TD History

TD's catalogue is generally referred to as having eight "eras", largely based on the record label they were with at the time. I'll be using these as the band have pretty much adopted them as official themselves now.

The Pink Years (1970 - 1973)
Named after the pink ear logo the label had. This is when they were very much a krautrock group. They'd started out as a psychedelic pop band and gradually become more experimental. The first album contains no "electronic" instrumentation at all, but it's still wonderfully strange and abstract. By the time they reached Zeit they kind of invented dark ambient. That's a seminal album and features the first appearance of the Moog synthesiser - played by Popol Vuh's Florian Fricke (see footnote 1) - and the EMS VCS3, an iconic synthesiser, as well as being the first album of the Froese / Franke / Baumann lineup that would create the band's most acclaimed work. All four albums are worth a listen, as they are very varied and experimental. If you are struggling or less interested, the compilation 'Sunrise in the Third System - The Pink Years Anthology' is a very good summary and includes a couple of bits from the '80s that were based on early '70s demos.

1970 - Electronic Meditation
1971 - Alpha Centauri
1972 - Zeit
1973 - Atem


The Virgin Years (1974 - 1983)
TD became one of the first bands to sign to Virgin Records. Recording at the label's own studio in the UK, using the Fricke's Moog now bought by Christopher Franke, they accidentally stumbled across the sound which became the hallmark of progressive electronic music. The title track on Phaedra was the first piece of music to ever sound like this. A monumental moment in electronic music (see footnote 2). It's a big step on from Atem, although the unreleased sessions from the recently released boxset In Search of Hades reveal that they were initially working on something that sounded a lot more like that album, before that sequencer fired up... They built on this sound throughout the late '70s, generally adding more in the way of composed melodies in a more obviously proggy way (including a very, very, very bad vocal album, Cyclone, which should be avoided at all costs). With Peter Baumann leaving, he was replaced by Johannes Schmoelling, who had a very different compositional style. This, along with new digital synths, gave them a new sound in the '80s. Logos and Hyperborea feature very, very early use of the Roland TR-808, and sampling. Most of the Virgin albums are worth a list:

1974 - Phaedra
1975 - Rubycon
1975 - Ricochet (Live. Ish. Only about 15 minutes is actually live)
1976 - Stratosfear
1977 - Sorcerer Soundtrack
1979 - Force Majeure
1980 - Tangram
1981 - Exit
1982 - Logos (Live)
1983 - Hyperborea


The Blue Years (1984 - 1988)
After leaving Virgin, they signed with Jive Electro, a label with a blue logo. The first record, a live album called Poland, continues with the forward-looking sound of the last two Virgin albums. After that, they took a bizarre side-step into more of an instrumental pop/rock sound, complete with big reverby '80s drums and lots of guitar solos, and another terrible vocal album. Schmoelling left, replaced by jazz pianist Paul Haslinger. Many people consider this the end of the band's good era. I don't agree, but sort of understand why people say that. The last album, Livemiles, includes the last gig Chris Franke played. After the gig he left, took all his gear, and never looked back. They were recording five-to-ten film scores every year throughout the '80s, starting back in the late Virgin years, and were hugely influential in how film music sounded at the time. I don't think any of the soundtracks are necessarily a great introduction to the band, however, and can be approached later.

1984 - Poland (Live)
1985 - Le Parc (see footnote 3)
1986 - Underwater Sunlight
1987 - Canyon Dreams
1988 - Livemiles (Live)


The Melrose Years (1988 - 1990)
The duo of Edgar Froese and Paul Haslinger joined the new age label of '70s member Peter Baumann, Private Music, based on Melrose Avenue in LA. They released three albums and a soundtrack on the label. Without much of the gear that belonged to Chris Franke, they were stuck with some FM synths and a computer (running the very first version of what would become Cubase by Steinberg), leading to a very rigid, shiny sound that's absolutely inseparable from the late '80s. Will Be Of Interest To James Ferraro Fans. The sound loosened a bit over the three year period, with Edgar's son Jerome joining for Melrose in 1990. There are a number of soundtracks from this era, and they're almost all shit. With a background in certain genres beginning with V, you may get more out of this era that some, but a lot of people really hate these albums.

1988 - Optical Race
1989 - Miracle Mile Soundtrack
1989 - Lily on the Beach
1990 - Melrose


The Seattle Years (1990 - 1996)
Relocating to Seattle based label Miramar, probably the most successful new age label ever, and without Paul Haslinger, Edgar & Son spent two years recording their next album, the longest in the history of TD. Lots and lots of fast guitar shredding and jazzy saxophone solos, along with the same synth sounds they'd been using for the previous five years. The following three albums gradually add more contemporary sounds - largely from Jerome, who was into dance music. He also did a remix album of this material called The Dream Mixes, but it came out in 1995 and sounded like it was recorded in 1991. It's not a popular era, although there are a few tracks that I do rather like. None of the albums come particularly recommended, especially in context of how good their early stuff is, but the gradual development in sound is certainly interesting to hear, so might be worth a go. The appallingly named Goblins' Club (see footnote 4) is the best here.

