ULTIMA THULE

Despite the total impenetrability of their early albums, Tangerine Dream decided to go for an assault on the singles charts in early 1972. Consequently, they took a theme from "Fly and collision of comas sola", a track on their second album "Alpha Centauri", and used it as the basis for a new piece in two parts.

Having started to experiment with synthesiser on the album, Edgar Froese decided try out a mellotron too for this recording. Unlike the album tracks of this period, the single has a very defined beat and strong guitar rhythm. In some ways, it is rather like Van Der Graaf Generator's "Theme one", although the melody is less memorable. On the plus side, the way the mellotron dominates the proceedings will please those who feel that instrument is at the very heart of prog.

While mellotron remains the main sound on part 2, the mood us much softer and less aggressive. It is still far more melodic than the early albums though, and actually has a lot in keeping with the band's Virgin years material.

Needless to say, the single did not sell well at all, and is now a highly sought after rarity. The two parts remained stubbornly unavailable until 2002 when Part 1 was included on an expanded re-issue of "Alpha Centauri", with part 2 following on a later Japanese re-issue. Both parts can now be found on the excellent compilation set "Nebulous Dawn".

Share this TANGERINE DREAM review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Easy Livin
• Report this review (#182515)
• Buy TANGERINE DREAM music online with PA partners
• Show all TANGERINE DREAM MP3/Stream
• Go to TANGERINE DREAM page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Ultima Thule page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for TANGERINE DREAM related discussions