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Music : Tangram
Rating: 
- Puzzling!!!
For those who are wondering, a tangram is a puzzle made up of different shaped pieces. There, that's out of the way.
Tangerine Dream entered a new decade with a new band member, Johannes Schmoelling, a new look and a new sound.
After Peter Baumann left the group in 1977, Tangerine Dream had experimented with prog (Cyclone) and had made something of a masterpiece (Force Majeure). However, the line up situation had been a touch turbulent, so some sort of stability was required. In Schmoelling, they had recruited a classically trained musician, who would remain with the group for half a decade and help them record some of their most interesting and consistently entertaining work.
'Tangram' shows Tangerine Dream returning to their roots a bit, and injecting it with a modern electronic approach. In fact, 'Tangram' works as something of a 'Rubycon' for the 1980s.
There are just two tracks on the album, each weighing in at just under twenty minutes.
'Tangram set 1 has a real commercial feel to it, and has some memorable themes. It's fresh and exciting and also rattles along at a fair old pace.
'Tangram' set 2 has more of an early seventies feel to it, and is slightly harder to digest than the previous track. Die hards would approve though.
What separates 'Tangram' aside from other Tangerine Dream works, is that there are very few other instruments on display, other than synthesizers. Yes the sequencers are still present, but the album could have really benefitted from some percussion and perhaps some guitar here and there.
Having said all that, 'Tangram' is a very lush, sophisticated sounding album by a band who are keen to embrace technology and make their sound more relevant, while still trying to be original and keep to their basic principles, so as not to alienate their fanbase. In that desire alone, 'Tangram' is something of a success, and a good start for this new line up.
Rating:
- Stupendous!
My second foray into TD's back catalogue, and what a beauty this album has proven to be. Tangram is split into two sections, simply named Sets 1 & 2, and consists of masterfully crafted electronic/synth music, all instrumental, with wonderful melodies and great production, that you can simply put on in the background, turn the lights down and drift away to another place. I guess this is something you can do with most of TD's music. The first few plays will demand your attention, but after that, when the music has set itself into your mind, use this album to chill-out to and to get away from the real world for a while. Fantastic music by a fantastic band; strongly recommended. Buy!!
Rating: - Soundscape Stars!!!
I bought this album when it came out in 1980 or thereabouts, having already bought several of the bands previous albums.
It was Christmas 1980, and a very unusual time for me, as I had left school that summer,just started my first real job, and I felt very optimistic and open about the future.
Every evening of a two week break, my best friend and i would play Tangram and just completely chill-out.
I was living in a small house with little in the way of heating, and it snowed quite heavily at the time. This just seemed to match the mood of the album, which is at points warm & inviting, homely even (certainly it's always been a friend to me!), but is somehow glacial and cold at the same time.
Whenever I play it, I think of the snow, and open fields in mid-winter, but also of coming home to an open fire with close friends and the simple joy of being alive.
It's a very transcendental album, and i guess is almost my way of meditating. If you lead a stressful life, buy this album, lock yourself in a room (especially good with minimal lighting), and just absorb. I really can't recommend it enough.
Everybody should hear this album once in their lives
Rating:
- listenable and enjoyable; gooe electronic album
This was the first cd I bought and listened to by Tangerine Dream. When I did so I thought ok, it's inteersting, listened to it a couple of times and forgot about it for 3 or 4 months. Then, one day I saw it in my cd collection and put it on the disc-player: and realised I had been wrong those 3 or 4 months. It deserves many listenings. After that, I started to buy some other TD cds; so, if you're new to Tangerine Dream, you may start with this one.
Tangram is made up of two long songs, almost 20 minutes each. They are a sort of electronic collage, maybe following the idea of the title, the songs are like a tangram, consisting of pieces that fit into each other perfectly.
Unlike earlier albums such as Phaedra and Rubycon, Tangram is less atmospheric and ambient and more varied and listenable. Less scary, more enjoyful. Especially set 1, which is my favourite, from the start you get mesmerised by the sound of some processed wind instrument, then some whistling in the middle of the song; it's sometimes more psychedelic, sometimes more Kraftwerk-like; you never get tired of it since the pieces of the song-collage change before you may feel bored of them. Set 2 is more ambient, using more samples and less rhytmic. In fact, in Tangram there's little beat, all the music is made up of the different synthesizer melodies; and, unlike its predecessor, the very good Force majeure, there are no guitars.
