CYCLONE

Cyclone is the first Tangerine Dream album to feature vocals, and it really isn't as bad as the criticism surrounding this album has made it out to be. I'm usually the type to fuss and whine about vocals in my progressive electronic, but I think it actually fits much nicer here than it does on later albums for one simple reason - though the vocals on this album are really bad sounding (like ill Peter Hammill), the music still maintains a strong '70s Tangerine Dream feel. That might sound like a stupid reason, but a lot of the music on later vocal Tangerine Dream releases have much more of a modern new-age feel that gives the music a cheesiness quality that is hard to ignore.

This album is very much in the vein of early Tangerine Dream, no doubt about it. Cyclone, like earlier releases, progress through variations in the lush soundscapes that characterize Tangerine Dream's trademark sound. The first track, "Bent Cold Sidewalk", has vocals only at the beginning and end, and really doesn't affect the quality at all because most of the electronic sound imagery happens during the middle of the track. The vocal parts seem like a disjointed pop song, sectioned off with a Tangerine Dream sandwiched in the middle, which also features a lot of flute and clarinet. "Rising Runner Missed By Endless Sender" is the only track on this album that isn't welcome at all - a short electric pop track with obnoxious vocals. "Madrigal Meridian" is classic Tangerine Dream with beautiful electronic manipulation and the absence of vocals. The sound of this track is almost like it were a missing track from Stratosfear. Fast paced and full of lush choral soundscape, this is the ultimate best way to end this lightly experimental album.

Definitely not Tangerine Dream's best output, but not terrible either.