Stratosfear
, the last
Tangerine Dream
album by the great
Baumann
/
Franke
Froese
threesome, shows the group's desire to advance past their stellar recent material and stake out a new musical direction while others were still attempting to come to grips with
Phaedra
and
Rubycon
. The album accomplishes its mission with the addition of guitar (six- and 12-string), grand piano, harpsichord, and mouth organ to the usual battery of moogs, Mellotrons, and e-pianos. The organic instruments take more of a textural role, embellishing the effects instead of working their own melodic conventions.
is also the beginning of a more evocative approach for
. Check the faraway harmonica sounds and assortment of synth-bubbles on
"3 AM at the Border of the Marsh From Okefenokee"
or the somber chords and choral presence of
"The Big Sleep in Search of Hades."
The title track opener is the highlight though, beginning with a statuesque synthesizer progression before unveiling an increasingly hypnotic line of trance. ~ John Bush