Customer Reviews

Stuntman

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

 

 

When I first bought Stuntman way back in 1980 (on LP, of course), it struck me as somewhat mediocre and uninteresting--certainly not one of Froese's better efforts. However, twenty years later, I've changed my opinion somewhat. It certainly isn't Froese's best album, but in some ways it is his most representative. Surprisingly, it's worn rather well with time. The song titles are quite in keeping with the Tangerine Dream legacy, and there are two true masterworks here: the stunningly impressionistic "Drunken Mozart in the Desert" and the edgy analog-groove of "A Dali-esque Sleep Fuse." The other tracks are good in their own right, and the whole album has a completely different feel than anything Froese had done before--though Ages does resemble Stuntman in some respects.And, as is usual for a Froese album, great cover art.

The original "Stuntman" album by Edgar Froese dated from 1979. The 2003 re-release can be told from the older, original version by means of being credited to Edgar W. Froese (note the middle initial) and its computer generated jewel-case artwork. (The original carried a photograph of a crash helmet.) The track-listing (and running times) of the two versions are identical but the music most certainly is not.

"Stuntman" has always been an altogether more polished affair than many of Edgar Froese's other solo albums. Happily, too, this album is free from all traces of the ponderous self-indulgence to which solo Froese efforts can be more than a little prone. The tunes here do tend to be a little on the cute side, even for Froese, but at least he seems to have recognised this and, for once, nothing ever outstays its welcome. The lead synthesiser voices tend to be very sweet, too, and so, generally, it all works well and there are no tracks that could be called at all bad on this album.

The reworked version has had some more spit and polish applied, with not only substantial remastering of the original recordings to make them carry more punch, but also, in places, additional harmonic layers to thicken up the textures and to add more interest. The treatments have not always worked in the music's best interest, especially where the origins carried a particular lightness of touch that was quite endearing. By and large, however, I would say that there was never a great deal here to damage in the first place, and most newcomers to this album who are more attuned to modern synthesiser works than to the classic sounds of the late 70s will probably find the heavier-weight later version more to their taste than the original. I don't doubt that some established Froese fans will feel otherwise.

By modern standards the disc is short -- rather less than 45 minutes in total. Its six tracks are all fairly low-key and introspective in nature, something which the remixing has not altered to any extent. Their titles suggest that they were mostly inspired by moments or events of particular personal significance for Froese and as such these tracks would seem to be intended more as musical cameos, rather than major masterpieces. Even in their re-worked form, there are certainly no great lasting artworks here. That said, the greater variety--in musical style, in overall sound world and in musical pace--than can be found on others of his solo albums of this period, "Stuntman" is one of Froese's better releases since his early major achievements of "Aqua" and "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale" (both of which have been butchered in their 2003 make-overs) and until the much more mature and accomplished effort of "Dalinetopia".

So, while this disc offers nothing that could be called spectacular, lovers of early synthesiser music--especially of the gentler kind--could do worse than to turn their lava lamps down low, get into the groove and give this a spin.

I think that of the few solo albums by Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese that I have heard, this 1979 release is quite good, and shows Edgar firing on all cylinders. In general, I was pretty impressed with the arrangements, which (when gauged relative to other works of electronica) are fairly involved musically and thematically and show Edgar giving a vague nod in the direction of progressive electronica. Although speculative, he may have been influenced by the almost "prog rock" sound on the contemporaneous Tangerine Dream album Force Majeure.

While there are bits of Force Majeure and the excellent Tangerine Dream album Tangram (1980) scattered throughout, Stuntman does not really sound like either. The keyboard instruments used include some great sounding string synthesizers, in addition to newer synthesizers that (at the time) were considered cutting edge. Overall, Edgar favors warm synth tone colors. Edgar also throws some electric guitar playing into the mix here and there, and in contrast with Force Majeure, drums and percussion are not featured as prominently. The rhythmic element is largely provided by throbbing sequencers. Although the general mood of the music is contemplative and at times spacey, the interesting arrangements and nice melodies really held my attention - all of the tracks are generally of high quality.

Although this is not a remastered version and the liner notes are pretty skimpy, the sound quality is not bad at all.

All in all, this is a fine album of progressive electronica by Edgar Froese and should appeal to Tangerine Dream fans that enjoyed Force Majeure and Tangram.

The CD is one of the basic works by Edgar Froese, and is undeniably one of the best. It covers all the musical landscapes Froese invented, and takes the listener into his world. The songs on the CD are very clear and visual imagery comes easy when listening to them. The only problem with it, is that it is hard to find. Top class work, and everything one could expect from music like this from this era.

One of the soloprojects of Tangerine dream spokesman and longest staying member ( in fact the only original member at the time of writing). This album is very melodic, and strangely this makes it quite mediocre. Froese certainly has an ear for melodies, but the more abstract, ambient feelings so closely associated with Tangerine Dream is here lacking. This album rather sounds like that ... called "classical music on synths" (read: "Mozart on Moog")

"Stuntman", recorded in 1979, is a straight continuation of ideas developed on earlier albums, "Macula Transfer" and "Ages" in particular. There is a strong link between the latter album and this one - in fact they could be considered sibling recordings. However, where "Ages" was uncombed, "Stuntman" is polished to shine; where the former's track length was often painfully stretched, the latter features compact compositions that never venture into the realm of self-repetition. One more instantly noticeable change is lack of mellotron instruments, which were still present on "Ages". I think that "Stuntman" is one and only album of Edgar Froese that can really be recommended to the widest audience possible, for the eerie atmosphere and more often than not, frivolity - should appeal to listeners outside of the narrow circle of electronic music audiophiles. Stuntman is a pleasant album, containing fresh, innovative music which will never bore the listener, quite to the contrary.

