Tangerine Dream Virgin

The members of Tangerine Dream continued to hone their craft as pioneers of the early days of electronica, and the mid-'70s proved to be a time of prosperity and musical growth for the trio of Chris Franke, early member Peter Baumann, and permanent frontman Edgar Froese. The three of them had been delivering mysterious space records on a regular basis, and their growing confidence with early synthesizers (the best that money could buy at the time) made them virtuosos of the genre, even as they kept things organic and unpredictable with gongs, prepared piano, and electric guitar. Rubycon has aged gracefully for the most part, making it a solid companion (and follow-up) to their 1974 album, Phaedra…

Tangerine Dream set the stage for the style of "artsy" soundtrack music that dominated the '80s. Although Hyperborea is not a soundtrack, it was clearly influential on some of the work the group was hired to do for Risky Business, Flashpoint, Dreamscape, Firestarter, Legend, and close to 20 others. There have been at least a dozen members in this trio over the years, but the assembly of Chris Franke, Edgar Froese, and Johannes Schmoelling proved to be one of the most prolific and influential. Hyperborea was a turning point for the band - a distinctive departure from the free-form psychedelica-and-moog prog rock improvisations, it was an album of crispness, structure, and a little bravery too - a showcase for artists with enough chops to adjust to the new technology without getting lost in it…

Somewhere along the line, Tangerine Dream figured out a way to produce motion picture scores without paying too much attention - as happened with this score for a minor film. There are some nice moments, but it's mainly Tangerine Dream following the formula. It was the first of six movies directed by Bobby Roth that Tangerine Dream supplied the music for.

The members of Tangerine Dream continued to hone their craft as pioneers of the early days of electronica, and the mid-'70s proved to be a time of prosperity and musical growth for the trio of Chris Franke, early member Peter Baumann, and permanent frontman Edgar Froese. The three of them had been delivering mysterious space records on a regular basis, and their growing confidence with early synthesizers (the best that money could buy at the time) made them virtuosos of the genre, even as they kept things organic and unpredictable with gongs, prepared piano, and electric guitar. Rubycon has aged gracefully for the most part, making it a solid companion (and follow-up) to their 1974 album, Phaedra…

Exit marks the beginning of a new phase in Tangerine Dream's music: Gone were the side-long, sequencer-led journeys, replaced by topical pieces that were more self-contained in scope, more contemporary in sound. Johannes Schmoelling's influence is really felt for the first time here; Tangram, for all its crispness and melody, was simply a refinement of Force Majeure's principles, and the soundtrack to Thief not an album proper. On Exit, listeners are introduced to electronic music's next generation, notably on "Choronzon" and "Network 23," which brought the sound of the dancefloor into the mix (it hasn't left since). That's not to suggest that Tangerine Dream has stopped creating eerie, evocative music…

From mid October to late November 1982, TD toured in Europe performing 31 gigs at all in Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, the UK, Belgium, West and East Germany. The concert at the Dominion Theatre in London was released only a few weeks after on the record Logos Live. According to Johannes Schmoelling, this is one of his favourite albums. He considers "the live concept and the smooth transition between one idea and the next to be the key of the album's success." In 1995 Virgin re-released the album on CD in the so-called "Definitive Edition" series, featuring the original front cover artwork. For this release, the two compositions Logos, Part One and Logos, Part Two have been mixed together, forming the track Logos of some 45 minutes length.

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. Tangerine Dream are considered a pioneering act in electronica. Their work with the electronic music Ohr label produced albums that had a pivotal role in the development of the German musical scene known as kosmische ("cosmic"). Their "Virgin Years", so called because of their association with Virgin Records, produced albums that further explored synthesizers and sequencers, including the UK top 20 albums Phaedra (1974) and Rubycon (1975).

Stratosfear is the eighth major release and seventh studio album by the German group Tangerine Dream. The LP reached No.39 in the UK, in a 4-week chart run, and eventually reached silver status for selling in excess of 60,000 copies (£100,000+).

From mid October to late November 1982, TD toured in Europe performing 31 gigs at all in Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, the UK, Belgium, West and East Germany. The concert at the Dominion Theatre in London was released only a few weeks after on the record Logos Live. According to Johannes Schmoelling, this is one of his favourite albums. He considers "the live concept and the smooth transition between one idea and the next to be the key of the album's success." In 1995 Virgin re-released the album on CD in the so-called "Definitive Edition" series, featuring the original front cover artwork. For this release, the two compositions Logos, Part One and Logos, Part Two have been mixed together, forming the track Logos of some 45 minutes length.

Tyranny of Beauty is one of Tangerine Dream's best CDs of the early and mid-'90s. That's not saying a lot. The group's albums from that period - and even back into the late '80s - are relatively weak. And, to be sure, this disc has its weaknesses. However, they are overshadowed by its strengths, and the disc earns high praise. The TD lineup for this CD is Edgar Froese, Linda Spa, and Jerome Froese. Mark Horn and Gerald Gradwohl contribute various guitar performances. Those performances are the keys to this disc's merit. Gradwohl's lead guitar spots play off and to Edgar Froese's lead guitar. The sparring adds clout to the atmospheres. The atmospheres, in turn, build upon each other and create a grand soundscape. The strongest track is "Stratosfear 1995," a redesign of the Virgin era standard. This CD is a return to the basics with polish and tact. It is essential Berlin school electronica.