the entire Berlin-School genre which went on to shape new age and trance in the long run - but Rubycon is the superior of the two for me. One of the all-time peaks of ambient music, just stunningly beautiful, effortlessly veering from starkly scary to lush and euphoric. Ricochet is a bit of an awkward transitional record - not a big fan of the rockier first side - but the second side is impressive solely for being an example of how far you could push sequencer-based music. It's no surprise they moved away from this sound after it, as I don't think they could have done anything else or gone further with the sequence-led approach. Utterly intense, hypnotic music. Stratosfear introduces a much more thematic, melody-led approach with hints of prog; I love the inclusion of piano, harpsichord, harmonica etc. Gives it a creepy, baroque feel. Encore, as a live document and a farewell to the Frose / Franke / Baumann lineup, is fine, but it's too heavy on the soloing for my taste. I know Cyclone has its fans, but for me it's the first of a run of albums that really showed how bad TD + vocals is. Really just a bad Pink Floyd ripoff with some sequencer sections thrown in. Force Majeure returns to form, picking up the melody-driven sound of Stratosfear and going with it full pelt. Pretty intense album, lots of huge tunes and a rare example of the band showing a sense of humour at the end of the title track. 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks' is wonderful proto-techno.

The arrival of Johannes Schmoelling gives them a real revitalisation, moving away from darker sounds to gorgeous, emotive pieces that wonderfully capture both euphoria and melancholia brilliantly. His debut is on Tangram, my favourite TD album. Just one of the most lush sounding albums ever recorded. The opening five minutes is particularly beautiful. I once heard Exit described as the band doing a showcase for film studios, and it definitely foreshadows their soundtrack work which, in turn, helped shape the sound of film scores throughout the '80s. There are some wonderful tracks - the haunting title track and 'Kiew Mission', as well as their best pop piece, 'Choronzon' (which always sticks in my head for days), but it does kind of feel like a selection of works knocked together. White Eagle is one of my least favourite - way too much improv soloing on the first side - but the title track is delicately pretty and 'Convention of the 24' is a marvellously moody piece. Their final albums of this era, the trio of Logos, Hyperborea and Poland, are really stunning. Incorporating samples, wonderful digital synths, pre-house usage of the TR-808 and some really evocative melodies, it's incredible to think all three were recorded in the space of less than a year. It's the last time the band sounded truly ahead of their time, and they went out in style.

 

The Blue Years

Starting with Poland, their move to Jive started well but is notable for making a decline in the band's music and fortunes, as well as a staggeringly high number of film scores. Le Parc, their second album on the label and last with Schmoelling involved, is much poppier than anything they'd done to date, at nine tracks. As a fan of '80s pop I really like it, but it's hard to deny that it's somewhat generic in sound (some pieces could be backing tracks to pop songs of the day). Paul Haslinger joined for Underwater Sunlight, which I love, but once again really shows its age with bombastic '80s rock production. Vocal album #2, Tyger, isn't worth a listen at all, although the video album recorded the same year, Canyon Dreams, has some very pretty pieces on. The rich analogue sound has disappeared altogether by this point, and it's all tinny FM synths and early computer sequencing, meaning it's all sounding pretty rigid by this point. Livemiles ends the Blue Years, and Chris Franke's time with the band, with a mix of some truly inspired melodies and hideously dated sounds (that FM slap bass has no place in TD).

 

The Melrose Years

The first Froese / Haslinger album, Optical Race, is strangely one of my favourites. It lacks almost everything TD are recognisable for - it's a very rigidly programmed instrumental pop album - but the tunes are great. Other than the title track, which sounds like the theme to a shit game show. Lily on the Beach followed in similar style, with a slightly looser sound, some very forgettable pieces and way more guitar solos. Cheesy as fuck but pretty fun in places, and 'Long Island Sunset' is a gorgeous piece. The introduction of Edgar's son Jerome on one track, a saxophone solo, and the daft title of opener 'Too Hot for My Chinchilla' look ahead to the '90s. Melrose finishes the trio from this era with Jerome joining as a full-time member. Again some great melodic tracks, but also a number of forgettable noodling pieces of new age. The poppy approach from two years prior has almost disappeared by this point.

 

The Seattle Years.

Down to the father-son duo of Edgar and Jerome Froese, TD sign to new age label Miramar for their least new age-sounding work, and what is almost universally agreed to be their low point. The late '80s was far from their peak, but they still had some good pop tunes to back it up. For the most part, the early '90s finds the group playing with the same old FM synth sounds, topped with endless soloing by the two Froeses alongside various guest guitarists, and sax solos from Linda Spa. Rockoon has a few decent tracks - opener 'Big City Dwarves', 'Touchwood', the title track - and has a fairly consistent moody production throughout, but is mostly forgettable. The live album 220 Volt is in similar territory, but with a punchier production. Features a hideously awkward version of Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. Turn of the Tides is the band's nadir, a tuneless void of endless guitar shredding, dated synth sounds and unrealistic drum samples. Tyranny of Beauty picks things up a little, with Jerome bringing in some techno influences, particularly in the rhythms which now at least sound electronic.

