HYPERBOREA

Dating from 1983, Tangerine Dream's HYPERBOREA follows 82's WHITE EAGLE, and is a product of the same mid-period lineup of founders Edgar Froese and Chris Franke, plus newer member Johannes Schmoelling. As with the cover art, the music and sound is similar to that of the prior recording, so if you enjoy early 80s efforts such as the aforementioned WHITE EAGLE, plus its predecessors EXIT and TANGRAM, you should like this.

There are four tracks: opening piece "No Man's Land," at 9:16 in length, is sedate, contemplative and exotic-sounding; evoking images of the Orient. Next up is the title track, which runs to 8:46, and continues the restrained pace, taking us across the trackless tundra to a mythical far northern land ("Hyperborea"), as envisaged by the ancient Greeks. This makes good non-intrusive background music for reading, or it could serve well as ambiance for a leisurely drive through the countryside. It's nice stuff, and the use of some pounding drums along with the usual synths and sequencers imparts enough of the human element to maintain interest. Track 3 is the shortest of the set: at 4:04 "Cinnamon Road" is also the most up-tempo selection here (relative to the rest, that is -- it's still pretty mellow), and would not be out of place on a soundtrack for some documentary about ancient spice routes through the Eastern lands. Look! Here comes a camel caravan now! The closing piece is the big one: at just under 20 minutes, "Sphinx Lightning" has room to stretch out and explore more musical territory, though as the title suggests, the band is sticking with the exotic/eastern/ancient theme, this time taking us to Egypt. Is that lightning actually striking the inscrutable sphinx, or coming from it? Weird! Again, it's nice background music for daydreams and sun-dry flights of fancy. There are some drums, but nothing too "in your face" or scary. The Valley of Kings would seem to be at peace tonight, with the Nile slowly wending its way through this storied cradle of civilization.

Thus, HYPERBOREA, like all TD albums of its era, offers the listener some high-quality electronic background music. Not as freaky as the classic earlier works, nor as structured and sterile as the late 80s and early 90s material, it makes a worthwhile addition to the collection of fans who stuck with the band beyond their 70s heyday. 3 solid stars.