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Rating:
The title of the album sets high expectations: evoking a planet, specifically, the red planet (indeed, it is inspired by NASA's Mars Polar Lander mission). The track titles are equally promising as they all refer to the cosmic space ("Deep Space Cruiser", "Spiral Star Date", etc.) as was once customary. As for the cover image, well, it feels like a throwback to the times of "Zeit".
However, "Mars Polaris," released in 1999, delivers less than it promises: it is a good Tangerine Dream album in the '90s format, but it has very little or nothing cosmic about it. The restyling operation concerns more the outer appearance than the musical content, and once the thin red dust of the planet, highlighted on the front page, is brushed away, what remains is well-crafted music but not particularly evocative.
The century and decade end for Tangerine Dream with this album composed of ten tracks with a 70-minute duration. Not bad, considering that the band, after many events, is reduced to a minimal lineup consisting of Edgar Froese, the founder, accompanied by his son Jerome.
The sound format is typical of the '90s for this group: no experimentation, catchy melodic themes supported by plenty of electronic percussion, great vigor but at the same time an irritating anonymity that creeps along the tracks. These Tangerine Dream blend into the electronica mush that invaded those years, forgetting the groundbreaking originality of their early days and major works (when no one was like them).
That said, "Mars Polaris" is not a bad album at all: it features crisp sounds, even if partially heard here and there in the electronica of that period. The tracks are well constructed, although perhaps more fitting for a chill-out band than for the former cosmic couriers of the past. Thus, this music might be highly appreciated by a newcomer to the group, while historical fans would be wise to regard it with a bit of benevolence.
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