ENCORE (LIVE 1977)

"Encore" is a compilation of concerts extracts taken from TANGERINE DREAM's 1977 U.S.A. tour, and their last release with Peter Baumann. It consists in four long 20 minutes pieces, each one with its own style. As usual with the german band's live performances of this decade, the compositions are not featured in their studio releases. However, some extracts from their recent records, "Ricochet", "Stratosfear" and "The Sorcerer", can be heard.

"Cherokee Lane" was used as the opener during the tour. This is the less original composition of the record, as it re- uses themes from "Ricochet Part 2" and "Betrayal" (from "The Sorcerer") and has not many variations. On the opposite, "Monolight" clearly is the highlight of the record. This composition is the most structered of the four, as it offers beautiful melodies, showing TD's classical music influences, pulsating hypnotic sequenced passages, and a beautiful aerial finale. The pre-trance middle section is visionary and sounds ahead of its time. The ending features a piano and guitar theme reminiscent of PINK FLOYD's "A saucerful of secrets"'s finale.

"Coldwater Canyon" displays the rock-oriented facet of the band during their concerts. Froese delivers here one of his longest distorted guitar solo, battling over a fast electronic heartbeat. In an entirely different style, "Desert Dream" finishes the record. This track is quite unique in TD's discography: it alternates pure atmospheric passages - like in "Zeit" - and very short synth melodies. Difficult to give an opinion on it. In fact, the featured strange sounds were rearranged from the "Oedipus Tyrannus" concert given in 1974. These extracts sound a bit random in this place, but I do enjoy the melodic incursions, especially the final one.

As it captures the band's performances in 4 long pieces, "Encore" has weaker moments and is not as perfect as "Ricochet". This is not the record to start with if you're new to TANGERINE DREAM. However, it's still pretty good electronic music and a faithful representation of their concerts during this period.