ARIZONA LIVE

I remember in the 1970s that Tangerine Dream said that they would be, in future, using what were then known as "computer instruments" (I suppose we now know that refers to digital rather than analogue synthesisers and Mellotrons). This had at least two distinct effects: (1) a "cleaner" - or more "clinical" - sound, (2) an increase in the number of shorter, "melodic" tracks which would be faithfully reproduced onstage in the future. Unfortunately, it is now practically impossible to tell which live album a particular piece is from.

Thankfully, the "Kraftwerk - like" effect of this machine music is tempered to a large extent by Linda Spa's saxophone introducing a much more human tone. In Paul Stump's book "Digital Gothic", it is stated that Edgar Froese decided that Linda was a "much, much better keyboard player" [than saxophonist]. One gets the feeling that he may be a bit put out by the attention which she receives. Again from the 70s, I remember a music paper article in which Edgar acknowledged his youthful dislike of saxophonists when he played in bands because they always attracted the girls! Surely he's outgrown it by now? Still, the electric guitars are also used to good effect, so I'm not taking all the glory away from you Edgar. (Hey, that reminds me, I've still got the plectrum you used in Glasgow in 1975!)

"Arizona 92" doesn't really offer anything new. It is has a playlist of tracks from earlier Tangerine Dream albums and is not a 'masterpiece' in the sense of, for example, "Rubycon", but it is an excellent balance of digital synthesisers and soulful woodwind. Just a pity that they didn't employ the equivalent of a newspaper sub- editor to suggest some decent titles. I mean: "Two Bunch Palms" and "Love On A Real Train". Eh??

It also seems unlikely that we'll ever hear another truly improvised concert such as those given by Edgar, Christoph Franke and Peter Baumann. Pity

Same old cliche - slightly better delivery.

One can easily reach saturation point with TD over their zillions of releases, few of which stand out. Lets face it, who could write a review on every sequenced piece that sounds just like the one before and remain original?

I am less than half-way through their official material, searching for the odd, memorable tune - with little success. That's not to mention the TD Fan Club live material that may take some months to absorb.

This performance is notable - if only because Jerome Froese was held back, preventing him to turn it into - yet another - Techno "offering".

Linda Spa on saxes plays well, but still fails to engage my attention. I just don't enjoy her approach. Meanwhile, hired hand on guitar Zlatko Perica steals the show - when he is permitted to shine.

Lacking depth, still a reasonable performance, but still very, very far from the band's true potential. 3, perhaps 3.5 at best.

A question. Why would any respectable artist keep releasing sub-standard material, knowing that it eats away their fan base? Still, this piece is better than some before, but great it isn't.