The two greats! Because of the string of solo TD polls I was reminded how exceptional they both were in their first decade of existence (and a few years later as well). I couldn't choose one over the other myself really. I'm just stuck at home under a blanket, with a fever, a head full of snot and a headache. So I felt like making a poll.

Post who or what you voted for, your favorite album or albums or whatever you feel like. But please don't just vote without posting anything.

Electronic Meditation (1970)
Alpha Centauri (1971)
Zeit (1972)
Atem (1973)
Phaedra (1974)
Rubycon (1975)
Ricochet (live) (1975)
Stratosfear (1976)
Encore (live) (1977)
Sorcerer (OST) (1977)
Cyclone (1978)
Force Majeure (1979)

Irrlicht (1972)
Cyborg (1973)
Blackdance (1974)
Picture Music (1975)
Timewind (1975)
Moondawn (1976)
Body Love (1977)
Mirage (1977)
Body Love: Vol.2 (1977)
"X" (1978)
Dune (1979)

Interesting poll anyway; I'd expect TD to win clearly but I see a possibility for Schulze to get up to 45% of votes or so, of which he could be quite proud (OK I know he isn't alive anymore, but still).

2. Klaus Schulze - Body Love

Lewian wrote: Tangerine Dream hands down. I do enjoy some of Klaus Schulze's work, but much of it seems overlong to me and holds overall quite a bit less excitement than much of TD's 70s work, which is very central for my musical taste.

I understand how Klaus Schulze's work can leave that impression. Perhaps it's correct in some ways, but I do not feel that way myself. Many people say similar things about The Necks and several other bands I love pretty much unconditionally. I suppose i like it that way more than most people - or hear things differently. A couple of Klaus' 50 minute long live tracks are among my most treasured compositions of his (But Beautiful, recorded in 1977, bonus on Cyborg - and the complete version of Sense, recorded in 1976 - on the reissue of his 1980 live album)

HI,

Interesting. I took to KS right away, even though it took me about a day or 2 to get past "Mysterious Semblance" ... and both of these are the largest number of CD's in my collection. 

I am not sure I ever thought of KS as too long, as the small details were always really visible, however, yo had to close your eyes and flow with it, and these things got better and stronger, by the time "Mirage" came along. There was a beauty in it that was timeless, and it was impossible to enjoy KS in bits and pieces. 

To my knowledge, btw, only Guy Guden has EVER played KS (and TD) in its entirety on the live FM radio air in Santa Barbara ... no one would play a 28/29 minute piece in its entirety ... and to this day, I get a funny feeling in my stomach that this is a side of things that is missing in the appreciation of "progressive music" and its history ... the folks that invented a "definition" made sure that everything it had was just like pop music and formatted ... and one of the things that KS is not ... is "formatted" ... and this was the special thing about his playing live ... it was always live! No memorex here! And his improvisations that were found in the WORKS series are all far out and totally incredible ... and even different from the majority of his albums.

This is how I feel. More or less. I don't have to close my close my eyes though. Sometimes it's like I can see the music that surrounds me. All the richness in the details of the music feel very much physically present. 

-Or I can simply play his albums for hours while working while falling in and out of noticing the music. But that's fine by me. I enjoy listening to music like that as well.

verslibre wrote: Tangerine Dream is the clear winner, boasting a richer sonic palette, diversified approach (Berlin School, Krautrock, space/prog, ambient, pastoral, etc.) and genre/boundary-crossing appeal. You can't beat the splendor of Rubycon, Stratosfear, and Force Majeure. That said, they released no duds in their first decade. Thanks to In Search of Hades, we get even more, like Oedipus Tyrannus (74 minutes!), the Phaedra Out-Takes, and three complete live concerts. Klaus has some gems (Mirage is a personal favorite) but the X-cesses to come are clear as glass. I don't think Irrlicht is that interesting, but he was just getting started.

TD easily, partly because it was always a group, and three ideas are better than one, and Edgar's were not enough alone

Klaus comes second, but I wonder what would've been his oeuvre if he had been in a trio. 

As such, I prefer Klaus to Edgar in solo, though Edgar's first few are awesome, but I believe he was still benefitting from the TD framework when composing & recording. But I dare think that without Edgar (and TD), I'm not sure Klaus would've gone that way. Edgar was always a step ahead of Klaus, IMHO.

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Hi,

In one of the Lisa series, there are a couple of special addons, one being from a board guy on a DAW ... showing KS a small detail and how that detail could be improved ... these small bits, are the kinds of things I see many times in KS that are truly special ... and this one is crazy ... you and I will never find it!

Hi,

I would spend some time listening to the WORKS series of CD's (so many of them!) since these were all collaborations with various folks and some things are simply far out. And later he gave Lisa a chance, and she sounded great with it. He also did magnificent stuff with Manuel Gottsching, which is not as well listened to, though I think that KS gave MG a lot more to work with than he could imagine ... but he did well, even if at times is sound somewhat mathematical/mechanical ... but still neat!