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innerspaceboy · 09-24-2022, 08:18 AM

INNERSPACEBOY'S INTRO TO TANGERINE DREAM Pt 3

Force Majeure (1979)

In 1979, using the sound machines that incorporated thirty seven different devices, Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke, and Klaus Krϋger made the album “Force Majeure”. With this album, they could forget the misstep caused by “Cyclone”, and this album was listed at number 22 on the UK album chart.

Stuntman – Edgar Froese solo (1979)

In 1979, Edgar Froese issued his fifth solo album and his most brilliant masterwork “Stuntman”. On this album, New Musical Express mentioned, “a very beautiful and well-made record”, and the magazine Sound described, “He is a dreaming urban romanticist.”. Also New Musical Express added, “Contrast to his previous works, this is a work that is much less greedy, more accessible with ease, and more heartwarming.
As an internationally granted rock’s avant-garde group, Tangerine Dream staged their concert in East Germany for the first time (January 31, 1980). The two performances at “Palast der Repulik (Palace of the Republic)” in East Berlin were occupied fully with the audiences. The tickets to the venue that could house seven thousand people were sold out, and some tickets were sold for 300 Mark (East German Mark) in the black market. The East German music specialty magazine Melodie & Rhythmus wrote like this, “Towards this trio was the grand cheer poured out. Most of all, they composed and played the ceaseless and improvisational suites.”

Tangram (1980)

In early 1980, after the release of the album “Tangram” that was made with the joining of Johannes Schmoelling, New Musical Express wrote like this, “The problem is not that the samples of their music run out gradually, but that they played variations to the extent of every detail very meticulously to bring new enjoyment.” However, New Musical Express never used the word “meticulously” in good sense. They criticized severely this album as “the cheap form of synthesizers”. Despite all this, English fans drew this album to the number 26 position on the album chart.
Edgar Froese, however, did not want his musical work to be understood in the dimension of ‘customer service’. He said, “Music, as far as I am concerned, is the process that is propelled by the absolutely abstract, very intuitional things, the emotions, and the certain reasons. This process is little or not at all, related with the market and the people who will listen to this music. As a result of this process, the completed work has abstract values to me. If people asked me about some Tangerine Dream’s works, I would not know the titles of them. Neither would I know which album contains which work. These things are of no interest to me.”

Thief – motion picture soundtrack (1981)

In 1981, Tangerine took on the music on the movie “Thief (Der Einzelgänger – the Loner in Germany)” directed by Michael Mann and starring James Caan. The Variety movie guide mentioned the music on this flick like this, “Superior soundtrack from Tangerine Dream adds immeasurably to the action.”. The Video Movie Guide authored by Mick Martin and Marsha Porter mentioned the music on the movie, “Visually stunning, with a great score by Tangerine Dream”. Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide also mentioned the music on the movie, “Stylishly photographed (by Donald Thorin) and scored (by Tangerine Dream)”.
This soundtrack was made with the trio lineup – Edgar Froese, Chris Franke, and Johannes Schmoelling.

Exit (1981)

In 1981, the album “Exit”, which is considered one of their best works by some critics, was played during their UK tour (October 15th ~ 28th). In August 29 of that year, they drew attention by holding an outdoor concert in front of the 70,000 audience at the Berlin Congress in celebration of a peace festival. In December 9 of that year, they participated in Eberhard Schoener’s “Rock Klassik”’s night. In early 1982, they took on the Australian tour. After the detective story at crime scenes “Das Mädchen and der Treppe (The Girl and the Stairs)”, of which they took on the music, was aired (June 27, 1982), they released the same titled single. This single brought popular success to them as it ascended to number thirteen at the German singles chart.

White Eagle (1982)

In autumn of 1982, after the sold-out concerts (total 40 events)on their Europe tour, they performed a TV live concert that was aired in twelve countries. The climax of this broadcast was the adapted ‘Mojave Plan’ on twenty minutes (the album White Eagle contains it.), which was collaborated with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. This album, which was listed at number 42 on the German album chart, has the motif of impressions during the US trip. The whole A side consists of the work, ‘Mojave Plan’, which depicted the automobile trip across the Mojave wilderness. Whereas this work of theirs was evaluated negatively in Europe (“It is close to wild emptiness.” – New Musical Express), the US Down Beat magazine assessed it as “Spiritually, sensibly, and emotionally provocative (inciting) music”.
This work was also made on the trio lineup – Edgar Froese, Chris Franke, and Johannes Schmoelling.