1996's Goblins Club is a bit of an orphan album, their only release on Castle before going independent (Castle picked up their contract by being given rights to the Pink and Blue years). It's the best of this era by far, with fewer solos and much more in the way of electronic production and samples, as well as a few very memorable pieces. Average at best, but at least listenable.

 

The Millennium Years

After a few years of new age video soundtracks and scores for TV documentaries nobody seems to be able to track down, 1999's Mars Polaris finds the duo recording an album that actually sounds like Tangerine Dream again. Longer pieces, dark spacey moods, a fully electronic production. Jerome brings in some of the techno and jungle elements he'd experimented with on the Dream Mixes compilations, and even Edgar's fondness for the same old FM presets is at least tempered somewhat. The Seven Letters From Tibet, Edgar's tribute to his recently deceased wife, is almost a beautiful ambient record, but the production veers too heavily into new age for it to be anywhere near as affecting as it should be. The Dante Trilogy that followed is mostly guff - three double albums forming an absurdly long electronic opera, complete with various aria and choral sections, that all sound the fucking same - although some of the instrumental sections of Purgatorio are fantastic, and the whole project is at least admirably daring and different. 2005's Jeanne D'Arc, the only album with the lineup of Edgar, Jerome and Thorsten Quaeschning, finishes the Millennium Years on the band's own TDI label in style. Epic, hugely emotional sweeping pieces, the group's most melodic and affecting material since Johannes Schmoelling was involved.

 

The Eastgate Years

This is the point where Tangerine Dream became a bit of a factory line, churning out music at a ridiculous rate, most of it Edgar solo material. He referred to it as a diary approach, which translates as 'no quality control'. Another vocal album disaster in the electronic prog of The Madcap Laughs (a well-meaning but hilariously ill fitting tribute to Syd Barrett) was followed by the stunning Springtime in Nagasaki, the first in a five-part suite called The Five Atomic Seasons. Edgar's side of Springtime is a decent set of classic TD-style sequencer tracks, but it's Thorsten's side that really makes this - Persistence of Memory Parts 4-6, the first two of which are incredible ambient post-rock, the last an epic sounding synthpop banger. Edgar took the second in the series, Summer in Nagasaki, as a solo album, which did a reasonable job of building up the tension foreshadowing the atomic bomb blast of the city (the moment of it actually hitting is chillingly understated, not a phrase often associated with Tangerine Dream). The remaining three parts of the series, Autumn in Hiroshima, Winter in Hiroshima and The Endless Season are increasingly bland and forgettable, relying on the exact same synth sounds and compositional ideas time and time again. Increased use of electric guitar doesn't help (particularly one track on Autumn, which combines new age pads with shredding).

A number of 'cupdiscs' (the band's term for EPs and mini-albums that are suitable length for drinking a cup of coffee or tea) are similarly dull, with the occasional good track, although the three track Purple Diluvial is excellent, helped by the significant presence of Thorsten once more. Views From a Red Train is the last album of the era to feature a solid band lineup, with drums and guitar on everything. Better produced and composed than the Seattle Years material, but frequently as tedious. The two parts of Chandra - The Phantom Ferry are pretty decent. The first half of the first album is probably the most experimental and fascinating music put out as TD since the early '80s, with a great range of textures and moods, but the second half fades into new age pap. The second is more consistent but less surprising: a nice set of melancholic ambient pieces.

The four Sonic Poems are a great example of the quantity of quality nature of the Eastgate Years. Despite being supposedly inspired by four totally different novels, all four have a very similar feel, with minor key chugging sequencer tracks punctuated by the occasional experimental abstract piece. Many of the best pieces feature Thorsten, as usual, and a compilation of the best bits of all four albums would be up there with the group's all-time greats. Instead, there are simply four long, underwhelming albums with great moments scattered throughout. 2013's The Castle, inspired by the Franz Kafka novel, is the best of the four.

 

The Quantum Years

Throwing out the fairly arbitrary 'series' releases, removing all the guest drummers, guitarists, saxophonists and vocalists, and bringing in Ulrich Schnauss to form a trio of synth players - Froese / Schnauss / Quaeschning - to finish off the Tangerine Dream project in 2017 on the 50th year of the band in a 'synth trio' style reminiscent of the band's peak years seems like, despite his many questionable creative decisions, Edgar still knew what the heart of TD was and what made it great. The first album of this era, Mala Kunia, is beautiful, with Ulrich bringing a new textural element to the band, and even Edgar's solo pieces sounding more focused than usual. And then the bastard went and died. I've never been so upset by a celebrity death before or since - the only time I've ever cried at one. He was getting frail - footage of him on stage showed an old, skinny guy where a more built, confident man stood only a few years prior - so he was probably ill and knew it. He'd explained his plans for The Quantum Years to his wife, and she helped Thorsten and Ulrich complete those plans, incorporating his own demos for the album. The only main release so far, the Quantum Key EP, is incredible, four blistering pieces of shimmering, energetic electronica that sound both like classic TD and completely contemporary at the same time. Last year's Particles EP included some live recordings, a studio improv and a cover of the Stranger Things theme as a nice nod to the inspiration that soundtrack took from TD. The previews of Quantum Gate, out later this year, all sound great so far, and I'm confident it will be a brilliant way to say goodbye to Edgar. There's an album-length cupdisc to accompany Edgar's biography, out later this month, and another disc of extras from recent recording sessions to accompany the album, and if they're anywhere near as good as the other releases then The Quantum Years could well be the best era of the band since they left Virgin in 1983.

