Customer Reviews

Encore: Live

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

In March and April of 1977 Tangerine Dream enjoyed their first North American tour, where they were welcomed enthusiastically. Long-haired musicians barely visible behind the stacks of analog electronic equipment, with a huge Moog synthesizer staged in the center, right behind Christopher Franke, with lights dancing around, synchronized with the psychodelic - for that was how they were received - music from the moon. Imagine that you have never heard this type of music, and then bang, you discover that the ways humans musically expressed themselves so far - are very limited. New worlds of excitement are open for you to roam about. That was an unforgettable series of concerts, the series that made Tangerine Dream widely popular. They conquered the American market, the biggest audience in the world. Europeans and everyone who was not able to travel with Tangerine Dream - received a priceless gift in the form of the longest-to-date album, "Encore", featuring various concert pieces mixed into four movements.

This album is also the swan song of Peter Baumann, for this was the last gig he participated in, the last album featuring his name, the last compositions that have been partially conceived by this brilliant musician. In early summer of 1977 Tangerine Dream was down to two members: Edgar Froese - the founding father, guitarist and mellotron player, and Christopher Franke, the godfather of the trade-mark Tangerine Dream sound, the Moog maestro of the bubbling ostinata, the primary composer of the band. What they lost with the departure of Peter Baumann was the eerie feeling of the fantasy Tolkien marshes, the misty swamp atmosphere of his synthesizers, the memorable flute passages, which could make you heartbroken. Never again was Tangerine Dream's music so personal, so spontaneous, so complicated and yet simply beautiful. Indeed, the loss of Peter Baumann as an active musician was the largest loss for everyone who loved the electronic roots music.

For all the aforementioned reasons, "Encore" is a monument, a historical landmark, and an album, which is virtually worshipped by generations of audiophiles all over the world. "Encore" is monumental indeed - it features four long compositions, which used to correspond to the vinyl 'sides' of analog records - for in the times of black records, it had been a double album. The mood of all compositions reflects the classical masterpiece of Maestro Vivaldi - 'Le Quattro Stagioni". The resemblance of the atmosphere and concept is so strong, that it's stunning. The opening track, 'Cherokee Lane', is SPRING - vivacious, full of hope, vitality, energy; it bursts with optimism and dynamism. Nature wakes up from the haze of winter sleep, and enters the periodical evolution race for growth. 'Monolight' comes into play silently, where the world is full of magical scent, and the happy universe is enjoying the peak of its creative abilities. Such is also 'Monolight', where beautiful melodies, resembling "Stratosfear", are inter-looped with one another, and where the composition nears its end, you might feel a painful regret of the SUMMER that will die soon. For the AUTUMN comes fast, with its monotonous showers of rain, with its howling winds, with the death of the vivacious, the optimistic, the warm. 'Coldwater Canyon' is very much like Vivaldi's memorable third movement. One might make exactly the same comment for 'Desert Dream', the WINTER part of the album. Cold, detached, frozen, frigid, glacier winterlanschaft music, only at times intercepted with beautiful tunes, which perhaps signify that even in winter one may curl up under the blankets in a snow-bound hut, light an oil lamp, and read 'Moomintroll Midwinter', and still be happy.

This beloved album deserves to be treasured, listened to, and enjoyed. Spontaneously composed tracks, composed during the gig - show that Tangerine Dream was the band of extremely able and literate musicians. "Encore" is the work of art, the work of genius.

I must admit that I was a bit sceptical about picking up live Tangerine Dream albums, because I'm not much of a fan of live albums in general. But seeing as how these songs are essentially jam sessions, well recorded, and do not appear on other albums, I didn't hesitate too much to pick this up. This does NOT disappoint! If you liked the more active approach they took on "Stratosfear" then this will definatly thrill you! It still has the same urgency, and some live instruments of "Stratosfear," but its really trippy. The track "Desert Dream" features some of the darkest TD music ever, with the strange Egyptian feel in the second movement of the song. The song "Clearwater Canyon" is a bit more "active" than other TD songs, with a strong beat running all the way through the song. When you give this album a few listens it really grows on you.
As usual, its kind of difficult to really describe the way the album is because it is like a dream; it takes you away on a fantastic journey filled with abstract and normal sounds, evoking strong emotions, but when its done, you can only remember bits and pieces. "Encore" is not as unified as "Ricochet," nor as synth based, but its an absolutely essential TD album.

The four tracks presented here cover a good selection of Tangerine Dream's live styles from the late 70s, bearing in mind that Froese, Franke and Baumann habitually improvised nearly all of their concerts. This remastered edition removes many of the recording problems that earlier copies of "Encore" suffered from, although the sound is now a little muddier in places than it was. Generally, though, this edition is much to be preferred over the earlier releases and can be recommended without reservation: this remains an indispensable item for the Tangerine Dream enthusiast's collection.

