Tangerine Dream
The Virgin Years 1974-1978

Generally, I have always been against collections, "collector's editions," various music compilations. There are certain genres in particular that, by their very nature, cannot happily fit into the best of category: one above all is progressive rock, often based on the notorious concept albums and songs connected in various ways. The same applies to ambient, "free" music, and other genres.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this collection from the German group Tangerine Dream: it doesn't consist of the best pieces put together to reach the necessary runtime to create a bland "The Very Best Of...Tangerine Dream." Fortunately, the offer is decidedly more interesting, indeed without exaggeration, it proves excellent, as "The Virgin Years 1974-1978" includes, in full on three CDs, the five magnificent albums released by the Virgin label.

The milestone pieces retrieved are the difficult and experimental Phaedra and Rubycon, true mainstays of electronic and central European rock music, Ricochet, recorded live but traditionally consisting of new pieces, the more accessible and electronic Stratosfear, and the lesser yet still appreciable Cyclone. The whole is enriched by bonus tracks that were presented at the time as singles and b-sides (usually extracts from the various suites for commercialization even on 45 rpm records).

As already mentioned, Phaedra and the subsequent Rubycon are the major masterpieces (along with the equally essential Alpha Centauri, from a few years earlier) of the most significant phase of the German group: minutes that pass slowly, expanded, soundscapes of blue tones, a sound that develops to the horizon, immersing the listener in the warmth of a reality between wakefulness and dream, between atmosphere and cosmos.

Ricochet increases the epic component, and the live performance is more solemn and impressive, different yet equally engaging. A more human dimension belongs to the following Stratosfear, which, instead of feedback guitars, enveloping bass, and distant percussion, prefers more defined electronic elements and persistent synthesizers. It is 1976, a sign that the times are changing, and music, from past post-psychedelic derailments, is evolving into something more easily consumable.

Cyclone, from 1978, suffers from the group's initial compositional fatigue as it ventures into more rock and "physical" territories, losing much of the past magic; incomplete, but still interesting. We are still far from the electronic commercialization of soundtracks that will legitimately increase the Germans' bank accounts.

A great opportunity to discover (or unearth) a slice of music now distant in time, and far from today's conception of the same. Other times.