 

I do hope they call it quits after the end of the year though. Completing Edgar's vision for Quantum Gate is wonderful and hugely respectful to him and a great way to commemorate his life and the band, but continuing on afterwards I don't think it'll really be Tangerine Dream. TD without Edgar isn't really TD.

 

 

tl;dr: pretty good band.

 

Helluva post.

[purlieu]

I thought I'd start with that and see where it all went.

[Auditor]

Groove widit

[TubularCorporation]

Personally I was always a fan of the early stuff in particular, especially Electronic Meditation and Atem.

 

It's all pretty great, though.

[ascdi]

 

Even though they're not my absolute favourite group, I own more TD than any other band. As it's a mega-thread, it deserves some mega-posts, so here's my rundown of their main studio (and 100% original material live) albums. I'm not touching the soundtracks, as I don't know them so well (I've listened to all the commercially released ones once or twice, but never owned them).

 

The Pink Years

I actually have a 2CD compilation of this entitled Sunrise in the Third System which contains a considerable portion of the material from each album, simply because I rarely fancy listening to any of the albums in their entirety. Electronic Meditation - great chaotic kraut-psych stuff, totally un-electronic (despite the name). Not often in the mood, but the opening two tracks are particularly excellent. Alpha Centauri is a more spacious version of the sound, pretty far out for 1971. Zeit is definitely the highlight of this era, a stunning dark album totally devoid of rock music. 'Birth of Liquid Plejades', with its droning cellos and Florian Fricke on Moog, is a monumental piece. Atem feels like a bit of a creative dead end to me. More emphasis on rhythm and density, but mostly jarring and totally lacking the trance-like nature of their best material. Admirably experimental, but one of my least favourites.

 

The Virgin Years

Rightfully lauded as their creative peak. Almost every album from this era is gold. Obviously Phaedra is beyond comparison for its originality and sheer atmosphere - incredible that the title track came about by pure chance and inadvertently created the entire Berlin-School genre which went on to shape new age and trance in the long run - but Rubycon is the superior of the two for me. One of the all-time peaks of ambient music, just stunningly beautiful, effortlessly veering from starkly scary to lush and euphoric. Ricochet is a bit of an awkward transitional record - not a big fan of the rockier first side - but the second side is impressive solely for being an example of how far you could push sequencer-based music. It's no surprise they moved away from this sound after it, as I don't think they could have done anything else or gone further with the sequence-led approach. Utterly intense, hypnotic music. Stratosfear introduces a much more thematic, melody-led approach with hints of prog; I love the inclusion of piano, harpsichord, harmonica etc. Gives it a creepy, baroque feel. Encore, as a live document and a farewell to the Frose / Franke / Baumann lineup, is fine, but it's too heavy on the soloing for my taste. I know Cyclone has its fans, but for me it's the first of a run of albums that really showed how bad TD + vocals is. Really just a bad Pink Floyd ripoff with some sequencer sections thrown in. Force Majeure returns to form, picking up the melody-driven sound of Stratosfear and going with it full pelt. Pretty intense album, lots of huge tunes and a rare example of the band showing a sense of humour at the end of the title track. 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks' is wonderful proto-techno.

The arrival of Johannes Schmoelling gives them a real revitalisation, moving away from darker sounds to gorgeous, emotive pieces that wonderfully capture both euphoria and melancholia brilliantly. His debut is on Tangram, my favourite TD album. Just one of the most lush sounding albums ever recorded. The opening five minutes is particularly beautiful. I once heard Exit described as the band doing a showcase for film studios, and it definitely foreshadows their soundtrack work which, in turn, helped shape the sound of film scores throughout the '80s. There are some wonderful tracks - the haunting title track and 'Kiew Mission', as well as their best pop piece, 'Choronzon' (which always sticks in my head for days), but it does kind of feel like a selection of works knocked together. White Eagle is one of my least favourite - way too much improv soloing on the first side - but the title track is delicately pretty and 'Convention of the 24' is a marvellously moody piece. Their final albums of this era, the trio of Logos, Hyperborea and Poland, are really stunning. Incorporating samples, wonderful digital synths, pre-house usage of the TR-808 and some really evocative melodies, it's incredible to think all three were recorded in the space of less than a year. It's the last time the band sounded truly ahead of their time, and they went out in style.

