Green Desert [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Tangerine Dream | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 4, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Sbme Castle Us
• ASIN: B00008DCRA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,846 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2003 reissue for the German electronic pioneers. Originally recorded in 1973 it wasn't released until 1986 as part of the 'In The Beginning' box-set. Castle. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lost but thankfully found!, July 2, 2000

By 

Colin Neal (Reading, Berkshire. England United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Green Desert (Audio CD)

Recorded in 1973 but only released in the mid eighties 'Green Desert' is an example of Tangerine Dream at their best. A much darker and moodier album than usual

Miles better than any of the plinky plonly bontempi stuff they've been releasing for the past 10 years.

The title track is bleak, dark, expansive, and doesn't appear to have dated since '73. It builds up for about 20 minutes - acoustic drumming, weird percussion and ambient synths yet still manages to remain musical (unlike Journey through a burning brain). The guitar solo is the icing on the cake. Classic.

Along with Phaedra and a couple of other albums, this is Tangerine Dream's finest work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Back to the Archives, November 6, 2008

By 

Bicycle Day - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Green Desert (Audio CD)

This is a very intriguing release; the numbers were recorded in 1973 and not released until 1986 after being remixed by Edgar Froese.

The standout is the title track, as Froese again demonstrates his expressiveness on guitar with a solo that drives the soundscape for nearly five minutes. White Clouds, Astral Voyager and Indian Summer are interesting due to the synthesized noises that weave around the keyboard-driven melodies.

While difficult to definitively rate the work in the vast TD catalog, it is an accessible album for those wishing to hear the band for the first time.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential for all TD nuts, February 28, 2004

By 

N. Jacobs (Fish Creek, Wi USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Green Desert (Audio CD)

I can safely say that I am a Tangerine Dream fanatic, especially all the stuff up to Force Majeur, and in particular, "Phaedra" and "Rubycon." So of course when I heard that this was a lost album, that fit between "Atem" and "Phaedra," I had to check it out.
As some have mentioned, it is rather frustrating to know that Froese doctored this up a little in 1984, at a time when TD was moving a bit away from their trance inducing electronic music. Therefore, we really will never know what this album sounded like originally. To add further disappointment, the cover art is probably the lamest that I've ever seen from TD. With some of their other albums, you had to ask yourself, "what on earth is that?" But with this, it just seems stupid, because with the other albums, with their mysterious art, the music and the art reflected one another quite nicely. But okay, that's not why I took a star off.
The music on here is pretty different from the first four albums, and it has little to do with the direction they were heading on "Phaedra." At times, it seems a little inconsistent, but you should expect the unexpected with TD! The first track starts off with pulsing keyboards, played very slowly, before building up to an interesting combination of drums and simple guitar riffs. This definately has a great feel to it, and it's very soothing.
"White Clouds" follows, and for some reason I just don't like this song too much. It's got more drumming, which seems a little too percussive and rhthym based for this period of their career. Not terrible by any means, but certainly not their greatest.
The third song is great, even if it really sounds like 80's TD. A simple synth riff played over and over with a few flourishes of old school synth. It actually reminds me a lot more of Klaus Schulze's "Timewind" or "Moondawn" albums. The only thing is that it is only 7 minutes long (this is TD we're talking about, so I want REEEEEAAAAALY long songs!).
The last track is a lot like the first--long and soothing. I can't recall too much from it, but it works very well.
So there you have it. TD surely produced a lot of better music than this, but this is a really strange gem amoung their early work. You can definately tell that since it doesn't fit too well between "Atem" and "Phaedra," they didn't release it at the time. TD lovers MUST have this album, but I don't think that it's a great way to test the waters of this fantastic electronic band. Instead, check out "Phaedra" or "Stratosfear" and go from there.