Top 10 Tangerine Dream albums

I think I have almost all of the albums, and I'm not sure there is a bad one anywhere to be found ... I'm awfully fond of the albums with the ladies in concert for 25 years, from Linda Spa and then with Iris Camaa ... and a guitarist now and then, which added a really nice touch to the whole thing ... a lot of people trashed Linda Spa, and she gave 25 years of her life to TD, only to be cast aside as not needed or wanted. 

I have no "favorite" per se as there are too many things that stand out for me ... and the Live concerts are often the highlight for me, going way back to the bootleg days, when the behemoth synthesizers could not quite be setup to redo the same thing again, and in the book EF states that sometimes they had to improvise until Chris Franke was able to bring things up ... and he always did, although not always the same, but good enough.

All the bootlegs were totally different than what you hear on albums and it wasn't until the Tangram/Exit and White Eagle era that the music began to be closer to the originals, although still not totally.

After that, it was no longer an issue.

Special favorites:

220 Volt Live -- Massive Live Album ... you and I would pay to see that every day.

Phaedra Farewell Tour 2014 -- Another Massive Concert.

Starmus -- Great, even if you only see it for Bryan May,

Sorcerer -- The complete concerts in Australia just before EF passed away.

Zeit/Atem -- Early Days ... still sound beautiful

The different stuff still good:

Inferno

Purgatorio

Jeanne D'Arc

Kafka - The Castle

I have not enjoyed the "newer" version of the TD, which sounds way too "metalic/machine" like for me, and has lost a touch that both Linda and Iris had given it ... which took it away from the "men's tour" ... that feature a lot of very nice and well done stuff. It has also lost the "classical" feel that EF had all his life in the music and its presentation, and is now, for my tastes, a band that lacks the "inner movie" AND "story" that so much of its music had presented to us all these years.

Times change,sometimes not for the best, I guess ... I miss EF badly ... and would also like to state that I would love to see Chris Franke back doing some music ... he was valuable and does not deserve to be an after thought and left behind! His music for BABYLON 5 was excellent, were it not for it being HORRIBLY used by directors that had no feel or understanding for any kind of music whatsoever!

I'm almost out of breadth ... sorry about this long one, but TD, for me ... is a sacred statue and cow if you will.  

I'm really a 70's TD fan, as I stop at Force Majeure.

Surely the first four Ohr label albums (EM, AC, Zeit & Atem)are my faves and most/all would navigate in between the classic 73-79 albums on my scale of preference (not a fan of the later Virgin albums). I'd also add Green Desert, which is a trafficked session from 73 that was released in 85.

TBH, I heard the highly touted Poland & Logos, but I'm not impressed, but yeah, they'd be thrown in my top 10 list you're seeking for ... but don't expect me to fill it up to the brim

Hi,

According to EF in the book, "Poland" was the concert from hell ... it was frozen outside and they had not enough heaters and they were worried about some of the synths going out as there was not enough electricity for them all to run along with the heaters necessary to make the place half way comfortable ... but the audience apparently didn't care ... they got to see TD ... and if the albums are an indication ... it was a  magnificent show.

I'm about to read the book again, just to recheck a couple of things ... but EF does not exactly talk about the "music" at all ... mostly about his relations left and right and jokes and such, and the history of the band in concert is most of the story, along with two events ... Dali and Bowie. The first one is ... unusual and I'm not sure that many of us will get much out of it. The second one, some folks thought it was too long and kinda ends when EF decided not to play in one song, to which he explained to DB why ... it was not his kind of music and he could not improvise. But the best one is the bit about Bowie at the piano when a studio session was cancelled.

Other than that, the book never really got to Jerome and any music during that time ... or after.

I've got to say I'm one more of those who have difficulties to list ten non-Virgin albums, as the Virgin phase is clearly their peak. Actually I like their work up to Hyperborea, the last Virgin album.

I also like the first four albums,

1) Zeit  

2) Atem

3) Electronic Meditation

4) Alpha Centauri

...and then I know

5) Official Bootleg Series Vol. I

6) Official Bootleg Series Vol. II / Quichotte,

which are not Virgin but Virgin era. Even Sorcerer, non-Virgin recorded at Virgin times, is just OKish, as are...

7) Poland

8) Sorcerer

9) Underwater Sunlight

10) Machu Picchu.

I still have Optical Race and Tyger, but they are diabolical, and the band lost me with them for good. I only heard bits and pieces from three newer albums, and they're better but still don't do much for me; Machu Picchu is actually the only one, apart from some live shows, that I have heard in full, and only once.  

At least I can list ten non-Virgin albums...

It was recorded in 1973 but not part of any particular sessions. Peter Bauman wasn't on it so it wasn't part of the sesions for Phaedra for example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Desert

Really like The Island of Fey (2011), The Angel From the West Window (2011), Booster IV(2012) 

Others : The Dream mixes (1995), Rocking Mars (2005), Destination Berlin (1989) and Tyranny of Beauty (1995).

But my other big fave remains Pergamon (1986) 

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: I imagine this thread won't last very long. ;)

 

Sadly, your prediction was on the mark. I could have sworn there were many more fans here...!