MARS POLARIS

Inspired by the launching of a Nasa space probe to Mars (the Mars Polar Lander),"Mars Polaris" is one of the best recent TD albums. Many might see this as a continuation,or updating, of the "Alpha Centauri" album of the early 70's and the two albums share the same vision of space and cosmos but there the similarity ends. TD have long since shed the minimalist,experimental sound they stood for in the early part of their history and "Mars Polaris",while sharing the same thematic background as "Alpha Centauri",is a much lighter and melodious affair. The best tracks,as usual,are the longest. The opener "Comet's Figure Head" is a real cracker,laying the foundation for the spacy feel of the album's concept. "Pilots Of The Ether Belt" is the other outstanding track,heavy on beat but still full of space. The rest of the album doesn't quite match these two,not that this is a major problem since for me the most important aspect of any TD album is not the "tunes" (for want of a better word!) but the atmosphere. TD's music is to a very large extent mood music,the creation of atmosphere and ambiance is more important than melodic content and "Mars Polaris" carries the space atmosphere very nicely throughout the whole album.

That was the positive bit,now for the negative. While I as a seasoned veteran TD fan,familiar with all their albums from the very beginning,really like "Mars Polaris", I do think it would probably be rather heavygoing for a TD novice. For anyone who doesn't already have some grasp of TD and what they do,"Mars Polaris" will probably sound dense and even impenetrable in places,at 71 minutes it could be a bit too much to stomach for anyone but a dedicated fan of the band. For anyone wanting to check out what TD is all about and chances upon this album as their starting point might just be frightened off the band entirely since "Mars Polaris" lacks the immediacy of more accessible TD albums,it tests the patience of the listener to an extent that many might find offputting. So while I think it's a great TD album from the recent years,giving "Mars Polaris" a rating isn't easy. Eventually I settled for three stars,good but not essential since I really feel you have to be familiar with the band and it's history to really appreciate this album and that gives it more of a limited appeal than it otherwise might have had. Ratings can be tricky!

The last studio album of the band in the nineties. After quite a long break (in terms of original studio albums).

I have been following the band for a very long time and I can quickly summarize that the seventies was the decade of the discovery and grandiose albums; the eighties were quite a good reinforcement of their work and rather good in terms of quality output.

But the nineties were way behind IMHHO. Lots of soundtracks and also average studio albums (with a few exceptions, but not many).

This album is just in line with their late decade production. Some very fine moments with the opener "Comet's Figure Head" which is one of the few to represent the "dreamy" music we all once liked ("Deep Space Cruiser" is another one).

But the global mood doesn't feature any extravaganza nor great passion as far as I'm concerned. A song as "Outland" holds too many "dance" feel to be convincing.

Unfortunately, several other songs featured this approach as well ("Pilots of the Etherbelt" or "Rim Of Schiaparelli", "Mars Mission Counter"). Just basic stuff, no more. But that's the case with most of the tracks from "Polaris".

I would have liked the band to finish the decade on a higher note, but this album is far from being a masterpiece, even if a few songs are decent: "Spiral Star Date" is another one as well as "Astrophobia" to some extent.

I hope that the naughties will be more interesting in terms of TD material. This "Mars Polaris" is just average: some good songs as I have outlined, but more music is on the average side and I can't go up to rate this work with three stars. Five out of ten, probably.

Strange, I didn't expect it, but this works. Rich, colorful, with a lot of variations (important fact), layering like an onion, possessing rhythm (weird, but I can get used to it) and getting ourselves towards the great concept of space-themed story. Of course unspoken, it would be, well, strange at least to have spoken TD. I have to wonder why this works, while so many other TD albums failed. And given that this is one of their worse (generally accepted) albums, I'm surprised that I like it so much.

4(+), so far 2 TD disappointments and 2 wins, that makes average 3 stars. Oh, bad track here is Astrophobia, about first half, or 2/3, because of drum'n'bass feeling (strange to hear it there), while a lot of songs here are good atmospheric pieces (oxygen atmosphere anyone ? let's make some pun fun with space).

The best TANGERINE DREAM album of the 90's

3.5 stars

Finally, after 13 years of errance, a decent studio release by the german electronic band! At the end of nineties, Froese and son manages to get rid of their insipid new-age inspirations. "Mars Polaris" offers what you would expect to hear from the band during this decade: the spirit is here, on par with its time. The compositions are more structured, more inspired and the sound has (finally) been modernized. This opus also marks the return of the "long" pieces: four tracks have a duration of 10 minutes. Although mainly electronic, the record contains some guitar incursions. The music is an imaginary soundtrack of the flight of the "Mars Polar Lander" capsule. Once said, is the theme respected?

