THE PINK YEARS ALBUMS 1970-1973

There's no sound in outer space, but, don't let that disturb you: we have Tangerine Dream!

Disc 1 "Electronic Meditation" is probably more a trip to the inside of unconscious mind, than to the outer space. Lots of electronic experimentation, enriched with tasty brushes of electric guitar, percussion, flute and mellotron. Don't look for recognizable structures, like "songs", or "movements". The musical form is generated only by sensible interplay and tape collage.

Disc 2 "Alpha Centauri" shows the notably increasing participation of mellotron, flute and expertly processed percussion (but not guitar). Also emerges a bit stronger thematic organization of the sonic materials, now clearly oriented to "space exploration".

Disc 3 "Zeit" (German for "Time") Only obliquely spacey, this hieratic masterpiece seems more concerned with the inner experience of flowing time (a dominant issue in classic German philosophy, also). Just the sheer intensity coming from harmony and building up through the long-term form is overwhelming. Never a casual listening, always a hard one.

Disc 4 "Atem" (German for "Breath") Just a bit easier to listen, but probably harder to decipher, this seems to address the sonic manifestations that life can produce. Very Stockhausen-inflected to my ears, the treatment of percussion reaches its highest level of perfection with this album.

Tangerine Dream's first four albums, preceding their jump to Virgin and the game-changer that was Phaedra, covers a range of music from psychedelic-tinged Krautrock improvised freakouts (Electronic Meditation) to material forming the foundation of the so-called Berlin School of electronic music (Alpha Centauri, Zeit, Atem), This excellent boxed set presents the finest-sounding CD remasters of those albums we've ever had, in cardboard LP-replica sleeves - nice ones at that, which don't feel flimsy or like an afterthought at all. It's a great way to instantly get this critical part of the Tangerine Dream story into your collection, and another example of Esoteric's excellent attention to detail in their reissues.