1992 - Rockoon
1994 - Turn of the Tides
1995 - The Tyranny of Beauty
1996 - Goblins' Club

The Millennium Years (1997 - 2005)
This is where it gets tricky. All but the most ardent of TD obsessives would admit that Edgar works best with other people, and thus deciding to run his own label (TDI) meant there was nobody to say "actually no, don't release this" when somebody really should have. Enter a run of soundtracks to obscure documentaries that probably don't exist, live albums that have no interesting material, compilations of soundtrack outtakes and other stuff. In the nine years of TDI, there were only three standard Tangerine Dream albums released, as well as a trilogy of works based on Dante's Divine Comedy. These albums are literally opera albums, only with prog electronic / ambient backing instead of orchestras. 1997's soundtrack album Oasis continues the progression of the Seattle records, in incorporating dance music, albeit not very well. Mars Polaris (see footnote 5) is the really the start of a new era, with some bits sounding very authentically late '90s. Jeanne D'Arc, if you can deal with the saxophone, is a gorgeous album, and sees the entry of Thorsten Quaeschning to the ranks, bringing a much needed melodic boost.

1997 - Oasis
1999 - Mars Polaris
2000 - The Seven Letters from Tibet
2005 - Jeanne D'Arc

The Eastgate Years (2005 - 2014)
Named after Edgar's new label, Eastgate. Fans obviously stopped trying for original names at this point. This is a very tricky era to describe. The arrival of Thorsten in 2005, and departure of Jerome in 2006, brought about another change in sound. Generally the material released between 2005 and 2007 is really good, a proper unexpected creative renaissance (other than the typically dire vocal album). At the same time, Edgar chose to turn TD into a largely solo project, and it kind of became a production line of electronic music, with him churning out mini-albums (named 'Cupdiscs' - long enough to enjoy a cup of coffee to. Fuck knows) several times a year, along with a series of convoluted concept albums - The Five Atomic Seasons (ostensibly related to the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki); The Eastgate Sonic Poems (soundtracks to classic novels that all sound the same as each other); Chandra - The Phantom Ferry (fuck knows). Coupled with the usual stream of live albums, some terrible re-recordings of Virgin-era albums, and countless compilations just piecing together existing material, Eastgate released 83 albums and EPs in this era. Quality control out of the window. Honestly, so much of this music sounds the same that it's daunting to think about. The first Booster compilation is great as it ties together EP and mini-album material from 2005-2007, and contains much of the band's best work ever. Otherwise, I've picked a few of these that I remember enjoying. Springtime in Nagasaki contains my favourite Tangerine Dream track.

2007 - Springtime in Nagasaki
2007 - Booster
2008 - Purple Diluvial
2008 - Views From a Red Train
2009 - Chandra - The Phantom Ferry - Part I
2013 - Franz Kafka - The Castle
2013 - Chandra - The Phantom Ferry - Part II


The Quantum Years (2014 - Present)
The only era named by Edgar rather than fans, named after his interest in quantum physics that was to influence this final era of the band. Live shows since the late '90s had been huge affairs with live drums, percussion, electric and acoustic guitars, saxophone, violin, singers... Edgar decided to end TD by going back to the band's roots, as a synthesiser trio (augmented by electric violin). The line-up of Edgar, Thorsten and Ulrich Schnauss, with Hoshiko Yamane recorded one album - Mala Kunia - before Edgar's premature death in January 2015 (this hit me harder than any other celebrity death. I cried so much). He had been ill for some time and apparently left plans for what he wanted the band to do after he died. So they continue. Ulrich's slightly shoegazey sound has given the current version a really different feel, and they sound very, very modern now. It's not the nicest thing to say, but without Edgar, the quality control has risen massively. Since his death, we've had one album, a couple of EPs, and a set of live recordings, each documenting an entirely improvised performance, which is how they worked back in the 1970s. Apparently there are many hours of Edgar's sketches and demos from before he died, so there will be more albums. I hope there aren't too many more... one or two to round things off nicely before TD ends for good.

2014 - Mala Kunia
2015 - Quantum Key
2016 - Particles
2017 - Quantum Gate
2017 - The Sessions I (Live)
2018 - The Sessions II (Live)
2018 - The Sessions III (Live)
2019 - The Sessions IV (Live)






Footnotes:

1. Popol Vuh are a difficult band to pin down, changing styles a lot, moving into modern classical, new age, prog rock, choral music and all sorts. The first two albums are essential early electronic music though. Not progressive electronic, but proto-ambient. Affenstunde and In Den Garten Pharaos.

2. The first person to take up the sound after Phaedra was Klaus Schulze, who played drums on Electronic Meditation. His solo career had started in a similarly dark / experimental manner - Irrlicht is a harrowing record - and he went on to follow a similar career path to TD until the mid '90s, when Pete Namlook gave him a slap and got him back on path. I've never got so much into his music though, it's much more meandering and less focused than TD. There are a lot of other artists, especially Germans, from the late '70s who picked up the style, but none really added anything to it and are only worth pursuing once you've really explored TD and Klaus Schulze. Ashra's New Age of Earth is the exception, and a beautiful record.

3. Le Parc sounds a LOT like Jean Michel Jarre in places, who is the poppiest of all the early progressive electronic artists, and the only one to break through to public consciousness. Oxygene and Equinoxe are essentials, and Zoolook is an early sample-based album that's really incredible, especially for its time.

4. Goblins' Club was actually the only album released on Castle Music and doesn't really fit any of the "years". After signing to the label and releasing this album, Edgar decided to go complete independent, and instead sold Castle the rights to the Pink and Blue catalogue to fulfill the contract. Castle have been continually reissuing all this material ad nauseum ever since.

5. If you get this, make sure to get the 10 track version, rather than the 11 track one with a different tracklist that is about 40% utter bollocks.