Customer Reviews

Seven Letters From Tibet

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Okay, this is not the album that replaces "Rubycon", "Phaedra", "Poland" and the rest in my pile of favourite TD albums... BUT (and it's a big but) at last we've got something that is worthy of the TD heritage!

No-one has been more appalled than I at the steady decline of TD over the last ten years, but maybe, just maybe, this album could spark something of a revival. With not a hint of the tedious rhythm tracks that have so marred the TD sound on recent albums, this is, dare I say it, a liitle jewel.

"Seven Letters..." didn't seem to get the same sales push as "Mars Polaris" (see my review), but it's by far the stronger album. Fans who've listened to the samples on the TD website may, like me, have been sceptical but listened to as a complete work, it stands proud and complete, there is a return to the compositional "flow".

There is huge majesty and grandeur in the synth voicing on all tracks, "The Blue Pearl" is a bit harsh on the ears, but is this down to the over-brightness of the production? "The Red Blood Connection" begins ominously, huge, rich chords remind me of Schmoelling-era film work and the clarinet melody is fitting rather than intrusive.

"The Orange Breath" is lighter in tone, but with beautifully soaring pads; reminiscent of Eric Serra's "Big Blue" score in parts.

"The Golden Heart" is more of the same; powerful and heroic. There are no twee instruments or mindless sequencing to mar the atmosphere.

"The Green Land" could be an outtake from TD circa "Optical Race"; TD fans of that era will recognise that "Marakesh" ambience (well, I did)!

"The Indigo Clouds" has some very strange and interesting soundscapes, remember the beginning of "Horizon"? The lilting rhythmic pulse that underpins the rest of the track is a masterstroke. This is the kind of visionary synth ambience we've been waiting so long for!

"The Purple Of All Curtains" closes the album with a soilo flute intro, reminding me of "Sequent C" from "Phaedra". The flute is joined by a string ensemble to build the intensity and then the track fades, leaving me wanting more... a felling I haven't had about an original TD album in I don't know how long!

So, an album with a menacingly eastern flavour, tremendous ambient soundscapes and original voicing. Isn't this what TD fans have been crying out for? Congratulations to Edgar and Jerome for giving me original work that will stay in my cd player and stop me pining after previous triumphs...

Okay, what's next?

7 LETTERS won't be in any TD's fan's top ten, but hardly as bad as some of the negative reviews suggest. It's a mellow Hearts-of-Spacey work, a little haunting and a bit sugary. Each piece dips a toe into a potentially enchanting or exciting realm.

I wish it hadn't been split into 7 separate tracks with fancy titles; every track could easily and smoothly seque into the next; I know this sounds like armchair editing, but give it a listen on a good system and you'll hear what I mean; every track "artificially" closes when it could easily melt into the next, forming a solid [liquid?] journey.

If you look back in their discography, TD's "decline" began with their decision to focus on packaging, breaking works into marshmallow-treat-sized bits. Ok for soundtracks but not for extended works. TD has a long & faithful following (today, fans like us are simply referred to as "niche marketing.")

In short: 7 LETTERS is pleasantly meditative, even romantic, and may grow on you with repeated listenings. But it will leave the die-hards longing for the days of STRATOSFEAR, LOGOS and POLAND.

I've been listening to Tangerine Dream pretty incessantly lately, though I've been listening to electronic work for much longer (coming to TD via bands like Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode). When I first started listening to them, I thought, "Elevator music," or the sort of drivel you listen to at special "mood music booths" at the local Wal-Mart. Then I found a list on Amazon of someone's favorite TD albums, and gave old albums like Phaedra and Force Majuere another listen. Suddenly I realized the possibilities of TD for working my imagination. You can lie back in bed at night with TD in your headphones and really let your imagination take you places.

Now, with that said, what do I think of "Seven Letters from Tibet?" Well, as others have said, it's not the best. Still, I must disagree that it is their worst. The attempts at vocals (Tyger, Inferno) are much worse. I really appreciate the setup of this album; the "seven letters" work well, and the opening notes of the first track are very arresting.

This isn't an album that really draws your attention to it while it's playing. Instead of a crashing thunderstorm, what we have here is gentle rain that is just barely discernible outside; it relaxes and soothes without distracting you. I find it positive.

7 LETTERS won't be in any TD's fan's top ten, but hardly as bad as some of the negative reviews suggest. It's a mellow Hearts-of-Spacey work, a little haunting and a bit sugary. Each piece dips a toe into a potentially enchanting or exciting realm.

I wish it hadn't been split into 7 separate tracks with fancy titles; every track could easily and smoothly seque into the next; I know this sounds like armchair editing, but give it a listen on a good system and you'll hear what I mean; every track "artificially" closes when it could easily melt into the next, forming a solid [liquid?] journey.

