This live LP comes from the period when Johannes Schmoelling was part of Tangerine Dream — in fact if you follow the link to the Amazon page for this album (below), there's a review that says this was his first public performance with the band.
I think this is my favourite line-up of Tangerine Dream, closely followed by the Peter Baumann era. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Although this was recorded in 1980, it didn't come out until 1986, and it was probably one of the last Tangerine Dream albums I bought. I paid a whopping £8.49 for it (when the average price for a record was £5-6), so I reckon this was an import (though it's on Virgin?). The price label is an Our Price one: probably the Woking branch on Commercial Way.
This has all the elements of Tangerine Dream at their best. The lyrical piano bit by Schmoelling at the start of the record isn't a million miles from Keith Jarrett. In fact, I've always thought that — though they never had that swing and never made you move your hips — Tangerine Dream were at their best when they came across like a band of jazz improvisers, rather than a psychedelic or space rock group. Then, on Side 2, there are the driving sequencer runs, with new rhythms coming in and out, sometimes for only a bar or two at a time, and Edgar Froese's treated guitar improvising over the top.
I know you never liked Tangerine Dream or what they stood for, but listening to Side 2 played loud this morning, I swear I could convert you. It certainly brought back what I used to love about them. And even if my hips weren't shaking, my pulse was racing and my stomach had a few butterflies.
 MusicBrainz entry for this album
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