Logos: Live at the Dominion – London 1982 (1982)

Their England performance held at the Dominion theater in London on November 6, 1982, was released as the live album, “Logos Live”. This stage was also acted on the trio format: Chris Franke, Johannes Schmoelling, and Edgar Froese.

Kamikaze 1989 – Edgar Froese solo, motion picture soundtrack (1982)

Edgar Froese continuously composed about forty pieces of movie score, and also took on the soundtrack for the flick “Kamikaze 1989” starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Also, the best-of compilation excerpted from his solo albums, “Solo 1974 ~ 1979” was released in 1982.

Pinnacles – Edgar Froese solo (1983)

In 1983, Edgar Froese released his solo album titled “Pinnacles”, and the magazine Musik Szene critiqued, “An album characterized by the degree of its atmosphere rather than its mass”. After acting the first Japan tour (June 1983), they made a topic in the Athens music market through the three outdoor concerts.

Hyperborea (1983)

In autumn 1983, this trio embarked on a concert tour in East Germany and Poland. In between the tours, the album titled “Hyperborea” was released in Berlin. Legend has it that Hyperboreer were the people of Thranzian where the Greek god, Apollo, stayed during the winter. With this album, they began making works close to being more excellent, more conceptual, and more meditational.

Firestarter – motion picture soundtrack (1984)

In 1984, they worked for the US movie makers, and as the productions at this time, “Firestarter” “Wavelength” and “Flashpoint” were released on the soundtrack albums. Firestarter is a movie directed by Mark L. Lester and starring Drew Barrymore and David Keith. According to Leonard Maltin’s movie and video guide, Firestarter is “a silly sometimes laughable yarn about a little girl whose parents acquired unusual mental powers as a result of a government experiment, and who herself can set anything on fire at will. Lumbering story wastes a lot of acting talent, though it certainly gave employment to a number of stunt people and special effects technicians. Based on Stephen King’s best-seller.”

Streethawk (1985)

The popular TV series “Streethawk” which was aired throughout the world also bestowed its music score on Tangerine Dream.

Poland: The Warsaw Concert (1984)

The live album of the performance that was done in Warsaw, Poland in December, 1983, was released on the double album. This album was issued on the Zomba (Jive Electro.) label, rather than Virgin record to which they had been signed for eleven years, which hinted at their turning back from Virgin record.

Le Parc (1985)

In September, 1985, they released the new studio album “Le Parc”, and this album aggregated, in a concept format, the individual emotions about the great nine parks that were the most memorable in their memories during their trips around the world. This album, in the US, was issued on the Relativity Records.

The nine parks depicted on this album are as follows:

• Bois de Boulogne (Paris)
• Central Park (New York)
• Gaudi Park (Guell Garden Barcelona)
• Tiergarten (Berlin)
• Zen Garden (Ryoanji Temple Kyoto)
• Le Parc (L.A. - Streethawk)
• Hyde Park (London)
• The Cliffs of Sydney (Sydney)
• Yellowstone Park (Rocky Mountains)

Legend – motion picture soundtrack (1986)

In 1986, they produced the eighty-minute long works for the soundtrack for “Legend”, which was Ridley Scott’s fantastic journey heavy amount of money was spent on. In the last month of that year, Johannes Schmoelling left the group to work again as a studio musician. In his place, the young synthesizer player from Vienna, Paul Haslinger (a capable musician who was officially educated in music, graduating from the Academy of Music) took part.

Underwater Sunlight (1986)

In March, 1986, Tangerine Dream, in the new member formation, embarked on the UK tour, with the state-of-the-art sound equipment. In May of that year, they released the new studio album titled “Underwater Sunlight”, and in the next month, started the North American tour, with the initiation of the performance at the Expo ’86 held in Vancouver, Canada.

I hope the information above is helpful! Happy exploring!