Search - Tangerine Dream :: Rockoon

Weak album from the early 90s period.

Miguel Farah Fugate | Santiago, Chile | 06/28/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Tangerine Dream's strength lies -IMHO- in the interaction between the various band members and the compromise that results. Jerome Froese (son of Edgar Froese, founder and still member of the band), being new to the band, wasn't enough of a force to "oppose" to Edgar's direction, and the result is clearly Edgar being the primary contributor to this album.Due to this, "Rockoon" is a somewhat weak album, with few memorable moments - it tries (IMHO, unsuccesfully) to have a rockish feel, but doesn't quite achieve it.Compared to other albums with the same lineup ("Turn of the Tides" and "Tyranny of Beauty") this album comes somewhat behind. I'd recommend buying TotT and ToB first, THEN come back to check out Rockoon."

My first Tangerine Dream CD.

Craig McAdie | Vancouver, BC Canada | 06/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the CD that got me hooked on Tangerine Dream about eight years ago. One of the first albums by the line-up of Edgar and Jerome, this CD has more of a jazz-like feel to it than most of TD's earlier albums. The mix of songs and the instrumentation is varied and upbeat. The use of guitar, both electric and 12 string, saxophone, and synthesizer works very well. Songs like Touchwood and Spanish Love stand out, and are balanced very well with Penguin Reference and Lifted Veil.If you've avoided TD because some of their albums may be too "ethereal", give this one a try."

Tangerine Dream?s darkest hour?

Steve Benner | Lancaster, UK | 08/09/2000

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Periodically during their thirty-odd year history, Tangerine Dream have found themselves at one musical crossroads or another, usually as a result of a change of personnel. When Paul Hasslinger left in 1990, the remaining father and son team of Edgar and Jerome Froese chose to continue the group's musical development by finally abondoning their purely electronic and experimental musical roots, by drawing other musicians into the group on an informal basis, and by producing music much closer to traditional rock in both its outlook and makeup. Their early results, in the form of the album "Rockoon" did much to lose them most of their traditional following! (It is probably no coincidence that TD's official fan club disbanded round about the time of its release!) This album is an unimaginative collection of some 11 5-minuters, nearly all of which sacrifice the traditional Tangerine Dream approach of innovative and varied synthesiser and sequencer programming for a uniformly bland sound world of everyday synthesiser string washes and jangling guitar lines over a relentlessly boring rock drum-machine beat. Gone is the variety of tempo of earlier albums. In fact, gone is any great variety of anything! Only the short `Penguin Reference' manages to capture some of the sparkle of earlier Tangerine Dream successes, while the incorporation of alto sax into the tracks `Body Corporate' and `Red Roadster' give some new interest and also look ahead to the later incorporation of Linda Spa to the group. While still undeniably Tangerine Dream, this disc moves their sound world well away from the experimental music scene of the 70s and firmly into the acid house world of the 90s. Perhaps less of a crossroads and more a dead end? Only time will tell... Only buy this disc if you're a fan of mid- to late-90s Tangerine Dream and want more of the same, or if you're a die-hard collector!"