 

The Blue Years

Starting with Poland, their move to Jive started well but is notable for making a decline in the band's music and fortunes, as well as a staggeringly high number of film scores. Le Parc, their second album on the label and last with Schmoelling involved, is much poppier than anything they'd done to date, at nine tracks. As a fan of '80s pop I really like it, but it's hard to deny that it's somewhat generic in sound (some pieces could be backing tracks to pop songs of the day). Paul Haslinger joined for Underwater Sunlight, which I love, but once again really shows its age with bombastic '80s rock production. Vocal album #2, Tyger, isn't worth a listen at all, although the video album recorded the same year, Canyon Dreams, has some very pretty pieces on. The rich analogue sound has disappeared altogether by this point, and it's all tinny FM synths and early computer sequencing, meaning it's all sounding pretty rigid by this point. Livemiles ends the Blue Years, and Chris Franke's time with the band, with a mix of some truly inspired melodies and hideously dated sounds (that FM slap bass has no place in TD).

 

The Melrose Years

The first Froese / Haslinger album, Optical Race, is strangely one of my favourites. It lacks almost everything TD are recognisable for - it's a very rigidly programmed instrumental pop album - but the tunes are great. Other than the title track, which sounds like the theme to a shit game show. Lily on the Beach followed in similar style, with a slightly looser sound, some very forgettable pieces and way more guitar solos. Cheesy as fuck but pretty fun in places, and 'Long Island Sunset' is a gorgeous piece. The introduction of Edgar's son Jerome on one track, a saxophone solo, and the daft title of opener 'Too Hot for My Chinchilla' look ahead to the '90s. Melrose finishes the trio from this era with Jerome joining as a full-time member. Again some great melodic tracks, but also a number of forgettable noodling pieces of new age. The poppy approach from two years prior has almost disappeared by this point.

 

The Seattle Years.

Down to the father-son duo of Edgar and Jerome Froese, TD sign to new age label Miramar for their least new age-sounding work, and what is almost universally agreed to be their low point. The late '80s was far from their peak, but they still had some good pop tunes to back it up. For the most part, the early '90s finds the group playing with the same old FM synth sounds, topped with endless soloing by the two Froeses alongside various guest guitarists, and sax solos from Linda Spa. Rockoon has a few decent tracks - opener 'Big City Dwarves', 'Touchwood', the title track - and has a fairly consistent moody production throughout, but is mostly forgettable. The live album 220 Volt is in similar territory, but with a punchier production. Features a hideously awkward version of Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. Turn of the Tides is the band's nadir, a tuneless void of endless guitar shredding, dated synth sounds and unrealistic drum samples. Tyranny of Beauty picks things up a little, with Jerome bringing in some techno influences, particularly in the rhythms which now at least sound electronic.

1996's Goblins Club is a bit of an orphan album, their only release on Castle before going independent (Castle picked up their contract by being given rights to the Pink and Blue years). It's the best of this era by far, with fewer solos and much more in the way of electronic production and samples, as well as a few very memorable pieces. Average at best, but at least listenable.

 

The Millennium Years

After a few years of new age video soundtracks and scores for TV documentaries nobody seems to be able to track down, 1999's Mars Polaris finds the duo recording an album that actually sounds like Tangerine Dream again. Longer pieces, dark spacey moods, a fully electronic production. Jerome brings in some of the techno and jungle elements he'd experimented with on the Dream Mixes compilations, and even Edgar's fondness for the same old FM presets is at least tempered somewhat. The Seven Letters From Tibet, Edgar's tribute to his recently deceased wife, is almost a beautiful ambient record, but the production veers too heavily into new age for it to be anywhere near as affecting as it should be. The Dante Trilogy that followed is mostly guff - three double albums forming an absurdly long electronic opera, complete with various aria and choral sections, that all sound the fucking same - although some of the instrumental sections of Purgatorio are fantastic, and the whole project is at least admirably daring and different. 2005's Jeanne D'Arc, the only album with the lineup of Edgar, Jerome and Thorsten Quaeschning, finishes the Millennium Years on the band's own TDI label in style. Epic, hugely emotional sweeping pieces, the group's most melodic and affecting material since Johannes Schmoelling was involved.

