Many of us in here have a fond affinity for the band Tangerine Dream, whose groundbreaking work in electronic music brought the attention of this kind of music to a huge number of people. Their classic works contain a large number of beautiful pieces of music, to enjoy, to be inspired by and to learn from, so I thought I would offer my perspectitive on them, as an introduction to their music for people who might not know them well, and as a retrospective on their history, their significance and their works.
As an obvious disclaimer, it goes without saying that all of this is my highly subjective point of view, so you donât need to tell me that Iâm wrong in the comments But your own perspective and experiences are most welcome.
For me, the giants in electronic music have always been Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, in that order. Iâm very well aware that there are many other great electronic musicians, in the past and the present, as well as many early pioneers on the technical and academic side. But these 4 artists brought electronic MUSIC to the world in a massive way, and served as huge influences and inspirations to countless musicians and listeners after them, me very much amongst them. Of all of them, Tangerine Dream has always to me been the most groundbreaking and the most interesting, opening up a vast landscape of music that simply didnât exist before, and Iâm still in awe of their best works as it simply transcends music across all times and ages.
The band was founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese, who was in my mind a musical genious when at his best, and the only permanent member of the band until his death in January 2015. They have released over a hundred albums and are still recording and touring as âTangerine Dreamâ, although none of the original members are left, and to be honest I no longer associate them with what was Tangerine Dream and donât find them interesting or relevant anymore at all.
In the way of introduction, if you know very little about them, you might ask: So, what do they sound like? Whatâs a quintessential Tangerine Dream track? This is not an easy one, but after much handwringing I have come up with this one. This is the track âSearchâ from the album âSorcerorâ (1977):
The classic lineup of musicians of their great years, the ones they are mostly remembered for, are:
- Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke, Peter Baumann (1971 - 1977).
- Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke, Johannes Schmoelling (1979 - 1985).
The band have had several distinct âagesâ or phases during their lifetime, and this is how I would group them. When beginning listening to Tangerine Dream I highly recommend you focus on what I call âThe Golden Ageâ, which is where the good stuff is, IMHO.
Proto-TD (the pink years): Electronic Meditation (1970) - Atem (1973).
This is not the music you would normally think of as Tangerine Dream. Itâs a band knowing they want to do something different, something new, but they donât really know how or what. They donât really have any proper electronic instruments yet, so itâs mostly wild and weird experimentation using whatever they could get their hands on. They are in and coming out of the so called âKrautrockâ years, together with other bands like Kraftwerk, and all this is brilliantly documented in the documentary âKraftwerk and the Electronic Revolutionâ, which is an absolute MUST SEE for any lover of electronic music: Kraftwerk & The Electronic Revolution (documentary) - YouTube
Thereâs a few enjoyable gems in there but mostly itâs, in the immortal words of Klaus Schulze, ârubbishâ. Forgettable and only noteworthy for it being the steppingstone towards something different and quite brilliant.
The golden age (the Virgin years): Phaedra (1974) - Tangram (1980).
This is the age of what I think most people love and think of as âthe real Tangerine Dreamâ. They now have real electronic instruments, starting with a Moog modular and a Moog sequencer, and also including the Mellotron as a big part, and increasingly more and more great, classic synthesizers. Edgar famously loved his Mellotrons. The best of this age is marked by sheer, unmatched, ingenious brilliance. Massively pushing the envelope and moving the needle of what music is, and what electronic music can be. The best of this music is truly immortal and always a joy to listen to, decade after decade. Truly pioneering stuff and they have a massive breakthrough with this kind of music in the public. Phaedra marks the beginning of what we would now call Berlin School, and the sound that no one would mistake for anything other than Tangerine Dream.
The decline: Thief (1981) - Logos (1982).
The band is beginning to loose wind and catching themselves up. Theyâre no longer pushing the envelope hard and itâs equal parts hit and miss. Thereâs enjoyable moments but theyâre seemingly starting to loose their inspiration, being content to repeat a lesser version of themselves, and the music starts to be a mixed bag and downright boring at worst.