I admit I'm only interested in the music Tangerine dream made in the 70's and early 80's; so having this in mind, I consider Tangram, especially the first song, to be one of their best, though as a whole I prefer Force Majeure.
Some sounds may become outdated today, and that's someting many people use to attack electronic bands; however, I think guitar music may also become dated, it all depends on what we look for in music. Personally I like to investigate new bands and new sound, but I also love to feel the pleasure of rediscovering old bands which (as most people seem to forget very often) sounded very very innovative at the time. Once said so, I think Tangerine Dream, though often criticised as being too pretentious (isn't a usual chracteristic of genius being pretentious? wasn't Dali pretentious? and Joyce, and Nabokov, and Roger Waters? etc etc) they should be considered as one of the bands that defined what electronic music and modern music in general is. Maybe less famous than Kraftwerk, but equally as important. And Tangram is a very recommendable album.
Rating: - An auspicious start to mid-period Dream
The 1980 album "Tangram" marked Tangerine Dream's first studio album with Johannes Schmoelling revitalising the flagging duo of Edgar Froese and Chris Franke. At last, the hiatus caused by the departure of Peter Baumann from the band almost three years earlier had truly come to an end. Consisting of a couple of twenty-minute sets, the album explores a variety of musical moods and demonstrates an overall more consistent and musically unified approach than either of the band's previous two offerings ("Cyclone" and "Force Majeure"). More than anything, though, this is an album of music that soars with the pleasure of its own making, with many of the older, tried and tested Tangerine Dream techniques being served up in fresh new ways, with lots of unexpected twists. All in all, this album is an auspicious herald of Tangerine Dream in their heyday: a run of equally great (or better) albums followed rapidly on this one's heels ("Thief", "Exit", "White Eagle", "Logos"...).
The 1995 Virgin remastering of the CD did little to improve on the original vinyl's excellent production standards (it did no harm either!). Unfortunately, like so many of the 'Definitive Edition' releases, it has introduced several errors in the jewel-case credits: not least the inclusion of Peter Baumann's name at the expense of Johannes Schmoelling in the writing and performance credits! Tsk! Tsk! Still, that does nothing to dampen the listening pleasure.
- Puzzling!!!For those who are wondering, a tangram is a puzzle made up of different shaped pieces. There, that's out of the way.
Tangerine Dream entered a new decade with a new band member, Johannes Schmoelling, a new look and a new sound.
After Peter Baumann left the group in 1977, Tangerine Dream had experimented with prog (Cyclone) and had made something of a masterpiece (Force Majeure). However, the line up situation had been a touch turbulent, so some sort of stability was required. In Schmoelling, they had recruited a classically trained musician, who would remain with the group for half a decade and help them record some of their most interesting and consistently entertaining work.
'Tangram' shows Tangerine Dream returning to their roots a bit, and injecting it with a modern electronic approach. In fact, 'Tangram' works as something of a 'Rubycon' for the 1980s.
There are just two tracks on the album, each weighing in at just under twenty minutes.
'Tangram set 1 has a real commercial feel to it, and has some memorable themes. It's fresh and exciting and also rattles along at a fair old pace.
'Tangram' set 2 has more of an early seventies feel to it, and is slightly harder to digest than the previous track. Die hards would approve though.
What separates 'Tangram' aside from other Tangerine Dream works, is that there are very few other instruments on display, other than synthesizers. Yes the sequencers are still present, but the album could have really benefitted from some percussion and perhaps some guitar here and there.
Having said all that, 'Tangram' is a very lush, sophisticated sounding album by a band who are keen to embrace technology and make their sound more relevant, while still trying to be original and keep to their basic principles, so as not to alienate their fanbase. In that desire alone, 'Tangram' is something of a success, and a good start for this new line up.
Rating:
- Stupendous!My second foray into TD's back catalogue, and what a beauty this album has proven to be. Tangram is split into two sections, simply named Sets 1 & 2, and consists of masterfully crafted electronic/synth music, all instrumental, with wonderful melodies and great production, that you can simply put on in the background, turn the lights down and drift away to another place. I guess this is something you can do with most of TD's music. The first few plays will demand your attention, but after that, when the music has set itself into your mind, use this album to chill-out to and to get away from the real world for a while. Fantastic music by a fantastic band; strongly recommended. Buy!!
