Review Tangerine Dream : 220 Volt Live

[Schmetterling]

This is my second short album review in the CRF forum and I thought to coninue as I started and try to point listeners who might be hungry for something a little bit different in a slightly off-piste direction....

Recorded live during their North American tour of 1993, this is a Tangerine Dream album but with quite a noticable difference from their usual offerings.

TD have always dabbled a bit with guitars in their studio albums but in this live effort they went all out and brought in a guest guitarist and a guest sax player, and to give a quick hint and clue about how the album progresses guitar wise, the penultimate track is Purple Haze.

When I first heard this album I was slightly taken aback but very pleased at the sheer guitary-ness of it as it was so unexpected. Yes it's still a Tangerine Dream album and contains the usual classic TD array of spaced out keyboard sounds, lush pads and general electronic synthy-ness, but combined with the big guitar solos and sort of bluesy sax work it results in an album which is quite unexpected from this band, but which is nevertheless a delight on the eardrums of anyone who loves both guitar and synth genres.

As with all TD albums it's entirely instrumental and that in itself might not be to everyones taste but as a long time fan and avid listener of all things guitar as well as all things synth, and TD in particular, I love it.

Check it out



1. Oriental Haze
2. Two Bunch Palms
3. 220 Volt
4. Homeless
5. Sundance Kid
6. Backstreet Hero
7. The Blue Ridge
8. Hamlet
9. Dreamtime
10. Purple Haze
11. Treasure Of Innocence

 

[gguerra]

I have this and I really like it. Then again, I've been a TD fan since the early 80's so it's natural I would like it. I have the top one. Did they come out with another cover?

 

[Schmetterling]

I have this and I really like it. Then again, I've been a TD fan since the early 80's so it's natural I would like it. I have the top one. Did they come out with another cover?

Mine is the same as the top one too. I think that other cover is for a re-release on a different label. Just thought I'd put them both on for posterity..

 

[deerwan]

I'm a TD fan too and bought my first, Phaedra,
when it came out. I like the live releases that
have come out over the years, but one is a real
stunner, a special one to be sure. It's called
Poland and was recorded in Warsaw during one
of the coldest winters ever in 1983. Four songs
in movements over 82 minutes in a performace
where they were trying to hell to keep the tubes
and phase shifters thawed out. The listener can
almost feel the temps... good concert. That's
about as late as I go with Tangerine Dream.

 

[Schmetterling]

I'm a TD fan too and bought my first, Phaedra,
when it came out. I like the live releases that
have come out over the years, but one is a real
stunner, a special one to be sure. It's called
Poland and was recorded in Warsaw during one
of the coldest winters ever in 1983. Four songs
in movements over 82 minutes in a performace
where they were trying to hell to keep the tubes
and phase shifters thawed out. The listener can
almost feel the temps... good concert. That's
about as late as I go with Tangerine Dream.

I haven't heard that one. I'll check it out.