 

The Eastgate Years

This is the point where Tangerine Dream became a bit of a factory line, churning out music at a ridiculous rate, most of it Edgar solo material. He referred to it as a diary approach, which translates as 'no quality control'. Another vocal album disaster in the electronic prog of The Madcap Laughs (a well-meaning but hilariously ill fitting tribute to Syd Barrett) was followed by the stunning Springtime in Nagasaki, the first in a five-part suite called The Five Atomic Seasons. Edgar's side of Springtime is a decent set of classic TD-style sequencer tracks, but it's Thorsten's side that really makes this - Persistence of Memory Parts 4-6, the first two of which are incredible ambient post-rock, the last an epic sounding synthpop banger. Edgar took the second in the series, Summer in Nagasaki, as a solo album, which did a reasonable job of building up the tension foreshadowing the atomic bomb blast of the city (the moment of it actually hitting is chillingly understated, not a phrase often associated with Tangerine Dream). The remaining three parts of the series, Autumn in Hiroshima, Winter in Hiroshima and The Endless Season are increasingly bland and forgettable, relying on the exact same synth sounds and compositional ideas time and time again. Increased use of electric guitar doesn't help (particularly one track on Autumn, which combines new age pads with shredding).

A number of 'cupdiscs' (the band's term for EPs and mini-albums that are suitable length for drinking a cup of coffee or tea) are similarly dull, with the occasional good track, although the three track Purple Diluvial is excellent, helped by the significant presence of Thorsten once more. Views From a Red Train is the last album of the era to feature a solid band lineup, with drums and guitar on everything. Better produced and composed than the Seattle Years material, but frequently as tedious. The two parts of Chandra - The Phantom Ferry are pretty decent. The first half of the first album is probably the most experimental and fascinating music put out as TD since the early '80s, with a great range of textures and moods, but the second half fades into new age pap. The second is more consistent but less surprising: a nice set of melancholic ambient pieces.

The four Sonic Poems are a great example of the quantity of quality nature of the Eastgate Years. Despite being supposedly inspired by four totally different novels, all four have a very similar feel, with minor key chugging sequencer tracks punctuated by the occasional experimental abstract piece. Many of the best pieces feature Thorsten, as usual, and a compilation of the best bits of all four albums would be up there with the group's all-time greats. Instead, there are simply four long, underwhelming albums with great moments scattered throughout. 2013's The Castle, inspired by the Franz Kafka novel, is the best of the four.

 

The Quantum Years

Throwing out the fairly arbitrary 'series' releases, removing all the guest drummers, guitarists, saxophonists and vocalists, and bringing in Ulrich Schnauss to form a trio of synth players - Froese / Schnauss / Quaeschning - to finish off the Tangerine Dream project in 2017 on the 50th year of the band in a 'synth trio' style reminiscent of the band's peak years seems like, despite his many questionable creative decisions, Edgar still knew what the heart of TD was and what made it great. The first album of this era, Mala Kunia, is beautiful, with Ulrich bringing a new textural element to the band, and even Edgar's solo pieces sounding more focused than usual. And then the bastard went and died. I've never been so upset by a celebrity death before or since - the only time I've ever cried at one. He was getting frail - footage of him on stage showed an old, skinny guy where a more built, confident man stood only a few years prior - so he was probably ill and knew it. He'd explained his plans for The Quantum Years to his wife, and she helped Thorsten and Ulrich complete those plans, incorporating his own demos for the album. The only main release so far, the Quantum Key EP, is incredible, four blistering pieces of shimmering, energetic electronica that sound both like classic TD and completely contemporary at the same time. Last year's Particles EP included some live recordings, a studio improv and a cover of the Stranger Things theme as a nice nod to the inspiration that soundtrack took from TD. The previews of Quantum Gate, out later this year, all sound great so far, and I'm confident it will be a brilliant way to say goodbye to Edgar. There's an album-length cupdisc to accompany Edgar's biography, out later this month, and another disc of extras from recent recording sessions to accompany the album, and if they're anywhere near as good as the other releases then The Quantum Years could well be the best era of the band since they left Virgin in 1983.

 

I do hope they call it quits after the end of the year though. Completing Edgar's vision for Quantum Gate is wonderful and hugely respectful to him and a great way to commemorate his life and the band, but continuing on afterwards I don't think it'll really be Tangerine Dream. TD without Edgar isn't really TD.

 

 

tl;dr: pretty good band.

 

Helluva post.

 

 

 

[fumi]

TD were my favourite band during the 1980s. They were the absolute masters, for me. Their output has been phenomenal. I think I probably own everything they've ever done - including all the bootlegs.

 

I think they kind of faded during the late 90s (especially when they tried to follow the current musical trends) and I didn't really identify with them after that point. Some of their 80s work is deeply moving and personal to me.

 

Underwater Sunlight, Optical Race and Near Dark would easily fit in my top ten electronic albums of all time, but honestly, they made so many incredible albums it's pretty hard to choose. I still deeply love the early stuff on Phadrea and Rubycon  too.

 

I saw them live once in 1990 in the UK, when they were promoting Melrose. 

 

Perlieu, have you ever read 'Voices In The Dunes'? I'm guessing you have.

 

Everyone fan has a favourite line-up. Mine was the 1986-87 trio of Froese, Franke and Haslinger.

[Extralife]

 

 

Even though they're not my absolute favourite group, I own more TD than any other band. As it's a mega-thread, it deserves some mega-posts, so here's my rundown of their main studio (and 100% original material live) albums. I'm not touching the soundtracks, as I don't know them so well (I've listened to all the commercially released ones once or twice, but never owned them).