Rating:
- Soundscape Stars!!!I bought this album when it came out in 1980 or thereabouts, having already bought several of the bands previous albums.
It was Christmas 1980, and a very unusual time for me, as I had left school that summer,just started my first real job, and I felt very optimistic and open about the future.
Every evening of a two week break, my best friend and i would play Tangram and just completely chill-out.
I was living in a small house with little in the way of heating, and it snowed quite heavily at the time. This just seemed to match the mood of the album, which is at points warm & inviting, homely even (certainly it's always been a friend to me!), but is somehow glacial and cold at the same time.
Whenever I play it, I think of the snow, and open fields in mid-winter, but also of coming home to an open fire with close friends and the simple joy of being alive.
It's a very transcendental album, and i guess is almost my way of meditating. If you lead a stressful life, buy this album, lock yourself in a room (especially good with minimal lighting), and just absorb. I really can't recommend it enough.
Everybody should hear this album once in their lives
Rating:
- listenable and enjoyable; gooe electronic albumThis was the first cd I bought and listened to by Tangerine Dream. When I did so I thought ok, it's inteersting, listened to it a couple of times and forgot about it for 3 or 4 months. Then, one day I saw it in my cd collection and put it on the disc-player: and realised I had been wrong those 3 or 4 months. It deserves many listenings. After that, I started to buy some other TD cds; so, if you're new to Tangerine Dream, you may start with this one.
Tangram is made up of two long songs, almost 20 minutes each. They are a sort of electronic collage, maybe following the idea of the title, the songs are like a tangram, consisting of pieces that fit into each other perfectly.
Unlike earlier albums such as Phaedra and Rubycon, Tangram is less atmospheric and ambient and more varied and listenable. Less scary, more enjoyful. Especially set 1, which is my favourite, from the start you get mesmerised by the sound of some processed wind instrument, then some whistling in the middle of the song; it's sometimes more psychedelic, sometimes more Kraftwerk-like; you never get tired of it since the pieces of the song-collage change before you may feel bored of them. Set 2 is more ambient, using more samples and less rhytmic. In fact, in Tangram there's little beat, all the music is made up of the different synthesizer melodies; and, unlike its predecessor, the very good Force majeure, there are no guitars.
I admit I'm only interested in the music Tangerine dream made in the 70's and early 80's; so having this in mind, I consider Tangram, especially the first song, to be one of their best, though as a whole I prefer Force Majeure.
Some sounds may become outdated today, and that's someting many people use to attack electronic bands; however, I think guitar music may also become dated, it all depends on what we look for in music. Personally I like to investigate new bands and new sound, but I also love to feel the pleasure of rediscovering old bands which (as most people seem to forget very often) sounded very very innovative at the time. Once said so, I think Tangerine Dream, though often criticised as being too pretentious (isn't a usual chracteristic of genius being pretentious? wasn't Dali pretentious? and Joyce, and Nabokov, and Roger Waters? etc etc) they should be considered as one of the bands that defined what electronic music and modern music in general is. Maybe less famous than Kraftwerk, but equally as important. And Tangram is a very recommendable album.
Rating:
- An auspicious start to mid-period DreamThe 1980 album "Tangram" marked Tangerine Dream's first studio album with Johannes Schmoelling revitalising the flagging duo of Edgar Froese and Chris Franke. At last, the hiatus caused by the departure of Peter Baumann from the band almost three years earlier had truly come to an end. Consisting of a couple of twenty-minute sets, the album explores a variety of musical moods and demonstrates an overall more consistent and musically unified approach than either of the band's previous two offerings ("Cyclone" and "Force Majeure"). More than anything, though, this is an album of music that soars with the pleasure of its own making, with many of the older, tried and tested Tangerine Dream techniques being served up in fresh new ways, with lots of unexpected twists. All in all, this album is an auspicious herald of Tangerine Dream in their heyday: a run of equally great (or better) albums followed rapidly on this one's heels ("Thief", "Exit", "White Eagle", "Logos"...).
The 1995 Virgin remastering of the CD did little to improve on the original vinyl's excellent production standards (it did no harm either!). Unfortunately, like so many of the 'Definitive Edition' releases, it has introduced several errors in the jewel-case credits: not least the inclusion of Peter Baumann's name at the expense of Johannes Schmoelling in the writing and performance credits! Tsk! Tsk! Still, that does nothing to dampen the listening pleasure.