Ost Berlin

Tangerine Dream's 'Wavelength' is the soundtrack to an obscure Robert Carradine sci-fi film from 1983, and while it offered nothing truly fresh or groundbreaking from the band, it's still makes for a fine background listen while offering several variations of spacey/electronic ambience. Composed by the trio of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Johannes Schmoelling, considering the albums around it such as 'Hyperborea', 'White Eagle' etc, 'Wavelength' still features the ghostly Melloton, as well as having a distinct mid-70's TD period sound instead of the cold plastic 80's that was emerging during that time. It's mostly comprised of short little interludes and snippets which unfortunately means that many of the tracks rarely get time to develop better, and some sections are reworked pieces from previous albums…

Another in the long line of soundtracks by Tangerine Dream is actually one of the strongest in concept for any film they have done. The movie has a high degree of tension and the score by T.D. does just the trick. They use mostly hard driving sequencer rhythms to maintain the tension of the film. Listeners will find that this is nearly how all of the music is composed. There is very little melody within the structures of the music. But even with this lacking, the score is very well suited and very listenable. A couple of nonsequencer tracks are also on the album and break up the hard rhythms pieces.

Another in the long line of soundtracks by Tangerine Dream is actually one of the strongest in concept for any film they have done. The movie has a high degree of tension and the score by T.D. does just the trick. They use mostly hard driving sequencer rhythms to maintain the tension of the film. Listeners will find that this is nearly how all of the music is composed. There is very little melody within the structures of the music. But even with this lacking, the score is very well suited and very listenable. A couple of nonsequencer tracks are also on the album and break up the hard rhythms pieces.

Tangerine Dream's 'Wavelength' is the soundtrack to an obscure Robert Carradine sci-fi film from 1983, and while it offered nothing truly fresh or groundbreaking from the band, it's still makes for a fine background listen while offering several variations of spacey/electronic ambience. Composed by the trio of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Johannes Schmoelling, considering the albums around it such as 'Hyperborea', 'White Eagle' etc, 'Wavelength' still features the ghostly Melloton, as well as having a distinct mid-70's TD period sound instead of the cold plastic 80's that was emerging during that time. It's mostly comprised of short little interludes and snippets which unfortunately means that many of the tracks rarely get time to develop better, and some sections are reworked pieces from previous albums…

Tangerine Dream scored director Michael Mann's film debut, Thief (released as "Violent Streets" outside of the U.S. market), adding their patented pulses, blips and whooshes to the film's highly stylized visual scenes. While TD's electronic music is a natural fit for soundtracks, it doesn't bring out the best in the band; for the most part, this soundtrack contains swatches of a larger canvas, building up a small head of steam in the span of four or five minutes but not raising the musical discussion above the level of mere mechanical chitchat. Most of the songs follow a set pattern, with Chris Franke slurring his sequencers under a thin fog of synthesizers, topped by a piercing and pithy melody. An engaging melody on "Beach Theme" makes it one of the album's better tracks, while "Trap Feeling" has a delicacy that compares favorably to Brian Eno's Music for Films…

This would have a better set overall had Sylvester Levay's contributions been left off. Edgar Froese and company were in fine form for this set, giving a muscular and biting edge that was lacking in many TD soundtracks. Levay's material, stuck in the middle, weakens the show considerably, while the closing songs are simply de rigueur.

Having scored the movies Heartbreakers and Tonight's The Night before, in 1988 TD composed the music for a third film of director Bobby Roth - Dead Solid Perfect, starring Randy Quaid. A lot of material is sequencered rhythms. Several tracks are variations of melodies so it does tend to get a little monotonous with the repetition. The music is a pleasure to hear. Without Silva Screen's efforts, more than likely this music would never have been released. It would have only been heard through your TV where it was buried in the soundtrack. Apparently, the soundtrack album was prepared without cooperation of Tangerine Dream, a common approach of the record company releasing this album. Thus, unlike most other TD soundtracks, it features a large number of short musical sketches instead of longer compositions especially provided by TD for a soundtrack album release.

Tangerine Dream's 'Wavelength' is the soundtrack to an obscure Robert Carradine sci-fi film from 1983, and while it offered nothing truly fresh or groundbreaking from the band, it's still makes for a fine background listen while offering several variations of spacey/electronic ambience. Composed by the trio of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Johannes Schmoelling, considering the albums around it such as 'Hyperborea', 'White Eagle' etc, 'Wavelength' still features the ghostly Melloton, as well as having a distinct mid-70's TD period sound instead of the cold plastic 80's that was emerging during that time. It's mostly comprised of short little interludes and snippets which unfortunately means that many of the tracks rarely get time to develop better, and some sections are reworked pieces from previous albums…