The album opens with a cheerful tune, the title track, 'Stuntman', which introduces the listener to the whole album. Since this recording is very consistent, one song (yes, these could be considered instrumental songs!) stems from another. 'It Would Be Like Samoa' is a long composition into which many tunes and impressions were vowen in. In contract to Froese's previous recordings, there is a wind of change, and every minute brings something new, to our enormous relief. Halfway into the track, the guitar solo is accompanied by synthesizer passages which Froese played live with tangerine Dream a few months later, during the 'Quichotte' gig in East Berlin, on the 31st of January, 1980, later released under "Pergamon" title. 'Detroit Snackbar Dreamer' continues ideas explored on the preceding track, with a more than usual dose of melancholy thrown in. "Stuntman" as a whole is rather meditative, now and then spiced with cheerful tunes, like the opening 'Stuntman' and the closing 'Scarlet Score for Mescalero'. In-between, however, there is one serious composition, strongly hinting at Tangerine Dream's album "Tangram" of 1980. If anything, 'Drunken Mozart in the Desert' proves that Froese artistically had still a lot to say at the time, and whatever he had to say, was worth listening to. 'Mozart' features a beautiful, eerie tune with a slightly bizarre, high-tone rhythm performed on the synthesizer - an unusual background, if there was one. But so much the better! I think that 'Drunken Mozart in the Desert' is the best composition of Edgar Froese. After all these years, I always come back to "Stuntman" with pleasure, and actually can't wait for 'Drunken Mozart'. It's a masterpiece.

After years looking for it, I finally was able to grab a copy of this album. I knew the author of the incredible opus "Drunken Mozart in the Desert" was a German composer, and given that it was electronic music, I figured Tangerine Dream was the act that performed it. Close to it... Edgar Froese was the founder of Tangerine Dream, and here's that fabulous track, worth the entire album. I don't know if it's correct to say that the rest of it is for grabs, but certainly "Drunken Mozart..." is by far the best song in the entire album.

The main reason ( Which became the only reason ) I bought "Stuntman" was for the exquisite and brilliant ten minute "Drunken Mozart in the Desert", which is arguably the best piece of solo work that the Father of Tangerine Dream (Frose) has ever released. The title track is a lot of fun. It would be perfect for gymnastic practices( Not that I do any of course ). The rest, well...not too memorable. I love a couple of the title names at least. ( Who couldn't get a smile out of a title named "Detroit Snackbar Dreamer"?) If you can find it used or on sale, it's worth buying. It could definately use a remastering.

The biggest irony about Tadream, to myself at least, is that, as a rule, I find other(ex) members of the band's solo work superior. ("Klemania" by Franke and "Wuvein Reit" by Schmoelling come immediately to mind)

I was looking for my first Tangerine Dream LP and the record store had about twenty different from which to choose. I have heard some of their stuff via mp3 like Rubycon, and it didn't really get to me, but Im starting to buy vinyl again because I missed the album format. I told the clerk my situation and he suggested this one even though it's a solo album.

So I got home and put this on the turntable and it's awesom, really great. At first it sounded a bit too "electronic" but I soon fell into Froese's enjoyable trance and had turned the record over and listened to the whole thing but barely consciously. It felt good. Reminds me of Eno's album in this vein. Album art is cool as well. Great movie btw

The original "Stuntman" album by Edgar Froese dated from 1979. The 2003 re-release can be told from the older, original version by means of being credited to Edgar W. Froese (note the middle initial) and its computer generated jewel-case artwork. (The original carried a photograph of a crash helmet.) The track-listing (and running times) of the two versions are identical but the music most certainly is not.

"Stuntman" has always been an altogether more polished affair than many of Edgar Froese's other solo albums. Happily, too, this album is free from all traces of the ponderous self-indulgence to which solo Froese efforts can be more than a little prone. The tunes here do tend to be a little on the cute side, even for Froese, but at least he seems to have recognised this and, for once, nothing ever outstays its welcome. The lead synthesiser voices tend to be very sweet, too, and so, generally, it all works well and there are no tracks that could be called at all bad on this album.

The reworked version has had some more spit and polish applied, with not only substantial remastering of the original recordings to make them carry more punch, but also, in places, additional harmonic layers to thicken up the textures and to add more interest. The treatments have not always worked in the music's best interest, especially where the origins carried a particular lightness of touch that was quite endearing. By and large, however, I would say that there was never a great deal here to damage in the first place, and most newcomers to this album who are more attuned to modern synthesiser works than to the classic sounds of the late 70s will probably find the heavier-weight later version more to their taste than the original. I don't doubt that some established Froese fans will feel otherwise.

By modern standards the disc is short -- rather less than 45 minutes in total. Its six tracks are all fairly low-key and introspective in nature, something which the remixing has not altered to any extent. Their titles suggest that they were mostly inspired by moments or events of particular personal significance for Froese and as such these tracks would seem to be intended more as musical cameos, rather than major masterpieces. Even in their re-worked form, there are certainly no great lasting artworks here. That said, the greater variety--in musical style, in overall sound world and in musical pace--than can be found on others of his solo albums of this period, "Stuntman" is one of Froese's better releases since his early major achievements of "Aqua" and "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale" (both of which have been butchered in their 2003 make-overs) and until the much more mature and accomplished effort of "Dalinetopia".

So, while this disc offers nothing that could be called spectacular, lovers of early synthesiser music--especially of the gentler kind--could do worse than to turn their lava lamps down low, get into the groove and give this a spin.