If you like what you hear here, be sure to investigate TD's albums "Stratosfear", "Ricochet" and "Sorcerer" for more great sounds like these.

For many of the faithful, the mid-70's lineup of Froese, Baumann and Franke was the defining incarnation of Tangerine Dream. Combining polished, classically -influenced compostional structure with emerging synthesizer technology, the band hit the right balance between harmonic substance and cosmic de-materialization -- frequently afterwards, especially as a result of personnel changes, the band's competing stylistic biases often yielded mixed results. This live CD from the very sucessful 1977 American tour is a fairly raw document, neither the sound system nor recording standards remotely comparable to today's standards, but they do reveal a band confident in its excesses and sublimely gifted at delicate dynamics, deep spatial excursions and some playful fun. The last half of "Desert Dream" beautifully sums the band's 70's experience, but the entirely CD (originally a double-album, though only 70 or so minutes in length) is a fitting document of the band's visionary presence in a world relatively unknown to ambient, techno or anything particularly cosmic. A must for long-haul Dream fans, at the very least. And, for the adventurous newbie Dream fan, a glimpse of days (long) gone by.

I think it is widely accepted that Tangerine Dream's (TD) "peak period" of creativity came with the unforgettable trio of Baumann, Franke and Froese. Albums that come to mind would be any one from the groundbreaking and stunning "Phaedra" to this, "Encore" - which was to be the last album featuring this classic lineup. While there were certainly other moments, no other period has been quite as influential or magical. Go to your local club and just listen - you'll hear those knob-twidlings and analog washes - hey, sounds a lot like it came from the good old days TD used to know about! Anyhow there are three TD live LPs from the peak period: "Ricochet" (1975), "Soundmill Navigator" (1976) and "Encore" (1977)(double LP). Although for a true Tangerine Dreamer they are all essential. If I had to choose one as the best summary of a live performance it would have to be the "Encore" LP. This recording captures more of a sense of lyricism that harmoniously enhances the trancy sequencer pulsations rather than just sound completely unrelenting (as in "Ricochet"). Furthermore you hear the many different tonal varieties and "moods" that TD can create. I might add I also recommend this over the '75 and '76 LPs since the sound quality of "Encore" is notably better (remastered) and the '76 recording, at least to my ears (I am an amateur musician), appears to have been "manipulated" and "touched up" with digital instrumentation not even available at the time of the performance. Honestly, "Encore" is my favorite perhaps, but I still listen to the others as well.

So anyway, how's the album? "Cherokee Lane" is worth the price of admission alone. From the opening sonic surrealism of low frequency oscillators gone haywire from too much knob turns to the minimal sequencer assault that follows coated by an icing of Mellotron strings and flutes and other effects you know you're in for a ride. "Monolight" follows a similar pattern with some different subtleties. "Coldwater Canyon" introduces an electric guitar (with a way-cool "wah-wah" effect)into the mix, though for some it may seem to meander endlessly. Finally, "Desert Dream" begins with sounds not heard from TD since the title track from "Zeit", with its theremin-like synth lead and eerie atmospherics. The title says it all. Soon a dark sequence begins not unlike "3 AM . . ." from "Stratosphere" then followed by more darkness.

Although I would have liked to see more official TD live releases from around the time of the "Phaedra" and "Rubycon" LPs, I was very impressed with the musical craftsmanship and quality of "Encore". This is a double LP that fits conveniently on one extra long CD. Highly recommended.

Fans of this should also listen to former TD member Klaus Schulze's solo output from the mid to late '70s. Also highly recommended.

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This album gets 5 stars just for the guitar lead in COLDWATER CANYON, it is unlike most of the other 9 TD albums I own where I dont hear much obvious guitar. The entire album makes a great short concert. Highly recommended if you love complicated trippy space music. You wont believe its just 3 guys making all that wild sound!

In 1977, Tangerine Dream toured the United States, bringing their moog synthesizers, sequencers, guitars and various other instruments to Los Angeles, New York, Cleveland and Washington. These were wildly successful tours: one can get a sense of the excitement of it all early on this album. Sadly, this was the last TD album that Baumann would perform on, and his beautiful flute playing would be missed on subsequent releases. "Encore" captures these performances in all their spontaneity, eeriness and mystery. Drawing upon elements from "Stratosfear", "Encore" shows Tangerine Dream at the height of their creativity and musicianship. These works are certainly "way out", and are certainly wouldn't appeal to the mainstream. Yet, for TD listeners who have enjoyed "Phaedra","Atem" and some of the other early albums, "Encore" is a pleasing way to experience some of the magic that solidified TD's place on the electronic music Pantheon.