 

The Pink Years

I actually have a 2CD compilation of this entitled Sunrise in the Third System which contains a considerable portion of the material from each album, simply because I rarely fancy listening to any of the albums in their entirety. Electronic Meditation - great chaotic kraut-psych stuff, totally un-electronic (despite the name). Not often in the mood, but the opening two tracks are particularly excellent. Alpha Centauri is a more spacious version of the sound, pretty far out for 1971. Zeit is definitely the highlight of this era, a stunning dark album totally devoid of rock music. 'Birth of Liquid Plejades', with its droning cellos and Florian Fricke on Moog, is a monumental piece. Atem feels like a bit of a creative dead end to me. More emphasis on rhythm and density, but mostly jarring and totally lacking the trance-like nature of their best material. Admirably experimental, but one of my least favourites.

 

The Virgin Years

Rightfully lauded as their creative peak. Almost every album from this era is gold. Obviously Phaedra is beyond comparison for its originality and sheer atmosphere - incredible that the title track came about by pure chance and inadvertently created the entire Berlin-School genre which went on to shape new age and trance in the long run - but Rubycon is the superior of the two for me. One of the all-time peaks of ambient music, just stunningly beautiful, effortlessly veering from starkly scary to lush and euphoric. Ricochet is a bit of an awkward transitional record - not a big fan of the rockier first side - but the second side is impressive solely for being an example of how far you could push sequencer-based music. It's no surprise they moved away from this sound after it, as I don't think they could have done anything else or gone further with the sequence-led approach. Utterly intense, hypnotic music. Stratosfear introduces a much more thematic, melody-led approach with hints of prog; I love the inclusion of piano, harpsichord, harmonica etc. Gives it a creepy, baroque feel. Encore, as a live document and a farewell to the Frose / Franke / Baumann lineup, is fine, but it's too heavy on the soloing for my taste. I know Cyclone has its fans, but for me it's the first of a run of albums that really showed how bad TD + vocals is. Really just a bad Pink Floyd ripoff with some sequencer sections thrown in. Force Majeure returns to form, picking up the melody-driven sound of Stratosfear and going with it full pelt. Pretty intense album, lots of huge tunes and a rare example of the band showing a sense of humour at the end of the title track. 'Thru Metamorphic Rocks' is wonderful proto-techno.

The arrival of Johannes Schmoelling gives them a real revitalisation, moving away from darker sounds to gorgeous, emotive pieces that wonderfully capture both euphoria and melancholia brilliantly. His debut is on Tangram, my favourite TD album. Just one of the most lush sounding albums ever recorded. The opening five minutes is particularly beautiful. I once heard Exit described as the band doing a showcase for film studios, and it definitely foreshadows their soundtrack work which, in turn, helped shape the sound of film scores throughout the '80s. There are some wonderful tracks - the haunting title track and 'Kiew Mission', as well as their best pop piece, 'Choronzon' (which always sticks in my head for days), but it does kind of feel like a selection of works knocked together. White Eagle is one of my least favourite - way too much improv soloing on the first side - but the title track is delicately pretty and 'Convention of the 24' is a marvellously moody piece. Their final albums of this era, the trio of Logos, Hyperborea and Poland, are really stunning. Incorporating samples, wonderful digital synths, pre-house usage of the TR-808 and some really evocative melodies, it's incredible to think all three were recorded in the space of less than a year. It's the last time the band sounded truly ahead of their time, and they went out in style.

 

The Blue Years

Starting with Poland, their move to Jive started well but is notable for making a decline in the band's music and fortunes, as well as a staggeringly high number of film scores. Le Parc, their second album on the label and last with Schmoelling involved, is much poppier than anything they'd done to date, at nine tracks. As a fan of '80s pop I really like it, but it's hard to deny that it's somewhat generic in sound (some pieces could be backing tracks to pop songs of the day). Paul Haslinger joined for Underwater Sunlight, which I love, but once again really shows its age with bombastic '80s rock production. Vocal album #2, Tyger, isn't worth a listen at all, although the video album recorded the same year, Canyon Dreams, has some very pretty pieces on. The rich analogue sound has disappeared altogether by this point, and it's all tinny FM synths and early computer sequencing, meaning it's all sounding pretty rigid by this point. Livemiles ends the Blue Years, and Chris Franke's time with the band, with a mix of some truly inspired melodies and hideously dated sounds (that FM slap bass has no place in TD).

