Poland [Import]

Tangerine Dream | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 24, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Castle Music UK
• ASIN: B000071WFK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #266,408 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Poland 1: Poland

2. Poland 1: Tangent

3. Poland 2: Barbakane

4. Poland 2: Horizon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Dreaming!, July 7, 2002

By 

Paul Fogarty "Hopeless film addict!" (LA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poland (Audio CD)

Tangerine Dream's "Poland" is an album I can listen to repeatedly; it truly is a classic slice of early Tangerine Dream. I've been listening to Tangerine Dream since the initial release of Phaedra in the UK - I'm a Brit you know! - and have followed them ever since, managing to see almost every gig they played in London over the years, from the early 70's, and all the way into the 90's. My favorite TD albums are, in no particular order; Phaedra, Ricochet, Rubycon, Poland, Encore, Pergamon, Force Majeure, Logos, Stratosfear, 220 Volt Live, and Underwater Sunlight. I also like Edgar Froese's Epsilon in Malaysian Pale, and Aqua, plus Chris Franke's London Concert.

Poland, for me, harks back to the Glory Years of Tangerine Dream... 3 guys hidden behind banks of analogue electronica, indicator lights blinking away in the darkness, cables all over the place; the 3 of them taking the listener on an aural journey through strange and beautiful alien soundscapes. While many of the much-maligned later albums function as `background' music at best, Poland is music to actively "listen" to, to immerse and lose oneself in completely.

The first 11-minutes or so of the album are simply breathtaking - the best they've ever committed to a recording? - and you wonder how they can possibly follow it... rather like Pink Floyd crashing a plane onto the stage at the end of the first track during "The Wall" gig! But don't worry, they do, and in spectacular fashion! Each of the four tracks is a gem, sonic 22 carat gold, and for me, their greatest live recording since Ricochet, especially considering the arctic conditions under which the concert, and the recording itself, took place.

This is without doubt, a beautiful recording of a live event that I only wish I could have attended, and would recommend it unreservedly to anyone wanting to experience the classic, "live," Tangerine Dream sound, along with Ricochet, Pergamon, and Encore!

One of the many criticisms I read in various reviews of TD music is the change of direction the music took, especially with the leaving of Baumann and Franke. Much of the criticism is vicious, and aimed squarely at the head of Edgar Froese. As I said earlier in this review, I consider much of the later material to be `background' music at best, banal and derivative, a far cry from the "classics" I personally love. But let's put all this into perspective; Edgar Froese has been creating music for over 30 YEARS(!), and yes, maybe some of what's been released should never have seen the light of day... Ambient Monkeys anyone?!

Putting aside completely pointless arguments about who was the creative genius in the band, without Froese there wouldn't have BEEN a Tangerine Dream, without Froese we wouldn't HAVE Phaedra, Ricochet, Rubycon, Encore, Pergamon, Poland, Force Majeure etc to enjoy and to cherish! Some of us love the "classics," some the later works, very few of us like everything, but guess what, in over three decades of music making, Froese has, almost literally, created something for everyone!!!

Another criticism - though highly relevant this time - is that in this age of digital technology, we have to put up with the clumsy editing of 20+ years ago, when continuous recordings had to be broken up into "sides" because of the limitations of the vinyl medium. This, I think, is most noticeable on Poland itself, although the break in Pergamon is also jarring, and spoils the flow of the music.

Well, if you have a PC, a CD Ripper, and some good quality digital sound editing software, you can now "bridge the gap," so to speak! I have the `complete' 2 CD edition of Poland, but was always dissatisfied with the breaks in the tracks, and of not being able to enjoy the "show" as one continuous piece. The solution was simple; I `ripped' the tracks into my PC, then edited them together, via a 20 second or so cross-fade from track to track. I then burnt the resulting `single' track onto an 80-minute CD. The results of this are that I can now enjoy Poland as a continuous, 79+ minute, coherent performance.

I wasn't at the Poland concert, so I don't know if the 4 tracks were played continuously by the band, they probably weren't, so I took a further liberty, and - shock, horror! - rearranged the running order! "My" version of Poland now plays as, Poland, Tangent part 1, Barbakane, Horizon, and Tangent part 2, which is so obviously an encore piece that it works perfectly in this arrangement.

I'm sure that any purist reading this is reaching for the smelling salts and looking for a comfy chair to fall into, but as a listening experience, this edit beats the hell out of 4 separate tracks with a change of disc half way through! Remembering those magical, heady concerts from the 70's and early 80's, I can close my eyes, and almost believe I'm there!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing synthescapes (4.5 if I could), October 22, 2003

By 

Timothy H. Tobish "timberwolf1" (Venice, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poland (Audio CD)

Tangerine Dream has gone through many iterations, periods, flavors, etc. This is the last in a series of three amazing efforts from the early 80s, which is my favorite period, the other two being "Logos" (also live, 5 stars) and "Hyperborea" (4 stars). This period was more abstract and trancy than the earlier "classic" stuff (Phaedra, Stratosfear, Zeit, etc.), and not as "packaged" as their soundtrack work and more recent music. The lineup through this period was Edgar Froese, Chris Franke, and Johannes Schmoelling. My die-hard T-Dream friends think Schmoelling is schmaltzy, but I think he adds a nice melodic touch, so the music isn't TOTALLY sounding like a funeral march.

The original vinyl of "Poland" was two discs, with one long song per side, for four total tracks. All are nice, long, intricate patterns of slowly changing synth loops and sequencers. Some people find it like musical wallpaper, but I actually like to actively listen. It's amazing on your walkman for skiing, by the way.

Tangerine is instantly recognizable, yet each album subtly changes and evolves, and this is one of their best. If you like Teutonic trance music, you'll love "Poland."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tangerine Dream at their 80s best!, October 30, 2000

By 

Steve Benner "Stonegnome" (Lancaster, UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poland (Audio CD)

Recorded against all the odds at a concert played in sub-zero temperatures and plagued by powercuts in Communist Poland in December 1983, this album represents the very pinnacle of Tangerine Dream's live achievements in their 80's incarnation of Chris Franke, Edgar Froese and Johannes Schmoelling. It also marks the band's break from Virgin records, being the first of their releases on the Jive-Electro label, and thus the first album of their so-called Blue Years.

Featuring four sets, each of about 20 minutes duration, all of the music here is flawless, both in its construction and its execution. It bears all of the classic Tangerine Dream hallmarks: beautiful synthesiser melodies, staggering guitar playing, gorgeous electronic textures woven about slowly developed minimalist percussion patterns and chord changes. With lots of variety both of tempo and timbre, and with some beautiful sampled sounds and stunning percussion programming, "Poland" holds the attention as few other Tangerine Dream works either before or since. It contains not a single dull moment and offers much to both surprise and delight. And now as a single CD instead of a double LP, it's also great value for money!

Incidentally, the 5-CD "Dream Roots Collection" includes almost half of this album, scattered over its 3 central CDs (including the encore piece 'Rarebird', which oddly does not have a track to itself here, but is incorporated into the 'Tangent' track). Realistically, though, how can anyone manage without this stunning album in its entirety?