POLAND - THE WARSAW CONCERT*

This double LP record has full of sequenced beat and rhythm. There are also loaded floating keyboards sounds at the same time or without the sequencers. We are talking here about ultra modern synthesizers. The music sounds very artificial, although the sound is very well recorded for a live album. The sequencers always enter progressively. Like on "Livemiles", the beat and sequencers often change, avoiding to fall into monotonous and repetitive patterns. I think "Poland" lacks a bit of originality; the 4 tracks nearly 20 minutes long are quite good, but it gives the listener a feeling of a bit deja vu, and they sound a bit the same. We feel Johannes Schmoelling is still very inspired, although his best years with Tangerine Dream are passed.

The eighties represent a dramatic, agonising period for TD in term of musical creation and artistic originality. Their musical production declines constantly over the years to reach the degree zero of interest. With all the repsect I have for this legendary musical formation (The TD of the origins) I think that the trio Schmoelling / Froese / Franke didn't made any consistent albums, just a vast collection of mediocre, ephemeral essays with big electronic machines. The materials used in Poland is relatively similar to Exit / White Eagle. Poland belongs to these chaotic, sterile musical years, consequently the compositions are aseptic, mechanical (using to much electronic programs to cover the lack of genial intuitions), the synth parts are massive and sound terribly old dated, the floating e-guitar leads are in the mood of things ever developped in the previous official live Logos. The sequencers driven patterns are omnipresent and monolithic. The first track rises from the dark abyss with powerful synth chords but the improvisation that follows the introduction progressively falls into an insistent commercial synth exhibition with aweful electronic rhythms / sounds and false emotional melodies. This long epic electronic piece contains some nice, dark & dreamy-synth passages but the atmosphere is not organic, sensual, cerebral or physical and rather artificial, heartless and without reliefs. The last track Horizon has a certain charm with its voluminous spherical soundscape in the background but the leading theme which starts after a long introduction is expressively soft, generic. Poland is environemental new agey music. An easy, badly inspired music by a Froese who (a few years later) will definitely exchange his artistic career for a seat in the huge musical business, insulting our capacity of listening and our capacity of discernment.

This 80 minute live set attracts glowing reviews. I've listened to it a few times now, and I'm mystified as to why. Apart from the excellent 'Horizon', nothing here sparkles. It's merely yet another in the sequence of competent live TANGERINE DREAM performances: mindblowing, no doubt, for those who attend them, but inferior to their best studio work.

I say that, but in fact 'Poland' is an anachronism. By this point TANGERINE DREAM were immersed in a world of soundtracks and soundbites, mass-producing short mood pieces for numerous film directors around the world. So numerous were these pieces, it almost got to the stage where it was hard to find a film without a TANGERINE DREAM soundtrack. I exaggerate, of course.

'Poland' isn't like that. It is very much the child of previous live efforts, only this time a longer effort - a full 80 minutes. Or, if you're unlucky, slightly less: most versions of this have had a few minutes shaved off the end of 'Barbakane' to fit on a single CD format. Some, in fact, are also missing one entire track ('Tangent'). So be careful what you buy.

The fare here is the usual combination of carefully sequenced rhythms and overlaid melodies, some of which have been 'liberated' from previous albums. There's none of the energy of 'Ricochet' and certainly none of the experimentalism of their 1970s work. Safe, predictable and ultimately disposable, 'Poland' is the sort of album you buy if you're a fan or if you need yet another instrumental album to get you through a day's work.

At least it wasn't another soundtrack.

This is my twentieth TD review so far and it is quite amazing to have listened to so many good albums. Their very early days were not easily accessible but the only album I could hardly cope with was the much later "Cyclone" (two stars). Besides that one, I couldn't find any album rating with less than three stars. This is quite a remarkable achievement (their music I mean) whatever will come in the future.

What's even more attractive, is that even if there were five live albums in those twenty reviews, it all has to be considered as original work since the band always played new material during these recordings (some might say improvisations).

