TIMEWIND

His second release of 1975, TIMEWIND has stood the time as one of KLAUS SCHULZE's most popular and endearing releases due to the fact that it was one of the few of his 70s canon that was readily available in North America as well as becoming a top seller all across Europe. It's the album that found him launched onto the world's stage as the electronic wizard who left Tangerine Dream only to became his former band's greatest competition in the abstract and bizarre surreal world of progressive electronic music. The album marks a major leap in SCHULZE's electronic space music evolution as it was the first to find him totally tapping into the world of sequencers which ultimately is what set the early world of Krautrock infused progressive electronic from the more layered world of the Berlin School world.

Not only did SCHULZE begin implementing a greater swath of technology for his crafty visions of electronic journeys to the stars but also found his ability to eke out sounds hitherto beyond his grasp as his familiarity with the genre was growing by leaps and bounds. TIMEWIND pretty much followed the trajectory of his first four releases with trippy ambient compositions that swallowed up entire sides of the original vinyl LP however this time around achieved the full spectrum effect that was lacking with the addition of the sequencers that took his musical visions to the next level. The original vinyl release featured two sprawling tracks that added up to just short of an hour's worth of pure escapism with both tracks serving as references to the 19th century composer Richard Wagner. "Bayreuth" is the Bavarian town where Wagner had an opera house built for his performances of "Ring Cycle" and "Wahnfried" was the name of his home in the city where he would be buried next to in 1883.

Amazingly enough despite the crazy amount of electronic manipulation of analog equipment and sequencer patterns, SCHULZE demonstrated his electronic wizardry by basically recording it all live in the studio thus showcasing his true talents and ability to manipulate the complexities of sophisticated equipment and turning the sound effects into an otherworldly excursion through sound. Another leap in ingenuity came from the fact that TIMEWIND also evolved more musical connections with chord and key changes that although glacial in development evolved into something greater than the sum of the parts. It all resulted in a wild electronic musical journey that tethered an emotional connection into what sounds like a navigation through the quantum realms or the vastness of unexplored space but no matter where these sounds take you as this style of music is highly subjective and personalized, one thing is for sure and that is that you've never been there before!

The first track "Bayreuth Return" is a majestic 30 1/2 minute rhythmic procession that finds oscillating swirlies and improvised melodies coalescing into a maelstrom of complex sound effects delivered via string synthesizer chords, multitrack atmospheric contrapuntal elements and a backing ambient drone effect. Sounds that emulate the wind accompany gurgling percussive rhythmic drives while the slow drifting of the track allows a subtle building up of sounds that slowly increase the tempo and Hawkwind-like pyrotechnic electronic randomness. The tack offers the perfect mix of elements and could rightfully be deemed the quintessential example of what the Berlin School progressive electronic style of music is all about. The tack is purported to be inspired by the "Phaedra" album from Tangerine Dream which emerged the year before although the two artists independently were sort of in an arms race of ingenuity and kept ratcheting up their mastery of the style throughout the 1970s.

Side two features the near 29-minute track "Wahnfried 1883" which refers to the site Wagner was put to rest in his grave however the term itself is a German compound noun stemming from Wahn (delusion, madness) and Friede (peace, freedom). While starting out in a rather chaotic swirl of wind effects and feisty electronic instability the track slowly evolves into a rather lukewarm procession of receptive motifs that don't offer as much variation as the first track which for my ears creates a rather lopsided album effect after the sheer perfection of "Bayreuth Return." A procession of recurring synth hooks accompanied by a suffocating fluff pile of ambient effects seems to drag on and by half way though the track's run loses my interest. Sounding more like some sort of proto-new-age music that would inspire the likes of Kitaro and others, this track just doesn't provide the same spaced out effect that i would've hoped for.

Overall this is an excellent album that deserves to be considered a classic but far from perfection due to the fact the tracks are not of equal caliber to my liking. The remastered editions feature a whole second disc of bonus tracks such as the excellent "Echoes Of TIme" which is basically a different version of "Bayreuth Return" but different enough making it a bit unrecognizable. It offers everything "Wahnfried 1883" lacks. Likewise the second bonus track "Solar Wind" is one of the coolest SCHULZE tracks ever released and although only 12 1/2 minutes long offers a major dose of surreality as it starts with moaning winds and offers a wild frenetic display of bending notes descending down the scale offering somewhat of a proto-industrial vibe. I would've much preferred that this track was teased out into the 30 minute sprawler and that "Wahnfried 1883" were the truncated bonus track instead. The short bonus track "Windy Times" is also brilliant. This one was feature don the "Contemporary Works II" that was released in the year 2000. A lopsided release in its original form. I find it much more palatable with the bonus tracks. An excellent album but not the masterpiece that many make it out to be, at least for my liking.