ZEIT

Zeit ' is a Tangerine Dream album that seems to divide the opinions of reviewers right down the middle into a love it or loathe it category. Unfortunately I am firmly camped in the category of loathe it. There are a number of reasons why this is so and perhaps the thing that sticks out from the get go is how bleak and dark this music is and how devoid of any structure or musical conventions. The whole thing seems improvised with someone leaning on a keyboard and falling asleep. I have heard more rhythm standing in a steelworks Factory. Every track swallows up a whole side of vinyl and each track goes on and on beyond endurance overstaying their welcome for about ten minutes. Not all TD music is as disturbing as this of course, 'Ricochet' is a masterpiece and totally uplifting, 'Stratosfear' is a dynamic exploration of rhythms, 'Force Majeure' is an album that transfixed in its awe and beauty and 'Rubycon' is a sheer delight. However 'Zeit' took me to a realm I personally do not want to delve into and that is the realm of the darkest regions of the mind. This is disturbing beyond belief and even headache inducing in the same way that Sunn O))) has a disturbing effect on the mind; it becomes nauseating. If you like drones and musicscapes without any rhythm or melody that are interminably slowmoving you are likely to love this album, as many do. To me it sounds like Jean Michel Jarre having a bad day.

At times it sounds like spacey interplanetary wind and then it switches to nightmarish cold bleak hums that jangle the nerves; music to dig graves by. It is a very difficult listen and extremely dark throughout. It can change your mood in an instant to a depressive state and I prefer to avoid this in music these days. Ed Sheeran once said "I can't tell you the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone" and it makes sense that TD really were daring and were not worried about pleasing anyone. Therefore not everything they do is going to be accessible or an easy listen. It is definitely an acquired taste and takes some stamina to sit through even one track. It is such a long album and you have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it. So I am told by the wonderful reviews here. I totally get that and I am not arguing against the critics who hail this as a masterpiece. However it is totally subjective how you will react to this type of drone ambience; it may appeal to your state of mind or mood at the time. My reaction is that it is too unsettling for me personally and I have better albums I can listen to so why am I wasting precious listening time inundated by a lot of drones and throbs and creepy dark and unnerving things? Surely I can listen to something that I can actually enjoy. You cannot judge TD by this album because TD are capable of some absolutely wonderful musicspheres such as, well anything besides 'Zeit'.