It is again the case with this double "Live In Warsaw". Now to honest, the first part of the opening number ("Poland") is quite hermetic to my ears: too much electro-beat-related sounds for a while but these sweetly slips towards the fine and spacey music we all know (by the way, TD music and alike were referred to space-rock in the seventies).

This is fortunately also the case for the moving "Tangent" which conveys a lot of tranquillity (which I highly need these days, for personal reasons). This is one of their most melodic songs. One doesn't know if he is being sent on the boundaries of the universe or deep down the bottoms of the sea (like during "Underwater Sunlight"). At least for the first ten minutes or so.

The music turns on to a more electro-pop mood after that even with a light reggae scent! Quite abrupt for a change, but not too bad even if it is not this TD aspect that I prefer. I wouldn't say either that "Barbacane" is their most brilliant track: it is much too repetitive therefore and sounds rather uninspired (at least during the first part). It leans more on the new age trends after that (and also becomes more pleasant).

As most of my colleagues, my fave is the closing "Horizon". A full length successful track (in comparison with some partial achievements as I have outlined). It is truly comparable to their great works from the seventies and raises the quality of the whole set quite substantially. You got it all here, really. A formidable kaleidoscope of their huge contribution to prog music.

My objective rating would be seven out of ten but since the PA rating is such as it is, I'll upgrade it to four stars thanks to "Horizon".

The dreary and instantly forgettable sleeve of 'Poland' seems to depict a negative photographic image of ice blanketed members of TD in a similar depiction of Jack Nicholson at the end of 'The Shining' as he screams - "I'm comin' for ya DANNY!".

Get the Relativity 2CD edition if you can. It's the complete version. I bought this on cassette in 1988 which was about 20 minutes longer than the cd version I purchased some years later. I felt cheated and deceived. Can you believe that out of twelve different CD releases, only two have the complete album, all the others are either missing 'Tangent' or have a shortened version of 'Barbakane'.

How annoying...

Apart from the introductory speech, 'Poland' doesn't sound live at all. According to Chris Franke, ideas were used on 'Poland' from their soundtrack 'The Keep' recorded the previous year.

Sitting for 85 minutes in a venue in extreme cold during a Polish winter listening to this with icicles hanging off my face and boots stuck frozen to the ground isn't my idea of a good night out. So I cheer myself up safe in the knowledge that there are people more agitated than me, who suffered these conditions AND missed the 19 minute absent track when buying the cd in the late 90's.

Some pretty good ice cold drum machines, a wide array of keyboards and sequencers are utilised. Some parts go on a bit too long - as if Froese is wondering where to go next - which separates this from the masterful 'Ricochet' which was far more precise. However 'Poland' has its moments and is a far better album than its predecessors 'Exit', White Eagle' and 'Hyperborea'

During 1984 TD were well into their descent of mediocrity. Thankfully they gave themselves a good kick up the pants for this double album AND the superior 'Underwater Sunlight' from '86 which truly was their last great moment. I'm Still a bit annoyed after 20 years that I don't have the absent 'Tangent'.

I can't even remember how it sounds dammit.

Between a soundtrack and another, in the 80s TD have found some spare time to tour and release this very good live album.

It contains four side long tracks, i could say "as usual", and even if all of them contain reminds to studio tracks they are all previously unreleased as in all the TD lives up to now.

"Poland" has, I think, a strong connection to Vangelis. If you put this track on without telling me who they are, I would likely make this mistake. There are of course elements that can help in identifying them, the track's length is one, but this track sounds a lot like the 80s works of the Greek keyboardist. It's only in the last minutes when the percussions (electronic of course) become compulsive that the TD trademark is really evident. In the most relaxing moments, starting from about the minute 11, the spacey soundscape is very close to the slow moments of albums like China or even Chariots of Fire.

