STRATOSFEAR

Owning 38 releases from this celebrated German band, it's kind of hard to state under oath that I am just a passing fan. The massive comments within most music sites acknowledge the contribution they made to electronica in general and progressive music in particular. Their career has been bisected, dissected and autopsied by numerous literary surgeons and there is little doubt that their "peak" creative period remains the 1973-1983, beginning with "Atem" and ending with "Hyperborea". This release is probably the best place to start for any newcomer and then proceed to Phaedra and Rubycon (two of the best TD albums, that always seemed twins to me and I have listened to them in sequence- like a good synth fanboy!). It remains the most accessible of all TD releases, having even earned airplay on some rock stations in the days of illuminated radio. Personally, I find many of the top TD albums of this exalted period ideal driving music, so please accept my quirky vehicular analogies. Needless to say, the production is audio Audi perfection, the chromed sequencers humming like a sleek BMW on the autobahn, the Edgar Froese guitar blasts worthy of a swerving Porsche turbo and colossal melodies sweeping through the Berlin skies. It's really the ripping electric guitar solos that give all the silken electronics and the pulsating Peter Baumann rhythmic computer beds any sense of rock and space/psychedelia, thus shrouding the entire experience in a warm fuzzy comfort zone. There are tons of mood changes and tempo surges, creating highly cinematographic audio-visions, which also explain the huge soundtrack discography from these savvy Berliners. On the shimmering "3am At the Border of the Marsh from Okefenokee", the atmosphere is serenely arid, almost minimalist with occasional mellotron flute illustrations tossed in for major effect. The riveting closer "Invisible Limits" is another fine stretch of dreamy artificial symphonics , with a gentle synth-string build ?up that has a neo-classical feel (save for the genial wah-wah guitar riffing in the background). When the lusty basalt sequencers boot in, the entire piece just finds itself propelled onward with Froese's seductive guitar shepherding the way. The breathless final slow burn minutes are insidiously relaxing and highly evocative , almost sexual in nature as the grand piano enters the arena, supremely elegant. Excellent music and a necessary addition to any musical collection. Wirklich ausgezeichnet . 4,5 undetectable frontiers