Customer Reviews

Firestarter: Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first TD album to start the collection and still remains as the favourite. For the people who haven't viewed the film I can assure you that the music carries out the atmospheres and emotions released in the film brilliantly. Even though I had seen the film before purchasing the album, I was actually more interested in the sound score behind the film at the time. I love the mysterious ambience of the synth combined with the slow melodic rock. Each composition has a distinctive mood but they all flow together to create an electronic masterpiece. The soundtrack to me doesn't seem to be restricted to the movie as such although it fits the context of the film perfectly it also seems to stimulate personal emotions and you could easily paint your own picture from the powerful sounds created. This album is always never far from the CD player.

The problem with TD's soundtrack albums is that they tend to have too many "filler" tracks; probably necessary for the score of a film, but they tend to get in the way of the stronger themes. (See "Wavelength" and "Near Dark" for examples). On "Firestarter" we have a gem of an album, however. This was one of the first TD albums I bought and at the time I hadn't seen the film, (I'd read the book, but that's inconsequential), but I often think that viewing a film prejudicies the listener when listening to the soundtrack alone. With "Firestarter" I was glad I was ignorant.

This could easily stand up as a "proper" TD album release. The early 80s was a time when some believe TD were at the height of their creative power, and this album slots in beautifully next to "White Eagle", "Hyperborea" and even the mighty "Poland".

"Crystal Voice" is a very moving opener, full of sweping pads and a yearning melody, then "The Run" quickens the pace with a staccatto chord sequence in the background and some oscillating drums to offset the rhythm.

"Charly The Kid" has to be one of the standout tracks here. Similar in pace and theme to the opener it seems to exude emotion with it's wonderfully timbred synth voicings. "Escaping Point" is more ominous and is vaguely reminiscent of work done on "The Sorcerer" soundtrack. "Rainbirds Move" is in the style of "Hyperborea" ("No Man's Land") with it's eastern flavour.

"Burning Force" is fairly intense; it reminds me of the last part of "Horizon" on "Poland". From there the pace is dropped to the curious sounds of "Between Realities" before Froese wields his guitar once again for "Shop Territory", but we'll forgive him this time as he doesn't go too over the top!

"Flash Final" begins with some vocoder treatments; a surprisingly underused piece of equipment in the TD arsenal; I can only think of "Cyclone" where it's been used before. The album closes with "Out Of The Heat"; a piece that alternates between epic and earie; lightweight sequencing and acoustic guitar over heavy orchestral chord samples.

If anyone was put off by this being a soundtrack, they shouldn't be. Fans of Schmoelling, Froese, Franke era TD will find that this is something of an overlooked classic.

The first time I saw Firestarter I recognised on the credits and opening titles that the music score was by a certain Tangerine Dream. I never heard of them before until I watched the movie and instantly became absorbed from the music. Throughout the film the music acts as an atmospheric contributor that captures the mood and character of the film. Despite never hearing TD before I realised this soundtrack was cleverly done and distinctly thought about before TD recorded the music. I have a lot of film soundtracks and was more than happy to add this to my collection, an absolute great piece of work.

Spring of 1984 brought us "Firestarter", an excellent soundtrack from Tangerine Dream. One can only regret that the adaptation of Stephen King's novel was bombed, for otherwise this soundtrack might be better known and cherished. Within the large number of soundtracks they produced, and in 1984 in particular, this one memorably stands out. As much as it is not innovative in the compositional sense, "Firestarter" is a unique album, since its atmosphere is distinct from any other album of Tangerine Dream, or any other band for that matter. All tracks remain within a narrowly defined audio domain, one resembling another - but you should not have an impression that the music is repetitive; quite to the contrary! Unlike "Thief", "Risky Business" and "Wavelength", the preceding soundtracks of the 1980s, this album was composed with a clear vision; it is not eclectic, it is not a mere rehash of previously recorded material. All compositions are brand new.

The atmosphere on this album is very similar to their masterpiece, "Poland", and some random sounds bring the good memories of that concert tour of 1983. It seems that Tangerine Dream valued the live material enough to try to compose variations on a theme, and pursuit that particular musical path further. There are three albums, all soundtracks composed in 1984, which share this property: "Firestarter", "The Park Is Mine", and "Flashpoint". In a sense, "Poland" is an atmospheric mother of all these albums, with "Hyperborea" being the obvious grandmother. It is indeed useful to think of all these albums as constituting a kind of a logical series, and with the exception of "The Park Is Mine", they are all excellent, dark and moody. When I think of Tangerine Dream of the 1980s, I definitely like to think of these five albums.

If you like the soundtracks of Tangerine Dream, and would like to have a good start, then definitely I would recommend "Firestarter" and "Wavelength", since they are the best of the bunch. One note to the collector - soundtrack albums of Tangerine Dream from the 80s go in and out of print, and thus whenever you see this album, you should definitely buy for any price, for another opportunity might not come for a long time.

The only other TD score I have heard was from Ridley Scott's Legend,but I'd have to say that this one is the best.And I'm a fan of the movie and the score just moves the film along.The best part of the score is (spoiler)when Charlie leaves the barn and all hell brakes loose(end spoiler).I hope to find the CD somewhere soon.

This CD probably contains some of Tangerine Dreams best music. I got it about a month ago and its remained in my CD player since. When I first saw the movie, one of the things that held me to it was the music. It goes along perfectly with the film. If you like Tangerine Dream, you should definitely check this one out!

I can only agree with the reviewers above - this cd is a collection of beatiful music stemming from the 'Poland' era under the cover of a soundtrack. I listened to it first in 1986 and some of the melodies have stuck with me to this day. Simple compositions, yet timeless. I have not seen the movie.

I bought the cassette tape of this when I was about 15 years old because it was on sale and soundtrack music was the only music I knew of. At that time I hadn't even seen the movie. I loved the soundtrack back then and still do 10 years on because it is catchy, and had a soothing, hypnotic quality about it and one can listen to it again and again. Yes, I have now seen the movie and my view of the soundtrack has not altered one bit. Who else has listened to soundtracks before having even seen the movie?

Forget the soundtrack connections of this one. Take it as a TD album in the vein of Underwater Sunlight and Le Parc and you have the true flavor of this album. One of my favorite TD albums - sorry to see no other reviews - I hope it's not because others have overlooked this one.

In discussing the 1980s period of the band and the wealth of side projects into soundtracks, Edgar Froese has been candid in explaining that the goal was to fund recording studios for each band member.

This is one of the best soundtracks from that decade and can be viewed as a true TD release, not reworked material that was previously released or something seemingly tossed together for some obscure film, with the TD name as the only selling point.

The 11 tracks from Froese, Christopher Franke and Johannes Schmoelling clock 41:39, with the standouts being Escaping Point, Burning Force and Flash Final. The shorter pieces have incredible depth and are not simply background noodlings for a scene.

To casually dismiss the album is selling short some outstanding material with a haunting ambience and fascinating soundscapes.