"Tangent" starts slow and dark. It can remind to L'Opera Sauvage initially but soon the usual square waves come to re-establish the trademark. Now the rhythmic base is not too dissimilar from Jarre's Oxygene, then it goes darker. The main theme is the same but the rhythm is like a military march. It stops when a helicopter comes, then wind...and the spacey section starts. A sort of return to the pink period for a while. The second jalf is totally different. Too 80s, it appears to be influenced by the soundtracks thing. There are some seconds of silence at minute 16 that are followed by applauses, then TD restarts playing. The mood is still the 80s soundtracks, but it's a different theme, like "don't give a title to those three minutes".

"Barbakane" is not the best TD track ever but at least it doesn't sound like a soundtrack. It's mainly made of major chords and when the percussions are over at minute 6, it's very reminding of Vangelis again. It turns to minor chords and makes me think to "Blade Runner Blues". The keyboard and drums crescendo at minute 9 is even more reminding of the Greek man. Only in the final, with the usual square waves, they can be recognized. Not bad, anyway.

"Horizon" is simply beautiful, instead. It has the spacey mood of the best TD things and it's like a return to the past. Not properly the pink period but enough to have the same appeal of their best moments. This track is enough to make this album a worth listen. Considering that the other three are absolutely not bad, I round up the rating to 4 stars. Without Horizon they would have been three.

Tangerine Dream's Poland the Warszawa Concert is part of the double whammy live behind the Iron Curtain releases that also encompasses the stellar Pergamon which was performed in East Germany (DDR). In the mid-80s, East Bloc societies where quietly in shuffle mode, as their geriatric politburos where quickly tiring of trying to expunge any and all western influences. The revolution would not be that far away as by 1989 all had crumbled thankfully into the ashes of history, liberating 28 countries from one party oppression. Tangerine Dream never had to worry about censorship as they have no lyrics to dissect for some hidden neo-capitalist message of subversion. It was uniquely the music that made them seditious, seductive, inspiring and free of any bonds. The announcer describes their music as "electronic rock", a perfect description if there ever was one, nothing new age or syrupy here , lads except for hard-edged electronic rock that pulses, vibrates, careens and swooshes with unabashed ardor. The massive opener "Poland" is a glimmering tribute to a land that has always feared its neighbors (the Germans to the West and the Russians to the East) and rightly so, historically speaking, except that these Berliners come armed with a synthesized panzer army of peace and musical panacea. Froese lets loose some blistering guitar forages that tremble effusively in the synthesized mélange, reminding us that Edgar can rock with the best of them. The scintillating "Tangent" is one of my all-time fave TDream tracks, a desperately romantic yet robotic procession, a true collision of tangents that subliminally offers hope and salvation. From serene isolation to polyrhythmic sizzle, this venerable track contains all the elements to astound, including some calypso-like melodies on the lead synth that are uniquely genius, bringing a sunny disposition to an otherwise very grey People's Republic. "Rare Bird" suggests a little more than just sarcasm in its title and boatloads of feverish freedom in its execution. Cd2 reveals the equally sexy "Barbakane", a dreamy caravan of sound, overcoming dunes and ravines, with Chris Franke getting highly creative on his rhythmic synths, a fact that many seem to forget, he was the "rock foundation" on which Froese, Baumann and Schmölling could improvise and flutter. Edgar tosses in some Floydian licks on his Gibson electric that will make one shudder with delight. The hypnotic mid-section gets hot and heavy, propping up blazing sequencers and colossal binary booms, shuddering melodies of substance and form throughout. "Horizon" could have been sub-titled "Omen", a glimpse of what would happen 5 years later with the collapse of the ZOMOs (polish communist riot police) state , sinuously experimentally minimalist at first , suddenly morphing into a simmering bloom of future delivery and rapture. The delicate synthesized ornaments are propelled by a portentous beat that grows in stature, a wave of imminent social change within grasp. Classy T Dream at its finest

The concert was greeted by joyous exuberance, almost civil disobedience with colossal balloons bouncing within the crowd, and agonizing cries of "More! More!" from the delirious fans. Reports indicate that the militia did everything to turn the event ugly and isolating the autograph seekers completely, so the atmosphere was thick with tension and barely disguised effervescence. This exaltation is reflected in the music, a whirlwind of insurgency against classic rock formula, iconoclastic musicians playing rebellious instruments to a mutinous crowd. The energy must have been breathtaking to witness, especially in a "Room 101" universe of denial and prohibition, all of this seeping through in the recording of the performance.