This 1977 album brings together live performances from the North American tour and would prove to be the last with Peter Baumann, who left the group shortly afterwards. Overall, this is a great live album that captures the dreamy, outer space soundscapes of the group, with the added spectacle of the hooting and hollering that typically goes on at live shows. Fortunately, the hooting and hollering is restricted to the beginning and end of each track.

Although the four (lengthy) tracks are essentially new tunes, bits and pieces of Stratosfear (1976) turn up here and there. Overall, the album is a fine example of brooding "Berlin School" electronica, replete with pulsating sequencers, soft mellotron pads, and synthesizers of all descriptions. In addition, Edgar (Froese) turns in some exciting solos on a distorted electric guitar, and the use of percussion lends a nice textural element to the music.

This remastered definitive edition is OK and features great sound quality (for a live performance) and a few liner notes that discuss the "ins and outs" of the album and group circa 1977.

Unfortunately, in addition to losing a key member, this would prove to be last album that boasted the classic Tangerine Dream sound. After this, the group released the controversial Cyclone album (1978), which dipped a toe (or two) into the musical mainstream - not unlike most progressive and jazz rock groups active at the time come to think of it.

All in all, this is a great live album by the group and is highly recommended along with the other live album Ricochet (1975).

The album (originally a double LP) contains four long pieces, each of them essentially a live improvisation with a rough preconceived structure. The hypnotic tapestry of "Cherokee Lane" starting about three minutes into the CD, in my opinion ranks with the better work of Steve Reich; "Monolight", with its sharp contrasts and tuneful melodies, is probably the most accessible piece; while the impressionistic "Desert Dream", with its excursions into whole-tone scales and harmonies, is my personal favorite. "Coldwater Canyon" gets a bit stale, being essentially one long self-indulgent guitar solo by a guitarist who, let's be honest, just ain't no Jimi [Hendrix or Page]. But even without this piece the album is still a bargain. Sound quality could be better: after all it's a 1977 live recording, so let's make an allowance for that. Incidentally, the prevalence of the C minor key throughout the album is an artifact of the sequencers they were using at the time, not of the musician's inability to play in other keys :-)

I was wrong when I said Tangerine Dream is a terrible live band. I must have been so disappointed with Ricochet when I made that comment that perhaps I wasn't thinking clearly. Encore: Live is an extraordinary display of the bands best talents concerning melodic and diverse ambient sounds that never cease to take your adventurous mind all over the place. I'd honestly put it right up there with the best albums Tangerine Dream has to offer (such as Zeit, Phaedra, Rubycon and Stratosfear).

You're probably thinking "Hmmm, with only 4 tracks and over 70 minutes in length, the music on Encore: Live BETTER not be boring" and... it's honestly not. That's really amazing to me. Tangerine Dream really hit the nail on the head with this performance. Trust me, I expected boredom and failed experiments to take up the majority of the performance as well, which explains why I avoided the album for so long. I regret it now.

The 15-minute opener "Cherokee Lane" starts off with weird sounds that paint a picture of a horror setting (such as a graveyard in the back woods of a small midwestern town) until these melodic mellotron, synth and flute passages take over for the remainder of the song. The entire song works like a thing of beauty. I admit it took me a few careful listens to fully grasp the complexity of the arrangements, but once I got used to it I became totally hooked. "Monolight" begins with some chaotic and disjointed classical-influenced piano work before eventually settling into a lengthy groove of radically innovative, new wave-resembling ideas. This stuff really resembles the early 80's new wave scene darn near flawlessly. It's more like the 80's in hyperdrive though- a relentlessly melodic and ambitious track that might wear down listeners after a while instead of simply making them bored.

In comparison to the first two tracks, "Coldwater Canyon" changes gears *drastically* by focusing on 80's-style synths to carry the rhythm, but with some of the most melodic and tastiest guitar solos Tangerine Dream ever utilized... and it lasts for most of the 18-minute track. The guitar solos *easily* make this my personal favorite song here. Just fantastic, really. However, that's all there is to it- you either love Tangerine Dream's style of atmospheric guitar soloing or you don't. "Desert Dream" is the weak point however it's not THAT bad. It's not bad at all really. For one thing, some of the flute parts help to prevent the boredom aspect from ever dominating the lengthy piece, however I will honestly admit that some of the ambience here doesn't really work for me. Perhaps this is because the melodic nature of the previous 55 minutes makes it hard to appreciate a suite that focuses more on atmosphere and pure ambience rather than actual melodic tendencies. Either way, it works for the most part. I guess the band was just trying to encourage listeners to change their listening habits with this one.

Overall, Encore: Live is Tangerine Dream's most underrated 70's album. It really does deserve to be listed as one of the bands finest moments.