HYPERBOREA

By 1983, it was difficult for Tangerine Dream to stand out from the crowd. The increasing availability and lower cost of digital and programmable synthesizers allowed just about anyone to create and release an electronic new age album. TD's last album for Virgin shows that they still had some spark left, but were beginning to head down a dangerous path.

No Man's Land begins the album with TD riding the crest of the trendy wave of imitation world music. The song has a bit of an Indian feel, with synths doing a fair imitation of a sitar. It's okay, but really doesn't go anywhere. It makes me want to listen to Brand X's much better Indian imitations of a few years earlier.

Hyperborea is a throwback to the seventies TD, an almost classical themed piece, without the trance rhythm. Nice.

Cinnamon Road is thankfully short. It's an insipid, poppy piece, that might have been a big hit at the time if it included vocals by posers like a moaning nihilist, or a deep voiced woman with a crew cut.

Sphinx Lightning is the best reason to own the album. It's a classic TD styled hypnotic rhytmic piece, with the swirling keyboard interplay that the band was known for almost a decade earlier.

As a mixed bag, this gets 3 stars.