IN BLUE

I only have the 2 CD version, not the new remaster with 3 CD's. But I don't think it will matter much, as it takes a lot to get through the two original CD's, let alone a 3rd (is there a more prolific artist than Schulze? I don't think so).

It took me a while to get into Schluze's music. When I first heard it I just didn't care for it. A more psychedelic and ballsy type of new age music was my first impression. And I suppose that describes his style fairly well, though he was obviously the inspiration for many new age and ambient artists to follow, along with similar artists of the early 70's like Tangerine Dream.

This album is considered something of a return to form for Schulze. Gone are the sequencers that marred many of his 80's albums, and back are the undulating synth waves and slowly evolving organic melodies of old. The first 15 minutes of the first "track" (over 78 minutes long) is very much a return to the spacey formlessness of his best work on albums like X and Mirage. After that, the drums kick in and we go through a number of movements that vary the style somewhat. But on the whole, a satisfying ambient piece. The best, however, is found on the next "song", Return of the Temple. The presence of Manuel Göttsching's electric guitar combined with Schulze's acoustic textures and keyboard washes brings us back many years to......well, Ash Ra Temple days, obviously! And what a wonderful journey it is. 44 minutes of pure psychedelic bliss. The stand out highlight of the album for sure. The final, 34 minute, track Serenade In Blue is something of an anticlimax to what has come before, but it has it's moments and concludes the album in appropriately floating and relaxing fashion.

If you've never heard Schulze, don't start here. But if you like his 70's work, this is a must. Not quite to the level of those albums, but close enough for 4 stars. This is not music in the sense that this site usually specializes in. But if you like feeling that you are floating through space in waves of subtle melodic shifts and occasional percussive accompaniment, then this is as good an album as any.