AGES

Not quite as great as it ought to be but still pretty damn excellent(I'm nit-picking here) 1977's double- sided 'Ages' finds the extremely hard-working Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese back in solo territory after the release of his group's first soundtrack record, the same year's deeply-mysterious 'Sorceror'. Directed by William Friedkin, costing $20,000,000 dollars and utterly bombing at the box-office, the movie 'Sorceror' remains one of the great underrated thrillers of the 1970s, and despite the film's failure it did open a very large and very lucrative door from Froese and company as they went on to enjoy a highly-successful career creating soundtracks for directors such as Michael Mann, Ridley Scott and Kathryn Bigelow. However, 'Sorceror' the soundtrack was so dark and gloomy that Froese obviously needed some kind of sonic antidote to work on, hence 'Ages'. Although still anchored deep in the quixotic ambient territory we have come to know and love Tangerine Dream for, 'Ages' does on occasion feature a slightly more upbeat hue, it's 9 tracks skipping expertly between droney space-rock, twinkling synthesized noodling and cinematic grandeur wth almost reckless abandon. Fans of Tangerine Dream will know exactly what to expect then, but 'Ages' doesn't quite reach the same exulted heights as Froese's own solo masterpiece 'Epsilon In Malaysian Pale'. However, highlights are many, especially on the second disc which features the beautifully-layered 'Ode To Granny A' and the hypnotic, twirling beats of the cosmic closer 'Golgotha & The Circle Closes'. So, like pretty much everything Froese put his name to between the years 1970 and 1983, 'Ages' is utterly fascinating. Full of strong moments then, this is yet another dose of first grade ambient rock from the master of the art. STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2014