DALINETOPIA

The best solo album from Edgar W. Froese after more than 10 years! A great sound journey through the landscapes of Salvador Dalis surrealistic paintings - an homage to the extraordinary painter. The tracks are full of energy and dynamism, some are floating like a river, others have a beautiful piano intro or the typical TD sounds of dramatic power followed by wonderful melody lines. This album is a must for true Edgar or Tangerine Dream fans or people who like to discover a fantastic new world in sound. By the way: Johannes Schmoelling has absolutely NO participation in this album. This information is definitely a mistake...It is a pure solo work.

22 years after his last studio effort, "Pinnacles", Froese releases a tribute album to his idol, Salvador Dali. The German musician personally knew the Spanish painter and was invited to play at his villa in Spain. Dali appreciated the musical approaches of TANGERINE DREAM's leader. Edgar already composed a tribute track for the surrealistic artist, "A Dali-esque sleep fuse", in his 1979's opus, "Stuntman", one of his best records. However, this time the entire disc is dedicated to Dali, as all tracks names begin with the prefix "Dal".

Musically, the style can be described on a mixture between TD's Schmoelling-era and the band's 2000's sonorities, especially "Jeanne d'Arc", but however less interesting and with new-age incursions. The overall is nonetheless quite different from the German pioneer's "classic" material from the 70's and 80's.

Let's first talk about the good tracks. The mysterious opener "Daleroshima" is enjoyable with its crystalline sequence and and hazy atmosphere. "Daliesquador" is also nice and contains a fast and futuristic electronic loop. The longest composition, "Daluminacion", is also one of the best passages of the record. This delicate piece features many changes and displays an aquatic and melancholic ambiance. The relaxing new-age-ish "Dalozapata" sounds a bit cheesy and is average.

"Dalerotica" displays a spacey ambiance a little similar to TANGERINE DREAM's "Mars Polaris", softer, but more repetitive and less inspired. "Daluna" seems dated and reminds the band's darkest hours in the 90's. The ender "Dalinetopia" is maybe the oddest composition of the disc with its female voices. In fact, it does not really resemble Froese or TD's music. Not much to say about the three other tracks, rather soapy and boring.

"Dalinetopia" contains some good passages, unfortunately too rare. Like many TANGERINE DREAM albums from the 2000's, this record could have been shortened. Furthermore, after the listen, establishing a relation to Salvador Dali is a little difficult, as the music is neither very Spanish nor original. "Stuntman" is a much more surrealistic opus with its combination of stranger melodies over hypnotic sequences. Recorded 26 years before, it suits the universe of the Spanish artist better. Last and only weak studio album in Edgar Froese's discography... Not essential, only for 2000's TD lovers.