 

The Melrose Years

The first Froese / Haslinger album, Optical Race, is strangely one of my favourites. It lacks almost everything TD are recognisable for - it's a very rigidly programmed instrumental pop album - but the tunes are great. Other than the title track, which sounds like the theme to a shit game show. Lily on the Beach followed in similar style, with a slightly looser sound, some very forgettable pieces and way more guitar solos. Cheesy as fuck but pretty fun in places, and 'Long Island Sunset' is a gorgeous piece. The introduction of Edgar's son Jerome on one track, a saxophone solo, and the daft title of opener 'Too Hot for My Chinchilla' look ahead to the '90s. Melrose finishes the trio from this era with Jerome joining as a full-time member. Again some great melodic tracks, but also a number of forgettable noodling pieces of new age. The poppy approach from two years prior has almost disappeared by this point.

 

The Seattle Years.

Down to the father-son duo of Edgar and Jerome Froese, TD sign to new age label Miramar for their least new age-sounding work, and what is almost universally agreed to be their low point. The late '80s was far from their peak, but they still had some good pop tunes to back it up. For the most part, the early '90s finds the group playing with the same old FM synth sounds, topped with endless soloing by the two Froeses alongside various guest guitarists, and sax solos from Linda Spa. Rockoon has a few decent tracks - opener 'Big City Dwarves', 'Touchwood', the title track - and has a fairly consistent moody production throughout, but is mostly forgettable. The live album 220 Volt is in similar territory, but with a punchier production. Features a hideously awkward version of Hendrix's 'Purple Haze'. Turn of the Tides is the band's nadir, a tuneless void of endless guitar shredding, dated synth sounds and unrealistic drum samples. Tyranny of Beauty picks things up a little, with Jerome bringing in some techno influences, particularly in the rhythms which now at least sound electronic.

1996's Goblins Club is a bit of an orphan album, their only release on Castle before going independent (Castle picked up their contract by being given rights to the Pink and Blue years). It's the best of this era by far, with fewer solos and much more in the way of electronic production and samples, as well as a few very memorable pieces. Average at best, but at least listenable.

 

The Millennium Years

After a few years of new age video soundtracks and scores for TV documentaries nobody seems to be able to track down, 1999's Mars Polaris finds the duo recording an album that actually sounds like Tangerine Dream again. Longer pieces, dark spacey moods, a fully electronic production. Jerome brings in some of the techno and jungle elements he'd experimented with on the Dream Mixes compilations, and even Edgar's fondness for the same old FM presets is at least tempered somewhat. The Seven Letters From Tibet, Edgar's tribute to his recently deceased wife, is almost a beautiful ambient record, but the production veers too heavily into new age for it to be anywhere near as affecting as it should be. The Dante Trilogy that followed is mostly guff - three double albums forming an absurdly long electronic opera, complete with various aria and choral sections, that all sound the fucking same - although some of the instrumental sections of Purgatorio are fantastic, and the whole project is at least admirably daring and different. 2005's Jeanne D'Arc, the only album with the lineup of Edgar, Jerome and Thorsten Quaeschning, finishes the Millennium Years on the band's own TDI label in style. Epic, hugely emotional sweeping pieces, the group's most melodic and affecting material since Johannes Schmoelling was involved.

 

The Eastgate Years

This is the point where Tangerine Dream became a bit of a factory line, churning out music at a ridiculous rate, most of it Edgar solo material. He referred to it as a diary approach, which translates as 'no quality control'. Another vocal album disaster in the electronic prog of The Madcap Laughs (a well-meaning but hilariously ill fitting tribute to Syd Barrett) was followed by the stunning Springtime in Nagasaki, the first in a five-part suite called The Five Atomic Seasons. Edgar's side of Springtime is a decent set of classic TD-style sequencer tracks, but it's Thorsten's side that really makes this - Persistence of Memory Parts 4-6, the first two of which are incredible ambient post-rock, the last an epic sounding synthpop banger. Edgar took the second in the series, Summer in Nagasaki, as a solo album, which did a reasonable job of building up the tension foreshadowing the atomic bomb blast of the city (the moment of it actually hitting is chillingly understated, not a phrase often associated with Tangerine Dream). The remaining three parts of the series, Autumn in Hiroshima, Winter in Hiroshima and The Endless Season are increasingly bland and forgettable, relying on the exact same synth sounds and compositional ideas time and time again. Increased use of electric guitar doesn't help (particularly one track on Autumn, which combines new age pads with shredding).

A number of 'cupdiscs' (the band's term for EPs and mini-albums that are suitable length for drinking a cup of coffee or tea) are similarly dull, with the occasional good track, although the three track Purple Diluvial is excellent, helped by the significant presence of Thorsten once more. Views From a Red Train is the last album of the era to feature a solid band lineup, with drums and guitar on everything. Better produced and composed than the Seattle Years material, but frequently as tedious. The two parts of Chandra - The Phantom Ferry are pretty decent. The first half of the first album is probably the most experimental and fascinating music put out as TD since the early '80s, with a great range of textures and moods, but the second half fades into new age pap. The second is more consistent but less surprising: a nice set of melancholic ambient pieces.

