ENCORE (LIVE 1977)

A double album (which fits on a single CD), this offering is representative of the TD sound on tour in 1977 in the USA.

Or is it?

Given the bootlegs I've heard from that tour (available in Vol. 2 of the Bootleg Box Set and as 'Detroit March 30 1977'), it's fair to say there's been a lot of studio tinkering post-concert. In this case that's fine: technology doesn't really do the raw TANGERINE DREAM live experience justice. Good to see them making the effort to refine the sound. It makes the tracks better sounding but less authentic, so take your pick.

'Cherokee Lane' is classic TANGERINE DREAM, a sweeping synth/mellotron start presaging the emergence of their characteristic blips and pulses. I love how the crowd roars their approval at the arrival of the blips! After that the track potters along without the inspiration of 'Ricochet' two years previously. No nonsense, in-your-face post 1974 TD.

'Monolight' is the most interesting track here. An opening classical piano is swamped by a few minutes of full-on avant-garde dissonance, itself superseded by a straightforward rock track not unlike the material they peddled through the mid-1980s. The pulsing sequencer arrives later in the piece, but is powerful and oh-so-typical of TD: a monotone blip gradually morphed into a more complex rhythm. The inevitable fadeout takes us back to the piano and rounds the piece off nicely.

'Coldwater Canyon' was a much rarer track in their live repertoire, and is basically an extended dirty distorted free-form guitar solo from EDGAR FROESE, harking back to the 'Pink' years. I'm partial to his guitar work, and delighted they chose to include this track here. 'Desert Dream' finishes the set with an ambient soundscape of the type found on 'Zeit' and 'Atem', a sort of chill-out finale.

Not an essential purchase by any means. It does, however, encapsulate the wide-ranging repertiore of the band, and is memorable as being the last album made by the classic TD lineup.