Tangerine Dream - "Zeit" (LP review)

Herbert suggested that I highlight some eclipse-inspired music to mark the "Great American Eclipse" of 2017, but other than tired Bonnie Tyler references is anything relevant?  Perhaps Holst's "The Planets", but solar eclipses aren't really about planets.  Instead, I'm going with Tangerine Dream's third LP, "Zeit", from 1972.  Obviously the cover artwork is appropriate, but "Zeit" is also a seminal work in the genre of "space music", so you could make a pretty good argument that this what an eclipse "sounds like" (even though "Zeit" means "time", and the message of the LP is about how time is an illusion, etc.).

Herbert and I were also recently chatting about how formats (vinyl, CD, MP3, etc.) influence the structure and presentation of music, and this LP is a perfect example.  It's a double LP, with a total of four songs (one per side of vinyl), and while there are examples of songs being split across sides of a vinyl record, it's certainly not ideal and you have to consider that the approximate limits of 20 minutes per side was in the back of their minds while composing.  If this were recorded in age of CDs, would there be fewer than four tracks?  Or if post-CDs, just a single MP3?

I should also acknowledge my college roommate Frey who initially turned me on to Tangerine Dream, ca. 1990.  I didn't like them at first, but I was a big fan of Kitaro at the time and Frey pointed Kitaro's sound was influenced by TD's Klause Schulze in the mid 70s.  Exploring Frey's extensive TD discography, they quickly grew on me and I acquired many of their CDs after graduation.  It's certainly not a complete discography -- that's nearly impossible -- but it's a good sampling of their 1980s and earlier work.  "Zeit" actually stands alone in their discography, sounding a bit unlike other LPs in their canon.  It's dark, slow, ambient, percussion-less, slightly menacing, and quasi-orchestral: a perfect soundtrack for an eclipse.

In researching this post I also learned that Edgar Froese died in 2015, somehow I missed this when it occurred.  Edgar was a founder of Tangerine Dream and the only constant member from 1967--2015.  Tangerine Dream continues without Edgar, although it is worth noting that his son Jerome (who played with TD from 1990--2006) does not approve of TD's continuance without Edgar.   

While there are technically four tracks on the LP, they really can't be separated and they should be consumed as a whole, so I'll skip the regular LP review format.  This is an important, but demanding LP -- the kind that you only listen to once every year or two.  But you don't have to wait until 2024...

Final score: 9/10

Full LP: Tangerine Dream - "Zeit"



Bonus link: You know Tangerine Dream from the soundtrack to "Risky Business".