The four Sonic Poems are a great example of the quantity of quality nature of the Eastgate Years. Despite being supposedly inspired by four totally different novels, all four have a very similar feel, with minor key chugging sequencer tracks punctuated by the occasional experimental abstract piece. Many of the best pieces feature Thorsten, as usual, and a compilation of the best bits of all four albums would be up there with the group's all-time greats. Instead, there are simply four long, underwhelming albums with great moments scattered throughout. 2013's The Castle, inspired by the Franz Kafka novel, is the best of the four.

 

The Quantum Years

Throwing out the fairly arbitrary 'series' releases, removing all the guest drummers, guitarists, saxophonists and vocalists, and bringing in Ulrich Schnauss to form a trio of synth players - Froese / Schnauss / Quaeschning - to finish off the Tangerine Dream project in 2017 on the 50th year of the band in a 'synth trio' style reminiscent of the band's peak years seems like, despite his many questionable creative decisions, Edgar still knew what the heart of TD was and what made it great. The first album of this era, Mala Kunia, is beautiful, with Ulrich bringing a new textural element to the band, and even Edgar's solo pieces sounding more focused than usual. And then the bastard went and died. I've never been so upset by a celebrity death before or since - the only time I've ever cried at one. He was getting frail - footage of him on stage showed an old, skinny guy where a more built, confident man stood only a few years prior - so he was probably ill and knew it. He'd explained his plans for The Quantum Years to his wife, and she helped Thorsten and Ulrich complete those plans, incorporating his own demos for the album. The only main release so far, the Quantum Key EP, is incredible, four blistering pieces of shimmering, energetic electronica that sound both like classic TD and completely contemporary at the same time. Last year's Particles EP included some live recordings, a studio improv and a cover of the Stranger Things theme as a nice nod to the inspiration that soundtrack took from TD. The previews of Quantum Gate, out later this year, all sound great so far, and I'm confident it will be a brilliant way to say goodbye to Edgar. There's an album-length cupdisc to accompany Edgar's biography, out later this month, and another disc of extras from recent recording sessions to accompany the album, and if they're anywhere near as good as the other releases then The Quantum Years could well be the best era of the band since they left Virgin in 1983.

 

I do hope they call it quits after the end of the year though. Completing Edgar's vision for Quantum Gate is wonderful and hugely respectful to him and a great way to commemorate his life and the band, but continuing on afterwards I don't think it'll really be Tangerine Dream. TD without Edgar isn't really TD.

 

 

tl;dr: pretty good band.

 

Helluva post.

 

A+ post. Thanks for giving me a starting point.

[colunga]

 

[YangYing]

I have heard their name thrown about but I don't think I have actually heard anything from them, where do start?

[hello spiral]

Phaedra

[Herr Jan]

I have heard their name thrown about but I don't think I have actually heard anything from them, where do start?

Start with this compilation, IMO:

 

https://www.discogs.com/Tangerine-Dream-The-Virgin-Years-1974-1978/release/2675590?ev=rr

One of my alltime favourite TD tracks:

 

[hello spiral]

^ yeah same

 

I know it from this though https://www.discogs.com/Various-A-Brief-History-Of-Ambient-Volume-1/release/380091

[purlieu]

Perlieu, have you ever read 'Voices In The Dunes'? I'm guessing you have.

I haven't actually. I'm really hoping to get some cash together for Edgar's biography though. It's so fucking expensive, but I suppose a 600+ page hardback isn't going to be cheap. 

 

I have heard their name thrown about but I don't think I have actually heard anything from them, where do start?

Phaedra, Rubycon, Tangram, Logos, Quantum Key. 

[YangYing]

cheers, I'll add those to the 5k track playlist called "must hear NOW"

[th555]

[stephen1966]

Great thread, and Purlieu's post may be the most informative thing I've ever read on wattm.

 

Stratosfear has always been my favourite TD album (and an all time electronic classic), and I'd say it's probably the best place to start too as it's from the classic period, has beats and faultless from beginning to end.

 

Looking forward to the documentary that is due out this year.

[J3FF3R00]

I just scored Phaedra and Rubycon on vinyl at my local Amoeba Records today!

Both are original pressings in GREAT shape. One was $2.99 and the other was $4.99 !!!!¡¡¡¡¡!!!!!¡¡¡¡
I'm all 

[doorjamb]

I love the early Berlin school stuff best, but in my formative youth my dad went through a serious new age phase (though regrettably only musically, mind; no crystal worship or anything… ah well) and it’s the Melrose-era stuff that was the soundtrack underscoring many an evening plate of boiled veg and mashed potatoes, such that hearing those tracks now evokes in me a queer desire for OXO gravy.

 

Phaedra is my favorite though.

[purlieu]

Four things on 29th September. Quantum Gate, the long-awaited new album, Sessions I, other pieces from the QG recording sessions, Light Flux, an album to accompany Edgar's TD biography, and the biography itself (which, at a 600+ page hardback, is pretty fucking expensive. I'm hoping they publish a paperback somewhere down the line because obviously I'm dying to read this).

[Leon Sumbitches]

Great thread <3