Among the latest set of EBay purchases is this 1979 album from German electronicists, Tangerine Dream. I was a late convert to the Tangs, loving their early completely synthesised works but far less convinced by their later, more melodic and ambient blending of electronica and real instruments. I suspect this one is right on the cusp of this shift in their style.
After a promising start, of electronic threat, Force Majeure soon slips into instrumental prog territory, which, while pleasant, has little to distinguish it from many similar examples of the genre. But it perks up halfway through, to sound much more Tangerine Dream like, before an overly bouncy completion.
Cloudburst Flight is, at seven minutes, the shortest piece on the album, and is basically a guitar piece over a repeated electronic theme. Again, it's listenable without inspiring.
Final piece, Thru Metamorphic Rocks, starts of with more conventional prog instrumental guitar, but after five minutes the Tangerine Dream we came for kicks in, with all sorts of effects over a repeated theme for an enjoyable conclusion.
As predicted, this is on the cusp of the band moving towards a more mainstream sound, but there's still enough of the earlier sound here to make this worth a listen.
3* - a reasonable way to waste forty minutes, without getting the listener over-excited
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