Tangerine Dream
THE BOOTLEG BOX SET VOL. 1

Tangerine Dream are undoubtedly one of the groups that have made the history of electronic music. Unfortunately, the recent passing of Edgar Froese has, in a sense, marked the end of an era and the closing of a circle. It must be said, without fear of contradiction, that the German group's golden period was the '70s. In the following decade, the Tangerine produced respectable albums like "Pergamon," "Poland," "White Eagle" but progressively shifted towards a formulaic new age that led them to release albums of no artistic value.

After the initial phase marked by rigorous research that produced masterpieces such as "Alpha Centauri" - perhaps my favorite - the milestone "Zeit" (1971) and "Atem" (1973), Tangerine Dream inaugurated the so-called Virgin period with "Phaedra" (1974), still brilliant and fluid. Despite some critics suggesting the best should be sought in their early period, in my opinion, even their later albums, at least up to "Stratosfear" (1976), are genuine masterpieces. "Rubycon" (1975) is an excellent album and, over time, still sounds fresh without having lost any of its charm. Even "Stratosfear," although objectively softer, remains a respectable album to this day. Perhaps the weak links are "Cyclone" (1978), which introduced vocals for the first time, and "Force Majeure" (1979), while "Tangram" (1980) is dignified. There's also the live album "Ricochet" (1976), hypnotic and surreal, undoubtedly among their best works. "Ricochet" contained excerpts from some concerts of the time which can be heard in "The Bootleg Box Set Vol. 1" (2003).

"The Bootleg Box Set Vol. 1" - comprising of 5 CDs - is an exceptionally important document that encompasses a series of concerts held by Tangerine Dream at their most creative moment, where improvisation was often given room. The first concert is the one in Sheffield from 1974, presenting material from the "Atem" and "Phaedra" periods: the music is very atmospheric, cosmic, floating, without rhythm, dominated by synths and mellotron. The highlight of the box is probably the second performance at Royal Albert Hall in London: the Tangerine Dream are introduced by the great John Peel and, for the occasion, Michael Hoenig joins them replacing Peter Baumann. The settings are dark and futuristic, taking you to visit unknown galaxies, and the recording quality is excellent with many reminiscences of "Rubycon". The third CD is dedicated to the concert in Croydon and proves to be a very important document as it contains parts which, as mentioned, would later end up on the track "Ricochet Part 2". Compared to "Ricochet" there is more improvisation and a taste for experimentation. A must in any case for those who love sequencers! The concert in Bilbao in 1976 unfortunately has a poor recording quality, where the noises and voices of the audience are distinctly heard. Despite this, the music is interesting and very fragmented and adventurous. The last concert is the one in Berlin in 1976: in this case the sound quality is slightly better and shows the group at a particular moment when they were trying new solutions.

"The Bootleg Box Set Vol. 1" is unmissable for all Tangerine Dream enthusiasts and for anyone who wants to delve deeper into this extraordinary group whose importance absolutely deserves reassessment.