CANYON DREAMS (OST)

To choose some soundtrack CD's out of the Huge TD discography is not an easy affair.

This "Canyon Dreams" is probably one of the best out there. If ever you like their ambient and dreamy aspect, there is no doubt that this work will be an enchantment to your ears.

It is all melody, tranquillity AND beauty. It is an album that you need to "taste" while willing to have a fine moment of meditation or just want to relax.

Highlights are many (actually there aren't any weak track in here) but my preference goes to the beautiful title track as well as the cold and mysterious "Sudden Revelation".

I only regret that most tracks are on the short edge (several pieces could have been developed more IMO). But this is really the only negative point I can find in this album. The only long song is "A Matter Of Time" which features some very peaceful passages (but this remark can also be extended to the whole of this album).

I would say that it is almost as good as a TD classic album and therefore rate it with four stars. It is well worth a listen.

This Soundtrack release at the beginning of the 90's was welcome relief after a pretty average eighties decade in terms of quality TD works. Canyon Dreams is consistently strong and must rate as one of their best soundtrack releases ever. " Shadow Flyer' is a pleasant opener with some nice hypnotic loops and slightly up temp melody. Great interpretations of Colorado canyons and the Rocky outcrops, especially both " Canyon " Tracks. " A Water's Gift" the personal favourite track, mellow and meditative reminiscent of Rocky Mountain trails long past. " Colorado Dawn" closes this highly uplifting album from TD unless you have the version with the bonus track, " Rocky Mountain Hawk", good also to see Jerome Froese making an appearance on the album too.

Is Cristoph Franke back? No, it's just that this album was recorded in 1988 and released only three years after.

I have listened to one of the tracks "Canyon Voices" on a sample published by a newage magazine which revitalized my actually lost interest in Tangerine Dream putting them often on its compilations together with artists like Rick Wakeman, Peter Bardens and Michael Manring. btw, Canyon Voices is on the compilation #16.

It's a good album, above the average of the period. A track like "Sudden Revelation" can explain why a newage magazine can be interested in TD, but the border between progressive electronic and newage is very thin. What I can say is that this track could have found a place on older releases and is the most spacey track released by TD after 1983.

Apart of this highlight, all the tracks are very good and only their length, all below 10 minutes, identifies them as late 80s stuff. The squared waves which are a trademark of TD's music are the base for the longest track "A Matter Of Time". When there are no percussion this album reaches its peaks.

Surely better than a lot of things released by TD in this period. If you are in the right mood for this music I suggest also giving a try to the DVD as the music comments very well the images. I have seen only a few sample of it, but what I have seen is very promising.

An excellent addition, at least to my collection.

'Canyon Dreams' is the 30th album from Tangerine Dream. It was released in 1991, but was actually recorded in 1986 as a soundtrack to a film about the Grand Canyon. Since there was a bootleg of the music that had been taken from the video, TD released it with longer run times, adding some material to the original recording. Also, since it was recorded in 1986, Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke were the main musicians as was typical of TD's albums from this period. They are joined by Paul Haslinger on this album who was also with TD for 5 years during this time.

This album combines the electronic sound that TD was famous for with native American influences, utilizing pan flute and other effects to give it this style. The album also won a Grammy nomination and was the first TD album to do so. The southwestern influences on the music are quite upfront on most of the songs and there is also a very expansive feeling apparent on the tracks. There is also less of the outdated 80s sound on this. It sounds very heartfelt and authentic to the material from the film.

'Shadow Flyer' and 'Canyon Carver' are both fairly upbeat tracks with some nice effects and melodies. They both stay quite simple as far as melody goes, but the layers of sound are full and beautiful. 'Water's Gift' has a definite Native American sound to it with the addition of many more traditional effects. The track has no percussion and is a lot slower and pensive, invoking that feeling of a huge expanse in its lovely atmospheric passages. 'Canyon Voices' has a more cinematic vibe to it, but is also more electronic sounding, it also has no percussion, but moves along more melodically than the previous track.

'Sudden Revelation' returns to the pensive feel with a slow melody and an ebb and flow style like a breeze blowing through the miles of desert sand. 'A Matter of Time' is the longest track at over 8 minutes. It starts moving slowly as it is in no hurry, signifying the eroding of the land by water over many millions of years. At 2 minutes, a quick running arpeggio hurries the track along quicker, but the melody is in no hurry. This is the type of TD track that I love, no percussion and rhythm is marked by melody and not electronic percussion. The track is quite beautiful, but so are all of the tracks on this album. 'Purple Nightfall' is quite minimal and slow, but it is relatively short. 'Colorado Dawn' was added to the soundtrack to add another track not on the bootleg and was written by Jerome Froese. In 1999, the album was reissued with an additional track called 'Rocky Mountain Hawk' which continues in the fashion of most of the music on this soundtrack and is a worthwhile track.

This is one of Tangerine Dream's best albums, especially from this period as many of their albums during that time sound somewhat dated, and have an overabundance of electronic percussion. That is not the case with this album which, even though it is obviously electronic, has a more organic and realistic feel to it. My preference as far as TD goes is the more thoughtful albums, and this is definitely one of those.