The first part of the album contains some of the best TD tunes since a long time. The opening "Comet's Figure Head" is very good, an immediate boarding for space, with musical changes and rythm variations. "Rim Of Schiaparelli" is more mysterious and features a cool melody. As its title suggest, "Pilots Of The Ether Belt" is a suitable soundtrack to navigate during a spatial trip. The finale is just dreamy. Unfortunately, the remaining tracks are a bit unequal.

The aerial "Deep Space Cruiser" is rather flat, while "Outland (The Colony)" is average with its techno beat. "Spiral Star Date (Level P)" is a nice tune for space adventure and exploration. The transparent "Mars Mission Counter" is repetitive and not varied enough. On the contrary, "Astrophobia" and its energic big beat respects its name by displaying both oppressive and spacey soundscapes. "Tharsis Maneuver" shows great promises with a typical TD sequence, but does not feature many changes after. The ending track, "Dies artis (Transmercury)" seems out of place with its sleepy new age approach.

Although containing weaker passages, "Mars Polaris" is a unexpected good surprise for TANGERINE DREAM fans. The spatial theme is respected, the ambiance is present, the compositions are rather inspired and the sound is modern. Everything is coherent. Forget their other 90's studio albums, this one is the best of this decade. You're about to board for the red planet...

NOTE: If you want to acquire "Mars Polaris", you must be careful and look for this 1999 CD edition, subtitled "Deep space highway to red rocks pavilion", with these 10 tracks names. There is another 1999 edition, subtitled "Original motion picture space reality", with 11 tracks. This second version is incorrect, as it mixes compositions from "Mars Polaris" and "Great Wall of China", a TD soundtrack. Furthermore, the 2006 reedition is based on this faulty alternate version. So be sure to check the cover, the year and the tracklist.

An album of two halves . . .

but they're all jumbled up. I find the tracks flow much better for me by starting with Jerome's louder, exciting and rhythmical compositions 'Comet's Figure Head', 'Pilots Of The Ether Belt', 'Outland (The Colony)' and 'Astrophobia' followed by Edgar's transitional 'Rim Of Schiaparelli' and 'Tharsis Manuever', the more relaxed 'Spiral Star Date (Level P)' and 'Deep Space Cruiser' with their melodic guitars, then the soothing voices and ticking rhythm of 'Mars Mission Counter' leading finally to the near ambient, beatless 'Dies Martis (Transmercury)'. The alternation of contrasting pieces works well on the previous year's 'Transsiberia' where it fits the theme of the album, but here it tends to drown out the quieter tracks and make them sound unfairly weak, particularly when reaching 'Deep Space Cruiser'.

Either way the first tune, 'Comet's Figure Head', is a fantastic opener, beginning with layered spacey drones unexpectedly cut by crisp drum and high hat sounds quickly joined by deep, rich synths and sequences reminiscent of the early and mid 80s. These drums are arranged in a looping style like 90s electronica but not as strongly as the electronic dance music of the preceding two Dream Mixes albums and the track actually progresses in more of a rock music structure with melodies, harmonies, quieter and louder sections, even electric guitar parts, forming a satisfyingly well developed piece over what seems a very short 10 minutes. Jerome's other three contributions are of a similar length and quality, and totalling nearly 40 minutes could once have constituted an LP in their own right. They fit together well in a consistently grand and dramatic but foot tapping style with plenty of sequencer use drawing inspiration from TDs classic period but not in a derivative way - this is a new direction for the music, a fusion with more modern techniques.

It would not be unreasonable to press the stop button at this point but by continuing for another 30 minutes one is gradually lowered from the rapidly moving, high energy state, just as the deployment of parachutes in the thin Martian atmosphere gradually slows a hurtling space probe to eventually settle gently in its final resting place. 'Rim Of Schiaparelli' and 'Tharsis Maneuver' continue with the sequencers and drum loops but they're a little more subdued and the keyboards a bit quieter and more atmospheric, not developing as much in what are now shorter although still enjoyable tracks. Conventionally played electric lead guitar, rather than loops, is a prominent feature of the next couple of tunes, 'Spiral Star Date (Level P)' and 'Deep Space Cruiser', still accompanied by the synths, sequencers and older style drum machines, it's all getting rather mellow by the end of these. 'Mars Mission Counter' starts off with an ambient flavour although a rapidly ticking rhythm and short sequencer loop soon appear to keep time moving forward for most of the piece until it's closed by male voice choral sounds. Finally 'Dies Martis (Transmercury)' drops the drum sounds and sequencers altogether in favour of female choirs, piano and synthesised woodwind and xylophone sounds along with the synths, leaving the listener in a quite chilled out mood. Somehow all the tension of only half an hour ago has been imperceptibly drained away which is an impressive testament to the power of this music to establish a mood. This half of the album also works well on its own if in a relaxed mood to begin with.

Overall a welcome return to the more electronic sounds of a decade or so previously but expressed in a contemporary idiom. 4 stars.