Tangerine Dream - Cyclone. 1978 Germany

Probably the most misunderstood of the 70s Tangerine Dream albums. On RYM, it is the lowest ranking album from Alpha Centauri through Poland, before it tops the throwaway Le Parc (incidentally I consider Electronic Meditation to be a complete Krautrock masterpiece, but it certainly makes sense it rates low, especially among more traditional Tangerine Dream fans).

And why is that? Well, the vocals of course. Steve Jolliffe was not a new walk-on to the band. His association with Edgar Froese goes all the way back to 1969, before Franke, Baumann, and the rest of them. He's an Englishman, so it isn't a foreign accent issue. Truth is, and I agree with this too, they aren't the best vocals in the world. Anyone who has a taste for Krautrock, will already know that vocals aren't the ace in the hole for the movement. Once your ears have adjusted to it, Jolliffe isn't any worse than the others.

With that out of the way, let's discuss the reality here. Only Side 1 has vocals, and they do not dominate either song. It's just an anomaly that's all. But what Jolliffe does bring to the table, in addition to the expected raftful of keyboards, is a set of woodwinds. The flute in particular is an instrument that is much welcomed for the music of Tangerine Dream. I wish they had always employed one. Perhaps they should have asked Stephen Kaske (Mythos) to join permanently (though they'd really need him not to sing...).

Part 2 of this lineup is the addition of drummer Klaus Kruger. He was an active part of Froese's world in 1978 and 1979, before going solo in the Harald Grosskopf tradition. His drumming is absolutely perfect for music such as this, adding an urgency to the blazing sequencers.

As for the music, most of it is a continuation as to what they were performing on Stratosfear and Encore. Not a radical departure at all. And of course even detractors of the album will admit 'Madrigal Meridian' is one of Tangerine Dream's all-time classics. And at 20 minutes that should be enough alone - much less the great music on the first side. It's really a tragedy this lineup only lasted one album. Excellent.

Ownership: LP: 1978 Virgin (UK); CD: 2019 Virgin (In Search of Hades box set). Like most 70s/early 80s Tangerine Dream albums, this album is core for me. I discovered the band during my later years of high school (1981-1983), and bought everything up to that point. Of course the first copy I purchased was whatever was in print at the time, which was the single sleeve version. This was one of the very first LPs I replaced with a CD in the mid 1980s. Sometime in the last 20 years I picked up the original UK gatefold LP for posterity. Originals are still dirt cheap to this day.

In Search of Hades will have its own feature. But I must say this is by far and away the best version of this album I've heard. There are two bonus tracks on this disc, both from the '70-'80 compilation. These are the Peter Baumann and Edgar Froese solo tracks, and were only ever released on that album prior to this box set.