FORCE MAJEURE

On Force Majeure, Tangerine Dream started to branch out with more traditional instrumentation. Unfortunately, several of the "rock" passages sound terribly banal. When the group performs principally progressive electronic music augmented by those other instruments, however, the results very often stand shoulder to shoulder with some of their finest work.

"Force Majeure" Immediately sinister, there is thin organ and ominous voice-like ghouls of sound marching behind the fore. As though the horrid specters destroyed flesh and some astral element of the victim ascended heavenward, the music suddenly shifts to an airy etherealness Tangerine Dream had never quite achieved. Speaking of novelty, this piece soon launches into a more down-to-earth straightforward rock and roll jam, with piano and electric guitar, sounding like something from The Alan Parsons Project. The acoustic-electric passage that ensues next takes the more traditional Tangerine Dream style and melds it with the newfangled rock element. I adore the dreamy melodic twists present throughout the piece, particularly near the synthesizer-drenched ending.

"Cloudburst Flight" Twelve-string guitar, as spacious as the desert scene it evokes, falls to the backdrop as a dominant electronic theme assumes control of the rhythm. Electric guitar and aggressive keyboard handle the lead work.

"Thru Metamorphic Rocks" The main thrust of the first third of this track is an uncomplicated, semi-symphonic bit in a major key that sounds awfully dated. It could have been a theme to any number of campy television programs of the time. The rest of the piece is darker, intense, and more similar to the electronic music for which Tangerine Dream is better known.