If you look back in their discography, TD's "decline" began with their decision to focus on packaging, breaking works into marshmallow-treat-sized bits. Ok for soundtracks but not for extended works. TD has a long & faithful following (today, fans like us are simply referred to as "niche marketing.")

In short: 7 LETTERS is pleasantly meditative, even romantic, and may grow on you with repeated listenings. But it will leave the die-hards longing for the days of STRATOSFEAR, LOGOS and POLAND.

Although "The Seven Letters from Tibet" was not released until late 2000, it is nevertheless possible to discern musical styles from many periods of Tangerine Dream's history in its makeup, albeit with a trace of some late-applied, unifying gloss. The fact that the packaging cannot agree on the titles of some of the tracks (one of which was released under yet another title on a previous album) would seem to be another clue as to the length (and intermittent nature) of its gestation period.

In keeping with its mystical eastern philosophical theme, the music here is much slower and more contemplative than most of Tangerine Dream's output of late. The textures tend more towards acoustic (or imitations of acoustic) instrumentation, than to electronic soundscapes, although one still thinks more of massed synthesiser choirs than of anything else. Additionally - and this is probably unique in Tangerine Dream's discography - there is not a single sequencer pulse or drum machine line to be heard anywhere on the album.

The album starts and finishes with material suggestive of Edgar Froese's early solo works, with wide, sweeping string washes and a warbling flute line reminiscent of those Mellotron lines he once loved so much. Wide, sweeping sonic washes (mostly of `orchestral' or `organ' type) are, in fact, very much the flavour of the entire disc. One suspects that Edgar has had rather more involvement in the penning of this album than has Jerome.

`The Second Letter: The Orange Breath' features the more noticeable of the eastern musical elements of the album. These persist somewhat into `The Third Letter: The Sun and the Golden Heart', although this track sounds to my ears decidedly like a variation on `TimeSquare' (from the second set of Dream Mixes, as well as the "Architecture in Motion - What a Blast!" video production). This is the only track to develop anything approximating to a beat, soon overwhelmed by a tide of formless textures. (Incidentally, for convenience throughout this review, I use the names given in the CD booklet, rather than on the CD case - they make better sense and somehow feel more complete.)

The somewhat longer track, `The Fourth Letter: The Green Land' is a delicate piano-led ballad which leads into the heart of the album, `The Fifth Letter: The Long Distance Blue'. This lengthy track will be familiar to anyone who knows the album "Quinoa", as it is, in fact, the track `Lhasa' from that album, with an extra 4 minutes-worth tacked onto the front. The extra material is similar to the older material, but uses harsher voice settings and has a vox humana overlay to it, in common with much of this album. By far the longest track on the album, this comes across as a vast, slowly unfolding organ-voiced threnody. Incidentally, its mastering is much brighter here than on "Quinoa". While this exposes more of the inner details of the piece, the result is also quite a bit harsher - hissy, even, at times. The final two short tracks bring the music back full circle, so that it concludes much as it began.

Unlike much modern TD, this is not an album that will tolerate being used as background material. To really appreciate it, you have to give this music your full attention. If you do that, you will come to realise what a rare gem this release is, despite its brevity. So go on: dowse the lights and light a candle (and maybe a joss stick) or two and give this one a spin.

Tangerine Dream moved in a different direction yet again with this release. The entire CD is pure ambience and nothing else. There are no drums or sequencers; just smooth and warm synth washes.

Very relaxing; especially "The Orange Breath" (Track 2)

This is not one of TD's better releases, but it is perfect for when you want to relax and unwind. The music will transport you to other places and other realms.

This is one of the best Tangerine Dream albums that I own. Each song paints a pretty distinctive and beautiful soundscape. This is ambient music at its best. Music that you can listen to over and over without tiring your ears. Highly recommended.

Absolutely beautiful and very special album. Perfect for high meditations. I hide it from myself for fear of tiring of it, and keep it in my arsenal as a secret Samadhi weapon ;)

Ditching the more dynamic elements of their music this is probalbly the most purely blissful cd of Tangerine Dream's career.Great for reading,writing,meditation or just plain spacing out.Personally after about halfway through I began to miss the more exciting aspects of their music but as a longtime fan of the group I appreciate their decision to try something a little different.Pleasant but not exactly essential to Tangerine Dream fans.

This Tangerine Dream album is an artful lushly sequenced composition. No percussive rhythms or beats here, just a stream of sonic atmospheres composed to evoke the feeling of different modes of consciousness, apparently associated with the 7 chakras and the rainbow of color frequencies and musical tones. This is not especially engaging meditative music, and the eastern instrumental sounds have an overly synthetic quality. Still, this album is effective as meditative background music and it has a bit of an unsettled feel to it, in case you don't want to be totally relaxed. If you are looking for something "different" in the way of relaxation music or ambient background music this album may be worth a listen.