Was there some legislation in the 1970s that every double live album had to have a collage of polaroids of the band and road crew fooling about in shorts on the gatefold of the sleeve? If so, Tangerine Dream definitely complied with it.
I must have got this while still at school. I think at that point it had been one of their most popular albums, and, while Tangerine Dream hadn't registered at all with most people, I remember Giles Croft saying he'd heard and like this one. When I got it, I seem to remember I found it quite unremarkable and not very distinctive, and thus not particularly deserving of its accolades.
Probably what I like about listening to it in retrospect is that it captures Tangerine Dream doing what they did in the late '70s; no more, no less. Not distinctive, but faithful and accurate. Side 1 is the general overview piece; Side 2 is the most melodic, the most 'classical' in that you could divide it into movements; Side 3 has Edgar Froese playing guitar over the trademark throbbing sequencers; and Side 4 is one of their abstract, atmospheric pieces.
Very enjoyable if you like that kind of thing, and, every few months, I do.
|
|
Comments