MIRAGE

Despite the bright and light-hearted album cover, the music this album contains is not cheerful. This is very dark and hauntingly beautiful progressive electronic music of the highest quality. Before this album, everyone knew that Schulze was a main figure in the electronic music industry, but this album put him on top above all else.

The album consists of two, nearly 30 minute journeys of sonic electro-soundscapes. The first 6 minutes of "Velvet Voyage" are loud and experimental drones and short resonances of celestial beauty, but is very dark in color and very noisy. From there is progresses, slowly but surely, adding new elements to the soundscape every few minutes until the mass density of the lead and bass synths give way to a slowing buzz that ends the voyage.

The first 7 minutes of "Crystal Lake" is a repetitive but effective synth line that draws you in, hypnotizing you, and the bass line eventually kicks in and sends your mind adrift on the icy cascades of glistening sound. Lightly used electronic zapping, also helps fill the sound through this first half of the track. Just after the half-way mark, a slow and dreary passage that recalls pastoral classical romanticism enters the frame, adding a little more variety to the mix.

Out of all of the progressive electronic albums floating around, this is without a doubt one of the biggest, loudest, fullest, and overall most satisfying of them all. If you're into progressive electronic and are looking for the best of the best, look no further than Mirage.