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Tangerine Dream: Zeit (1972)      Reviewer: Ben Miler | See all reviews by Ben Miler Section: Reviews | Category: Music | Area: Germany | Topic: Music
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When you hear the name of Tangerine Dream, you might just write them off as generic New Age. That might hold true to most of their 1980s and 1990s works, but what they did in the early 1970s was totally different and WAY more interesting. To say this album is creepy is putting it very mildly. Only in Germany in the early 1970s can a band like Tangerine Dream pull something like this off. It also helped when there was a small German label by the name of Ohr who had the balls to release such albums, and indeed, this is the label Tangerine Dream recorded for from 1970-1973, before moving on to Virgin Records and changing their style to electronic. This album was the first to feature the classic lineup of Edgar Froese, Chris Franke, and Peter Baumann (Baumann was the newcomer). It's an extremely ambitious, double album set, each consisting of just one side length cut (around 17-20 minutes a piece). Nothing on this album even remotely resembles music (except for the killer organ at the ending of the first cut, "Birth of Liquid Plejades"). Just tons of creepy wind sounds and strange electronic effects from a VCS-3 synthesizer. The opening cut, "Birth of Liquid Plejades" starts off with a very sinister cello quartet, in which it keeps getting electronically modified to make it even creepier, before the middle part of the cut, which is mainly organ, and Moog synthesizer played by guest musician Florian Fricke (of Popol Vuh fame), the the last part features some truly sinister Pink Floyd-like organ with wind sounds. The next cut, "Nebulous Dawn," is nothing else than tons of sinister electronic sounds and effects. "Origin of Supernatural Probabilities" is another really sinister sounding piece which consistes of this spooky droning sound, wind sounds, and strange electronic effects. And the last cut, which is the title track, is little else than wind sounds that sound like it came off Pink Floyd's Meddle (you know, the middle part of "Echoes"). This album is nothing like you've ever heard before, you'll either love it or hate it. Jerome Froese (Edgar Froese's son, and a member of Tangerine Dream since around 1990) hates this album. Personally, I love this album. If you want something totally off the wall and totally unconventional, this is the album to get.
More Info Original year of release: 1972 - Edgar Froese: glissando guitar, generator - Chris Franke: VCS-3 synthesizer, cymbals, keyboard - Peter Baumann: VCS-3 synthesizer, organ, vibraphoneGuests: - Christian Vallbracht, Jochen von Grumcow, Hans Joachim Brüne, Johannes Lücke: cellos - Steve Schroyder: organ - Florian Fricke: Moog synthesizer
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Visitor Comments about Tangerine Dream: Zeit (1972)
Posted by Marty on 2005-09-24 23:14:24 My Score:  
Comment: Zeit is a mind-bending masterpiece of electronic music. I first heard Zeit when I was in my early 20''s and I continue to listen to it in my mid-forties fairly regularly. (It is great on headphones.) It is my most favorite TD from that era and would recommend it to anyone who hasn''t heard it. Yes indeed, "You''ll either love it or hate it."
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Posted by red on 2005-09-07 17:25:59 My Score:    
Comment: This was back in the day when Tangerine Dream were doing some really innovative stuff, i''ve listened to what they''ve done in recent years and cant believe that they were the same band which produced this.... it really is an awesome album, to call it a cosmic journey through space probably doesn''t do it credit, the opening through to the end is full of rich abstract ideas that just disappeared from Td a few years later, anyone who thinks TD always produced bland new age fodder should listen to this, I''m sure they''d get a big shock.....
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Posted by Carl Dexter on 2004-12-21 08:47:07 My Score:   
Comment: ahhhhh what the hell??? i don''t know what to think.. this cd wins points for extreme innovations...other than that, its scary and weird but give it a try, nothing comes close, especially early 70s stuff
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Posted by Barry on 2004-10-05 00:36:15 My Score:    
Comment: CORRECTION: Phenomenal album. Tangerine Dream weaves a wonderfully orchestral, subtle, and surreal musical landscape, perhaps unsurpassed for the genre. "The Birth of Liquid Plejades" is a must-hear composition! The album would make an awesome soundtrack, but you''''d have to find a movie that could measure up to it!!!
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Posted by Barry on 2004-10-05 00:32:45 My Score:    
Comment: Phenomenal album. Tangerine Dream weaves a wonderfully musical, subtle, and surreal musical landscape, perhaps unsurpassed for the genre. "The Birth of Liquid Plejades" is a must-hear composition! The album would make an awesome soundtrack, but you''d have to find a movie that could measure up to it!!!
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