Andy King's liner notes from the 2011 re-issue is historically poignant, and I quote" However over the decades since its first release in 1984, the reputation of Poland as a key album in the band's repertoire has grown steadily ?both as a firm favorite with hard-core fans and as an enduring snapshot of T Dream's breakthrough into Eastern Europe, the music alternating between darkness and light , glacial ambiance and human warmth , brutal force and melting tenderness- so suggestive of Poland's transition from the old order to eventual new freedom"

I fondly remember the number of times I have driven in the night in a rain or snow storm listening to this masterpiece and finding myself in an altered state of deep relaxation and mellow contentment!

5 tumbling bricks in the wall

TANGERINE DREAM's best live of the 80's

As an instrumental band, TD were one of the few western bands allowed to play in Eastern Europe. This double CD is a compilation of two concerts in Warsaw during winter 1983. "Poland" consists in four 20 minutes pieces featuring previously unreleased material. Although the weather was very cold, the trio offered here a magistral performance.

The title track is the highlight of the record and simply one of TD's best epic from the 80's, with "Mojave Plan" and "Tangram Set 1". Less melodic than the other tracks, "Poland" marks the return of meditative long sequences that take time to progress, like in the 70's with Peter Baumann. It can be divided in two parts, both are equally excellent and have a cosmic finale. The sound is similar to their last studio epic, "Sphix Lightning", but the interest is much superior. A mystical soundtrack to explore an ancient pyramid on an alien planet. Timeless.

"Tangent" sounds like an assembly of 4 different short tracks. Part 1 is rather slow and melancholic. Part 2 is an unusual interesting TD composition, as the sequenced synth evoke an old broken machine, while unveiling a soft melody. Part 3 is a more catchy, robotic tune with spacey guitar. Part 4, known as "Rare Bird", is a poppy melodic encore. A quite heterogeneous track with various ambiances, but that nicely surprises the listener as each part has a good structured progression.

"Barbakane" may be less remarkable, but is nonetheless good and brings a different atmosphere. A piece of the delicate synth theme from the beginning will be remixed by 90's ambient band PLONE. It is followed by an ambient passage with strange sounds and oriental bits. Similitudes can be found with "Convention of the 24", on the "White Eagle" album. The middle section is more melodic and dynamic, while the final section is more experimental. In fact, this last part does not sound like it was recorded in the 80's. It may have influenced modern ambient/IDM bands. This passage was cut down in the single CD edition, but this does not really matter.

The final track "Horizon" is comparable to the final track from "Encore", "Desert Dream". They share the same structure: an alternation of mysterious, atmospheric phases and electronic sequenced melodies. However, the balance is much better than on "Encore". The final part is a reinterpretation of the "Diamond Diary" theme from the "Thief" soundtrack, which had become a concert favorite with its frenetic galloping loop.

One the best lives from TANGERINE DREAM with "Ricochet", "Poland" is a progressive electronic masterpiece. Highly recommended. Unfortunately, it's also the last great release by the german pioneers.

Poland - The Warsaw Concert captures the well-regarded Froese-Franke-Schmoelling lineup of Tangerine Dream towards the end of its run, at a time when Tangerine Dream's studio work was dominated by soundtracks. This live excursion behind the still-extant Iron Curtain finds them turning out four sides of electronic exploration which do for their chilly, cybernetic style of electronic 1980s mood music what Zeit did for their early psych-Krautrock style, stretching the compositions out into long sagas for the listener to immerse themselves in. Quite possibly the last truly iconic Tangerine Dream live album, and I'd even go so far as to say it's one of the best releases this particular lineup of the group ever produced.