The aftermath: White Eagle (1982) - Present.
Sigh⌠how the mighty have fallen. This is where Iâll probably really start to divide the waters and if you love the music of this period thatâs great; good on you. But thatâs not me. This is a band that has lost themselves and almost everything that made them great. Less in the beginning more towards the end. Thereâs still occasional gems here and there, such as the delightful âLove On A Real Trainâ (1984):
But mostly the music ranges from, at best boring, generic and without imagination, just repeating a shallow formula, to, at the worst, a pile of unlistenable, sugarcoated garbage. I know, itâs harsh words and it pains me to say it, and Iâll never understand how such massive talent could turn to such nothingnes, but there it is. I could speculate as to why but I wonât. Most probably, if you didnât hear the music of their golden age first, like I did, you might think that some of it is quite good, and all I can say is: Well, wait till you hear the good stuff! I donât really consider the music of the mid/late 80âs and onwards as really being âTangerine Dreamâ, certainly not the band I know and love. Anyways, enough said about that.
I tend to think that the engine of the band, the driving force, was the combination of the pure musical genius of Edgar Froese, combined with the radical new sound of repetitive sequencing mastery from Chris Franke, lazed with the highly experimental, searching and romantic influence from Peter Baumann.
A reasonable question to ask, if you donât know them well, would be: What albums would you recommend to start with? Which ones to listen to first? My recommendation is this: Find a quiet place, put your favorite headphones on, close your eyes, and then listen to the B side of the album âRicochetâ (1975). This is âRicochet (Part Two)â:
Itâs a sublime piece of music, my favorite of theirs, and if youâre anything like me youâll be floating with the gods and smiling afterwards. And when youâre done you might as well listen to the whole album because itâs all great. Ricochet: Tangerine Dream - Ricochet [Full Album] - YouTube
When youâre done with that I recommend moving on to:
- Force Majeure (1979): Tangerine Dream - Force Majeure (1979) FULL ALBUM - YouTube
- Phaedra (1974): Tangerine Dream â| Phaedra (HD) - YouTube
- Rubycon (1975): Tangerine Dream - Rubycon [Full Album] - YouTube
- Stratosfear (1976): Tangerine Dream - Stratosfear [Full Album] - YouTube
And then the rest of the golden age after that.
Like most great bands, the true greatness was in the combination of the musicians. But the individual musicians were very good as well. First and foremost Edgar Froese, whose compositional genius, love of the Mellotron and sublime musical imagination and sensibility could stand more than very well on his own. On the 1975 Tangerine Dream tour in Australia he composed this masterpiece of an album, his second solo album, which might as well be an official Tangerine Dream record. I kind of regard it as such and it would be right up there in their 3 best albums. It might be my favorite album of electronic music of all time, and if you ever want to truly float away on electronic music, forget about the world and just let it take you places, this is it. Flying with the gods for real. It really is a stunningly beautiful work in my view. I give you: Epsilon In Malaysian Pale (1975):
In the words of David Bowie: âIt was the soundtrack of my life whilst in Berlinâ. Of his other solo albums the first few are quite good, but then follows the same arc as Tangerine Dream towards irrelevance.
Peter Baumann is an interesting musician and person as well. I really like his first solo album: Romance '76 (1976):
Itâs deeply original and radically different from anything else youâve heard. Very captivating with a romantic twist.
So there you have it and Iâm amazed if youâve read this far I think Iâve expended enough words now, and hopefully have given someone an introduction to Tangerine Dream, enough to bite into and get a good start, and with luck some memorable musical experiences and inspirations. They will always be a huge musical influence in my life, as it is to so many others, and I will cherish their greatness forever.
What about you? Do you have an interesting perspecitive on the band, the music or their influence? Or perhaps an interesting anecdote? Sound out in the comments, I would love to hear it!