FORCE MAJEURE

The last great TD album. Basically now a duo of Froese and Franke. Vocalist Jolliffe is now gone but drummer Krieger remains. There is a cello player here but his contributions are not very noticeable. Musically this picks up where Cyclone left off. For the first time since their earliest days, Froese's guitar is very prominent. Force Majeure would be an ideal place for symph/neo fans to start with TD. In many ways this is the band's most symphonic prog album. Actually, a mix of symph prog and electronic prog.

The side-long title track is the highlight of the album. It begins very spacey. Around 2 minutes in it gets more atmospheric and ambient. Before 4 minutes there is a bass synth part, followed by piano. Then drums and guitar. Some electric piano then it goes into a disco beat. A nice guitar solo follows. Before 7 minutes is acoustic guitar and sequencer with a synth solo. The drums have a more traditional rock sound. Some vocoder. Then the drums drop out and we get another spacey section. Around 10 1/2 minutes there is some bass synth and a guitar solo. Later the sound of a bell and some sequencers. After 14 minutes is a good synth melody. Before 16 minutes the drums come back. Then it goes into a Kraftwerk-like part with electronic percussion. Then a more symphonic part. Back to the Kraftwerk part. Ends spacey with some bass synth.

"Cloudburst Flight" starts with acoustic guitar and atmospheric synths. Some sequencer. Then strums on the guitar and more synths. Then rhythmic sequencer and a drum beat. After starts a great guitar solo about halfway through. Sounds like some vocoder during the solo. After the guitar solo the drumming gets calmer. A synth solo. Melodic sequencer to end the song.

"Thru Metamorphic Rocks" begins with a piano part that sounds like something from a horror film. Then a repetative synth part. Drums come in playing a great beat. Some phased drums. After 2 minutes is a great symphonic guitar solo. Tempo increases slightly. After 4 minutes the guitar and drums gets drowned out by sequencer noises. Then some rhythmic sequencer. Spacey effects. Later drums come back doing fills. You hear slowed down laughing at one point. Later you hear a wolf. Ends with bass synth drones.

After this Johannes Schmoelling would join the group, making them a keyboard trio again. Unfortunately their sound would get more streamlined after this. But also more melodic. The only other album that comes closest to this is the previous Cyclone. It would have been nice if they made at least one more album in this style. This deserves 4 stars.