PINNACLES

Last Edgar Froese's album from its "classic" 70-80 period, "Pinnacles" features a cold synthetic sound similar to "White Eagle". It also adopts the same structure of the TANGERINE DREAM studio albums of this period: one twenty minutes long suite, one short track and two mid-length pieces. The title comes from a region in Australia with strange rocks rooted in the desert sands.

"Specific Gravity Of Smile" displays an enigmatic soundscape over a fast watery sequence. A bit lengthy, but enjoyable. Maybe the German electronic band SOFTWARE took inspiration from this track, as its sonorities are very similar to their first albums, released the following years. The two middle compositions are the weak part of the record. The slow "The Light Cone" is rather anecdotal and a bit cheesy. "Walkabout" is slightly better, resembling a slower version of "Desert Run" from the Logotypes suite composed one year before and reworked in 1983 as "Sign In The Dark" for "The Keep OST". Here, the result is unfortunately not as nice.

Longest composition of Edgar Froese, the title suite is also one of his greatests! It can be divided in three equal parts. The rhythmic beginning contains strange eerie sounds and synthesizer textures reminiscent of TD's "Convention of the 24", but is not the most interesting section. In contrast, the pretty middle part is really magic. Different from other Froese or TD tracks, the atmosphere is simply unreal. The final section creates a mystical soundscape similar to "Green Desert" with its guitar incursions and floating keyboards. Trippy!

The main interest of "Pinnacles" is undoubtedly its title track. Clearly an essential listen for every TANGERINE DREAM or spacey old-school electronic progressive music fan. Once more, this shows that Froese and co. were still alive during the first half of the 80's. It's a pity the other compositions do not reach the same quality, otherwise the album would have been great. Overall, the record is pleasant but uneven, due to its weak middle part.

After that, we'll have to wait 22 years for Edgar's next studio opus...

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