Customer Reviews

Turn of the Tides

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

 

 

I LOVE this CD by Tangerine Dream. There is so much great guitar work. The acoustic and electric guitar work on Twilight Brigade, the flamenco guitar work on galley slave's horizon and firetongues. Great synth work and keyboard playing as well. This CD rocks, it may seem like smooth jazz in some places, but it is great music. One of my favorite instrumental rock albums period, up there with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Jerome Froese and Zlatko Perica did some spectacular work on this CD. There are great guitar solos on nearly every track. Some other Tangerine Dream CDs from this period are Tyranny of Beauty and Rockoon, but this one is by far the best of the bunch. This was a time when Edgar Froese was experimenting with the sound. The previous album Melrose was the first release with son Jerome involved, there was some great guitar work on a couple of tracks but it was predominantly keyboard and sax oriented. In the time between the release of Melrose and Turn of the Tides, Paul Haslinger left the band and "guest musicians" guitarist Zlatko Perica joined the band, along with saxophonist Linda Spa who had played for live shows in the early 90s. This CD is much more guitar oriented than its predecessors, but the keyboards/synth still shine.

Fans of rock music are going to love this CD. Fans of new age might not appreciate this. If you are into guitar music, or music without vocals, this CD is for you. And at Two bucks a pop for a used copy, what are you watiing for?

The only thing that could make this CD better would be the use of an actual drum kit and not the drum machine.

Other TD releases you may like: Rockoon, Tyranny of Beauty, Atlantic Bridges, Atlantic Walls.

Tangerine Dream's 1994 studio album, "Turn of the Tides" takes as its basis an original story by Edgar Froese. (The later re-release of the album by TDI only involves a change of artwork for the jewel case, by the way.) The disc booklet summarises the main events of the story in a fairly ponderous fashion. Froese's is a highly symbolical tale, filled with bizarre and arcane imagery, trawled, I suspect, from the literature of the Surrealist school of which Froese is such an advocate. I'm pleased to be able to say that this album steers away from any attempt to retell the story in music, thus avoiding the trap into which fell so many of those cumbersome 'concept albums' which plagued the rock world in the 70s. Instead, the father and son team of Edgar and Jerome Froese (augmented in places by Linda Spa on various saxophones, Zlatko Perica on guitar, Roland Braunstein on trumpet, the Vienna Horn Ensemble and a couple of (wordless) backing vocalists) apply Tangerine Dream's film scoring experience to point up some the imagery attached to the tale, or else more to set a mood than to move the story along. The inclusion of part of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" (in a fairly straight setting of Ravel's orchestration) as an opening to the disc suggests, I think, the way in which the listener should approach the material presented thereafter: as a series of vignettes lifted from the main tale; some views along the way, rather than a map of the way itself.

Froese's tale, "The Turn of the Tides", starts with its central character beginning a journey by coach in a thunderstorm: the sound of thunder, and a horse-drawn coach rattling over cobbles dominate the whole of the opening Mussorgsky track, emphasising its relevance to the rest of the disk. This treatment of real sounds is the most prominent I have ever heard in any TD recording, and on first listening I hoped that this was indicative of a new trend. Sadly, the idea recurs only twice (and in more subdued form) on the current disc, but I continue to live in hope...

By Tangerine Dream standards (indeed, by any standards!) the synth programming is generally unremarkable on this disc, with guitars, drums and saxophones carrying most of the more memorable material. There are some interesting inner textures in places, though--'Jungle Journey', in particular, benefits from some careful listening--and some truly inspired playing--Zlatko's snapping acoustic guitar work in 'Firetongues' is just breathtaking. I'm not sure that the album overall stands up to repeated listening, except perhaps with some extended rests in between but it's pleasant enough the first few times through. It's just not gripping, which is a shame!

Incidentally, there is a bonus track on the CD, in the form of the 5-minute track 'Story of the Grave', which makes a suitable coda to the rest of the work and takes the total timing of the disc up to a still moderately miserly 57 minutes. For some reason, TDI's new packaging (and Amazon's listing) makes no mention of this track, which is a little confusing, and gives no durations for the other tracks, which is a bit irritating. The new artwork (two Edgar Froese originals) are very pretty though!

This is an excellent album, and I think represents TD's transition from the music of the 70's and 80's to the Tangerine Dream of the 90's. The album is truly a roller-coaster experience, with many emotions being stirred. Together with Oasis, this is one of my favorite TD album from the 90's. If you're new to Tangerine Dream, buy this CD.

I am really tired of reading reviews that lament how "awesome" the previous incarnations of TD were compared to the current TD. Old TD? Try 11 minutes of animal noises played over a looping synth crawl. Perhaps cutting edge in 1973 but it's great to know that they aren't still turning out stuff that sounds like they're trying to stay rooted in the early 70's. In my book, it's acceptable for any musician or group to explore different areas, even if these areas aren't considered cutting edge or faithful to previous directions.

I have listened to Turn of the Tides many times over the past 6 years -- it hasn't exactly improved with age, but it also hasn't lost any of the beauty I heard when I first enjoyed it.

"Galley Slave's Horizon" is my favorite track -- I enjoy the tension in it -- moving from sudden leaps and quick rythms to nearly silent pauses as though suspended in flight.

I don't care for the "story" accompanying the concept -- just didn't add anythign to my experience of the music. Otherwise, Turn of the Tides remains one of those CDs I can count on to provide an hour or two of pleasure -- reason enough for me to recommend it.

I first became aware of Tangerine Dream years ago via the cinema. I'd be watching some flick and suddenly this conspicuously intriguing electronic music would begin to play, enriching the scene, and providing the film with its audio-visual finer moments.

