ROMANCE 76

The first side of this record REALLY sounds like the "Stratosfear" and "Encore" albums by Tangerine dream: when you listen to that side, you can notice the Baumann's contribution to those Tangerine Dream's records: you recognize the particular high frequency beat and the melodic & rhythmic keyboards patterns. I always believed that the Peter Baumann's contribution to the early Tangerine Dream's albums was negligible, but I think I am definitely wrong after having listened to this side 1!

The side 2 is quite more experimental, having no beat: there are floating female vocals-like (probalby mellotron), strings-like arrangements, flute-like sounds, mellotron and some drums parts. It really sounds like a dark movie music.

Rating: 3.5 stars

First solo effort by Peter Baumann (Tangerine Dream) and without any doubt the best if we remembered the electronic "cold-wave" deviation he pursued after the correct "Repeat repeat". Nothing very innovative in "Romance' 76" but a nice and charming continuation of TD's electronic materials...without any surprise (creatively speaking) the music combines subtle "loops" to analogue synthesizers for a rather surreal, "astral" experience. The main theme features typical TD's electronic arpeggios formed as a cyclical rhythm and covered by a gentle melodic and linear synth lines. "Phase by Phase" is a calm electronic "ballad" floating throw the air. Composed in two parts, " Meadow Of Infinity" is the epic piece of the album, much more orchestrated too and the summit of this "kosmische", exciting voyage. A recommended album for convinced fans of Tangerine Dream ("Virgin" era) and Michael Hoenig solo works.

Peter Baumann's debut solo effort sounds exactly like what it is: one-third of a classic TANGERINE DREAM album from the band's mid-'70s creative peak. Working without his fellow T. Dreamers Chris Franke and Edgar Froese left the album with a curious sense of uncluttered, homemade minimalism, further reduced by the sometimes amateur simplicity of the music itself. Baumann was clearly no keyboard virtuoso, but he could accomplish wonders with very little compositional effort: a little sequencer pattern here, some easy one-fingered arpeggios there, all of it dressed up in an attractive wrap of cold, antiseptic atmospherics.

The first three tracks in particular (Side One on vinyl) should strike a chord in any fan of Tangerine Dream circa "Stratosfear" or "Sorcerer". But it's on the latter half of the album that Baumann reveals the deeper side of his musical personality, in a side-long suite recorded with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir.

Don't expect anything resembling symphonic rock, however. The atonal voices, spare electronics, and driving percussion all combine into an eerie neo-classical experiment more suitable for the soundtrack of an imaginary sci-fi movie (Stanley Kubrick might have loved it). This is ambitious stuff even by the high standards of the time, perhaps showing a direction toward which Baumann hoped Tangerine Dream might turn, and maybe explaining why he left the band when they didn't.

On the other hand, Baumann himself didn't pursue anything similar on his own subsequent albums. But don't blame him for the sudden de-evolution of musical culture in the latter half of the 1970s. Be thankful instead that he didn't begin his solo career a few short years later, after the market for such creative self-indulgence had all but disappeared.

A familiar Tang

In 1977, Peter Baumann left Tangerine Dream intent on pursuing a solo career. About a year before he did so, he released his first solo album while still a member of the band. "Romance '76" feels very like a Tangs solo album, in that it has the sound of one of the multi-track channels recorded by the band around this time. The structured layers of TD's albums are replaced by single synthesiser soloing, with appropriate rhythmic support.

The album has six tracks, three on each side. "Bicentenial present", "Romance" and "Phase by phase" are all stereotypical TD pieces, the slightly sparser arrangements not creating any discernible difference overall. The music is pleasantly diverting with trademark repetitious rhythms and sound which at the time were still relatively new and exciting. There is a slightly underdeveloped feel to these pieces, their brevity in TD terms perhaps implying that Baumann needed the other band members to bring out his compositions to the full.

The second side is effectively a side long suite in three movements, the two parts of "Meadow of infinity" book-ending the brief "The Glass Bridge". The first part of "Meadow of infinity" was the only part of the album not recorded in Berlin, the recordings for this section taking place in Munich. This allowed Baumann to call upon the assistance of members of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by one H. Baumann. The piece has a quasi modern classical feel, predating by a couple of decades Tangerine Dream's forays into such areas on the "Dante's inferno" trilogy. While the music here is less accessible, it is bolder and more experimental. "The glass bridge" is aptly named being a delicate, flute like link between the two main sections. The closing part of "Meadow of infinity" has the most symphonic atmosphere of the album, the multi-layered synth and mellotron like strings creating fine washes of sound.

In all, a decent statement from Baumann, who simply demonstrates that he can create Tangerine Dream like music single handedly. Subsequent to this album, which understandably sees Baumann sticking to the formula which brought success to the band he was in, he started to move towards dance and pop. This therefore is the best of the bunch as far as his solo output is concerned.

Romance 76 gives lot of evidence of how big Baumann's influence was on Tangerine Dream. While Froese's Macula Trancefer of the same year still harkens back to the sound palette and krautrock of earlier years, Baumann's first solo album sounds as fresh and crisp as Stratosfear. Therefore, this album comes recommended to all fans of "Stratosfear" and "Encore". The main difference with Tangerine Dream would be that this work is lighter and brighter, there's a playfulness in some of the tracks that brings us closer to Kraftwerk then to the seriousness and darkness of Tangerine Dream of that era. I will follow the general consensus here. This is a good album that every TD fan would want to seek out, but it's not mandatory if you're only casually interested by the Berlin school of electronic music.

I spent many years procrastinating on getting Romance 76' . I like his follow up Trans Harmonic Nights better only because it was a pleasant progressive electronic album with very nice production and sound, especially the vinyl from Virgin, so I thought as this was released earlier and being his debut it would be more abstract and obscure. Well unfortunately it is neither and largely a poor album. I can see perhaps why he parted ways with TD as his music always hinted at more commercia,l even disco electronic sounds, reference the similar yet awful Romanelli from the early 80's. In terms of highlights on this album not many but would single out the second side " Meadow of Infinity" if for nothing else for extended sound sequencers and some unpredictable soundscapes. A major disappointment and I should have stayed with my gut instincts of procrastination. For collectors only.