Tangerine Dream - Encore. 1977 Germany

I have a long history with this album, as I do with all the pre-1987 T. Dream works. Books have been written about these albums, and their original source, so I won't add much to that. The versions here of 'Cherokee Lane' and 'Monolight' are generally considered the prototypes for what they played on tour back then. Later archival live releases bear that out. And honestly, they represent the least interesting and predictable material here (though still great I must say). 'Coldwater Canyon' is the "Edgar Froese goes wild on the guitar piece", though it's rather tame compared to some of the Electronic Meditation styled tracks that have since been released from this time frame. And 'Desert Dream' is their more mellow drift-off track. This sadly would be the end of the Baumann era, and every album that came from this trio was brilliant. Every damn one of them.

Ownership: LP: 1977 Virgin (USA); CD: 2019 Virgin/Universal (Europe) (In Search of Hades box set). The LP is a double set gatefold. My first copy was the early 80s German reissue, which I sold when I got the first CD. Recently used trade credit to acquire the original US copy. Words cannot describe the brilliance of the CD box set. I'll probably say this again, but it's the single greatest CD set in my entire collection. Nothing else is even close. As for the bonus tracks, one doesn't usually think of Tangerine Dream as a singles band, but they had their fair share of 45's, including the great 'Ultima Thule' work from their early days. Anyway, 'Encore' is a nice little ditty, typical of the less serious side of the band. 'Hobo March' later found itself on Edgar Froese's Ages album (with a different title), which came as a surprise to me. Worth having as bonus tracks, but not to buy on its own - unless it's right in front of you for cheap.