BRAIN VOYAGER

Robert Schroeder is a German electronic music artist who debuted in 1979. Most of his albums were released in the Innovative Communication label founded by Klaus Schulze. (-IC- used to introduce me dozens of electronic artists in the early 90's when I explored the genre.) Scroeder may not be among the most famous - or the proggiest - artists of the genre, but he was pretty prolific in the 80's. I guess this one, his seventh album, is quite representative of his style.

The music is rather melodic and moody - and sonically it's easy to guess as a child of its time, ie. of the 80's. The synth sound per se is slightly cold and ripped down compared to such masters as Vangelis and Schulze, but at least some of the compositions have a certain emotional warmth in them. If you happen to know Ed Starink, a more forgotten 80's electro artist, Schroeder is like a warmer and less hollow equivalent to him. The tracks are shortish and close to a "song structure" even if they naturally are instrumentals. As an exception, 'Glucksgedanken' here features nice female vocals. Three other guests add acoustic guitar throughout the relatively short album.

Surely not any masterpiece of the genre, hardly even Schroeder's best work, but an accessible and easily consumed example of the melodic electronic music from the 80's. Best tracks are the mentioned one with vocals plus the title track and serene & romantic 'Love Symphony' (it's less than 3 minutes, despite its grandiose title!).