RICOCHET

It seems that Tangerine Dream weren't satisfied to just be the pioneers of electronic music and decided to push the envelope even further by taking their show on the road! Of course it's unfair of me to state that Tangerine Dream was the first band to perform an electronic music show to a live audience. Instead it can be argued that Edgar Froese and his band managed to show that electronic music could be equally as good if not even better when experienced in a live setting.

Ricochet is the first of the two live albums featuring the now classical Tangerine Dream lineup of Froese, Baumann and Franke playing the music that they became renowned for thanks the success of the previous two studio recordings. The style of Ricochet relies on the combination of synthesizer and sequencer sound that creates another dense ambient experience that we can expect from that stage in band's development. Still there are a few new additions to the soundscape in the shape of additional percussion, electronic guitar and a slightly more melodic approach which make the composition sound almost like early electronic rock music show.

It's difficult for me to compare the material on Ricochet to either Phaedra or Rubycon since the early live recording sound might have taken a toll on the production values, but I can reassure everyone who enjoyed those albums will surely find a great deal of enjoyment in this material since it's basically a slightly new spin on the same formula. It's arguable that Richochet has more in common with Rubycon than Phaedra for a numerous different reasons like the new direction that Tangerine Dream were slowly moving towards ever since Phaedra or just the basic fact that it features the exact same track layout as its studio predecessor. Either way, to me Richochet comes closer to the smooth style that I completely loved on Rubycon than the more experimental and rough sounds of Phaedra.

Allow me to summarize by stating that this album sounds like the logical continuation of Tangerine Dream's direction ever since the release of Phaedra. Everyone who enjoyed Phaedra and/or Rubycon is bound to uncover something satisfying on this recording, which to me sounds like an album well worth an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection rating!

***** star songs: Ricochet Pt. 1 (17:00)

**** star songs: Ricochet Pt. 2 (21:06)