Search - Tangerine Dream :: Dream Sequence: Best of

Essential Tangerine Dream

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 07/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Originally issued in '85 as a triple album, this essential and ultimate Tangerine Dream collection fits nicely onto 2 CDs (19 tracks, 133 min.). This particular release is the 2002 reissue of the 1985 compilation (exact same tracks), albeit with a new cover.



This collection was originally issued shortly after TD enjoyed true broad commercial success for the last time with the soundtrack for the movie "Risky Business" (starting and ending the compilation on tracks 1 and 19). All other tracks inbetween are the highlights of the Virgin Records era of TD (thankfully leaving out pre-1973 experiments like Zeit and Alpha), starting with excerpts (too short, in my opinion) of "Phaedra" and "Rubycon". The tracks move along pretty much chronologically, ending with "White Eagle" from 1982.



The set includes 2 side-long tracks, "Ricochet Part II" and "Tangram Part I". The "Ricochet" track shows TD at its peak, a 20 minute oddisey of throbbing sequencers and soaring guitar solos. "Ricochet" stems from '75 but hasn't aged a day. And to think that the "Ricochet" and "Tangram" albums actually made serious dents in the UK album charts in the mid-70s! Those were the days! If you're gonna to buy just one Tangerine Dream CD, this is the one . . .



If you're looking for more "essential" Tangerine Dream, check out last year's "Bootleg 1", which brings 5 live concerts from the 70s."

A good value sampler

Steve Benner | Lancaster, UK | 09/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 2 CD set contains a fair representation of almost all of the Tangerine Dream albums recorded in the period 1973 to 1983 (the only ones missing are "Sorcerer", "Pergamon" and "Cyclone"). While it is not always the best track from each album that makes it into this set, and some are presented in bleeding chunk form only, these discs do give the listener a good overview of each album, making this a good sampler set from which to set out on an exploration of the music of Tangerine Dream's so-called Virgin Years. I don't usually approve of 'best of' collections, and usually rate them accordingly, but I'm prepared to make an exception in this case because of its completeness, variety of programming and the great value for money that this release represents. This release will be of little interest to established collectors of TD's music of this period but beginners could do a lot worse than start here."

An interesting 1977-1983 overview

mythologue | 07/04/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As strange as it may initially seem, this is an ideal compilation for fans of Tangerine Dream's early period: very few tracks are taken from pre-1976 albums (causing few overlaps for those who already own the 1970-1975 recordings), and its 1977-1983 overview is interesting in its own right, but not quite impressive enough to warrant the purchase of the individual 1977-1983 albums themselves. In other words, both its strengths and weaknesses make it a solid stand-alone double album. The music on this compilation bears the mark of Tangerine Dream's post-Rubycon (1975) aesthetic, as they gradually leaned away from the vast, evocative and free soundscapes of their early work towards a more structured, mainstream and altogether predictable approach. If you are new to Tangerine Dream, I'd suggest getting the early albums first (Phaedra [1974] being arguably the best entry point); this compilation can then cover their later, somewhat less memorable period."