I approach Turn Of The Tides (1994) from the perspective of simply a music lover and not some Tangerine Dream geek. I'm a fan, but not a TD nerd. That is to say, I'm not familiar with all of the group's work, don't know their history inside-out, haven't kept up with the numerous band-changes over the decades, do not wear fan T-shirts of theirs or bow down to their posters. In other words, my rating of this CD isn't based on comparison to the group's other releases per se - neither before nor after.

Though I must confess, early Tangerine Dream is the best. With Hyperborea (1983) and the era that is spotlighted on Dream Sequence (2000), this was prime material. These earlier - often extended - pieces are pleasantly moony and nocturnally firmamental in sound.

With the more grounded Turn Of The Tides (9 tracks; 57:05), the group's former, instantly-identifiable swirling, astral-traveling synths are noticeably absent. Yes, it's different. So what. I like it. Just as I like the group's earlier music also.

I find the album, in particularly its first track with its neo-classical brass, immensely evocative and atmospheric: the opening thunderclap, the clip-clopping hoofbeats - it takes me to a cozy Gothic setting, or some foggy, nighttime, rain-slicked cobblestoned alleyway of times yore, when horses instead of automobiles were the popular mode of transport.

There are, in evolved contrast to its predecessor platters, electric guitars and a dash of rock-like drumming mixed into some of the (mutable) compositions, but it's the saxophone that's the standout instrument for me.

Indeed, my favorite track is Midwinter Night. When that sultry sax chimes in I get chills, it's so beautifully, crisply played. Whereas the other 8 tracks share the same wavelength, the romantic, twilit Midwinter Night is a bit of a turn (both in tempo and style) and is, as I hear it, as moving as the tide.

God was I confused when Rockoon came out, and then Turn of the Tides came out and though I thought it was better I couldn't believe how stagnant Tangerine Dream seemed to become. What I liked about Turn of the Tides was the bright mix, how the synths had more shine again like in Firetongues which has the most gripping phrases on the album, and overtime I began to really appreciate Zlatco Perica's guitar work which really is the melodic thrust of anything that works on Turn of the Tides. This formula [an irritating pattern of Tangerine Dream's approach in the 90's] in my opinion will later prove even more effective in recent albums with guitarist Bernhard Beibl. I would give Firtongues a 9.5. The Galley Slave Horizon scores a ten to me with the pounding timpani's of the opener, its scorching dual guitar opening theme, it's dropaway and steady build up to a thick groove. It's a really good piece.
Other than that the album is pretty spotty. There are good moments during Twilight Brigade (great guitar work), and even in Jungle Journey which though begins with a nice opening with tenor sax and a nice sequencer rythm, some good (not great) guitar from Edgar Froese, ends often times with my getting a headache, a dull caffiene type of headache from too much perfected sound, not enough moving music.

Turn of the Tides was my introduction to TD back in '94, and it's totally unlike anything else in their extensive catalog. It's really no surprise to see poor reviews of the album by die-hard fans of their earlier work, as it really was a totally different sound and direction for them at the time. Personally, I don't get much from the older material which is at times too "spacey" for me. As a lover of creative guitar work I was (and still am) very impressed with TD's harder edge on this album, for which Jerome Froese must be given proper credit. My only wish is that they would have stayed the course.
As it is, Turn of the Tides remains my favorite TD album for exactly those reasons it is so decried by TD "purists". The quality of the recording is phenomenal- crisp and clean. Guitar work, whether acoustic or electric, is executed with just the right amount of edginess- and is never overbearing or out of place in the ever-present TD synth-driven atmosphere. "Twilight Brigade" is unquestionably the best track on the album, but "Jungle Journey" and "Galley Slave's Horizon" are standout pieces in their own right.
An important note however- the TD fan who enjoys their sound on this album will have to accept that perhaps only two other albums, "Rockoon" and "Tyranny of Beauty", are similar, and neither of those efforts quite measure up to the excellence of Turn of the Tides in my opinion.
Don't pass this album by without giving it a thorough hearing! You won't regret it, and it will change your perception of TD forever.

Edgar Froese takes a unique soundtrack route; this November 1994 release is based on his surrealist creation, The Coachman's Tales, and is a solidly guitar-driven masterpiece.

While Edgar and Jerome Froese have very expressive styles on guitar, it is the work of Zlatko Perica - lead, acoustic, rhythm - that adds a stylish signature to the work. Linda Spa - saxophones and sound design - Roland Braunstein, trumpet, the Viena Horn Ensemble and vocalists Julie Ocean and Jayney Klimek add brilliant flourishes.

But through the incredible beginning with Pictures at an Exhibition to the final piece, Story of the Brave, the leaders remain Edgar and Jerome Froese, who share the duties on keyboards, synthesizers, programming and sound design.

These a gentle tides that bring to shore a highly-stylized artistic soundscape.

This album is not only my favorite Tangerine Dream album, this is my favorite album period. This album elevates one's spirits, dangling them over a yawning precipice. The voyage through this enchanted land is poignant to the point of agony. A rollercoaster ride between melancholy and euphoria. The subtle elation of this story without words is indescribable. While not everyone will be able to appreciate the flavor of this album, well worthwhile for any fan of TD.

I like this one a lot. I used to listen to it driving to and from work several times a week. This one or Tyranny of Beauty. Have not listened much since both carried me round trip from Dallas, Texas to Kalispel, Montana via Garden of The Gods where this music belongs. TD can be wonderful in a listening room, but carries the day when the land looms large. Pick your spots.