Tangerine Dream - White Eagle. 1982 Germany

If Exit was my first discovery, and Rubycon was the epiphany, then White Eagle was Tangerine Dream's first new album after I had become a committed fan. I was satisfied with it - but my bar would have been pretty low at that point for anything T Dream. It didn't take a palm reader to see this was the direction the band were headed. More beats, more melody, more early 80s. Since that day, I've always maintained a physical copy of the album, even though it remained in the 4th quadrant of their releases (pardon my Gartner reference). Over the years, I find myself warming more and more to it. It's probably nostalgia for the end-of-high-school years and all that surrounded that experience: The discovery of new things, the future was bright, and the time was exciting. And while White Eagle was never one of my personal soundtracks, every time I hear it, images of my past from that era flash by. 'Mojave Plan' moves through multiple segments with ease, and 'Convention of the 24' ups the ante on sophisticated sequencing while providing a haunting atmosphere. In reflection, it's the melodies that win the day. Not sure White Eagle will ever crawl past most of the albums released prior to it, but it continues to gain respect in my world anyway.

Ownership: LP: 1982 Virgin (UK); CD: 2020 Virgin (Pilots of Purple Twilight). The LP is a single sleeve. I didn't keep the original copy I purchased, it being an early example of swapping out for the newly released CD. About 5 years ago, in what ended up being a trend, I bought it again from a record store in Fort Worth. That was me being whimsical and nostalgic. I had no idea I was going back in that direction full time. All the same, I kept that old CD until the new box set arrived.

There are 6 bonus tracks on the CD. The first 4 come from an EP entitled Das Mädchen auf der Treppe. I now remember owning this vinyl back in the day (I bought everything T Dream that I could find). The music is very similar to White Eagle and no less satisfying. The other 2 tracks (new to me) Daydream / Moorland were a separately released single, and no surprise, is also similar to White Eagle.

We'll use this entry for my discussion on Pilots of Purple Twilight. Of course this box set is the sequel to In Search of Hades, a release that I consider the single best CD set in my entire collection. Pilots of Purple Twilight is likely to be second. With each box set, I didn't necessarily start where expected. With In Search of Hades, I first listened to Cyclone. And with Pilots of Purple Twilight it was, of course, White Eagle. From a sound perspective, when I first heard Cyclone, I about melted - it was so much better than any other version I'd heard. With White Eagle, I don't think there is much room for improvement, as by the early 80s Tangerine Dream were already state of the art. I expect that will be a consistent theme throughout listening to Pilots of Purple Twilight. All the same, there are copious amounts of unreleased and hard to find (or assemble might be the more accurate term) bonus tracks. This coupled with - once again - an incredible hardbound book chock full of data, makes this box set indispensable. Unlike In Search of Hades, finding Pilots of Purple Twilight on Day 1 of release proved to be easy.