My goodness...has it been
that long since I registered for this site??? Anyway, despite things being awfully quiet in here right now, please allow me to respond to some of my earlier critiques on TD's music.
To this day, I still consider Tangram a big disappointment.
I definitely like
Tangram a whole lot more now, but I still think the album peaked in the opening minutes of Set 1. That’s not an indictment of the rest of the music, which is very good, but I simply enjoy that first section way more than the rest. Other notable standouts include Set 1's ambient outro (later known as “Leaving The Masters For Good”) and the opening minutes of Set 2, which are excellent. Overall, I feel that
Force Majeure is the more cohesive album (for my personal tastes, at least).
I've always felt very similarly about 'Sphinx Lightning,' which never really appealed to me.
It’s crazy how perspectives change! What originally turned me off (besides the track’s length) was those thunderous bells in the opening minutes. I’d always find them unsettling, so I rarely ever let the track progress to its better moments. I also recall not liking that ambient part at 9:00; I found the whistle-like lead voice kind of wimpy. I don’t know what happened, but I eventually grew to enjoy the entire track. It’s probably the result of becoming even more familiar with TD’s catalog, especially
Poland and the early Virgin Years albums. Nowadays, I love when the loud bells give way to the longform sequencer, and I credit classics like “Horizon” with helping me appreciate the final climactic section.
To be honest, I'm not really fond of the vocal sfx on Views From A Red Train.
All these years later, I’m still very lukewarm about those vocal samples (or whatever they are). I can live with them, but I’ve heard better elsewhere. The same applies to other releases like
Autumn In Hiroshima and
Josephine The Mouse Singer, although I rate those samples slightly higher. In all applicable cases, so long as I enjoy the tracks they appear in, it’s not a big deal.
I'm not too fond of 'Girls On Broadway' from Rockoon
This one grew on me a lot, and ironically, I have
Tournado to thank for that. I always greatly preferred the warmer, minor-keyed, oftentimes guitar-laden tracks from
Rockoon and
220 Volt Live, but “Girls On Broadway” is a neat little excursion off the beaten path. Coincidentally, I’m surprised I never complained about “Body Corporate”, which could possibly be my least favorite sax track after “Hitchhiker’s Point” (which at least had more going for it compositionally). I’ll listen to it without skipping, but it’s one of the few Seattle Years tracks I wouldn’t repeat in one sitting.
Can't say I'm fond of "Turning Off The Wheel" / "The Golden Horn" at all. [...] It's not awful, but I'd need to be in the right mood to appreciate it.
Now I like both. I binge-listened to an ungodly amount of TD during my final few years of university coursework, and that included
Transsiberia. For a while, I would switch to another album as soon as “Russian Soul” was about to end, but I eventually gave “The Golden Horn” airplay. You know, it wasn’t that bad after all. That allowed me to listen to “Turning Off The Wheel” with new ears, and my goodness, I think that track is brilliant. It may be no melodic tour de force like “Sun Gate” or “Mothers Of Rain”, but it’s so cleverly crafted and layered. This is sadly belated, but masterfully done, Edgar.
All this time, I forgot to mention "Storm Seekers" and "Cool Shibuya". I always skip them.
Wow, I’ve come a long way. I may not put either track anywhere near my Top 50 or even 100, but both are really quite decent. They each have their individual strengths too. “Cool Shibuya” is a bit more interesting with its meshwork of sequencer and everything else going on, but the slightly more percussive “Storm Seekers” isn’t half bad either. It took me many years, but I can finally acknowledge both tracks’ merits.
one incredibly disappointing one would be 'Rolling Down Cahuenga' from Melrose. It starts off promising, with a nice 'Enjoy The Silence'-esque bassline, but quickly loses focus and starts meandering for several minutes. I don't usually skip tracks I dislike, but I tire of this one too quickly.
I owe a lot to
Arizona ‘92 for helping me appreciate the bulk of the track even more. I still contend that the first 2:25 minutes are its most focused section, and I recall not liking its subsequent twists and turns nearly as much. In particular, I thought the track was getting ridiculous by 4:00 and especially 4:52. Those deviations no longer bug me; I just take them as the ebb and flow of the musical journey. As a longtime fan of Depeche Mode and other mainstream acts, it’s no surprise that it took me a while to find some enjoyment in these more tangential sections.
there are possibly several that simply don't do much for me. I guess one example would be "Desert Train" from Melrose. It's not bad, but neither does it warrant a repeated listen. [...] I just gave "Desert Train" another listen and my earlier thoughts still stand. There's no question that it's totally listenable, but it's also very pedestrian, and I kind of hoped for something more interesting for a 10-minute track. It also doesn't help that I generally like the rest of the tracks on Melrose, so this one sticks out in an unfavorable way.
In another unexpected turn of events, I’ve come around on “Desert Train” too. Some of its melodies and voicings aren’t anything special and it does meander quite a bit, but I still consider it an enjoyable ride. I once found it to be out of place on
Melrose, but nowadays, I think it’s fine.
I'm glad that little extract from "Parabola" didn't make it onto Rockface. It's arguably the weakest part of the track, and I'm surprised whenever I see people grumbling about its exclusion from the CD.
I almost forgot about this one. It’s definitely one of TD’s fluffier segments (except for that brief, cinematic breakdown after the 4:20 mark in Section 2, which is rather lovely), but at least I find it listenable now.
Needless to say, I've changed my mind quite a lot over the years. I was initially very high on Jerome's contributions to the band during the '90s, and while that's still true, I've also come to greatly appreciate Edgar's composition style during the more divisive periods of TD's existence. Once I was able to find value in those tracks, I ended up with a more accepting attitude towards tracks and musical passages I previously disliked. I'm sure there'll still be the occasional rough spot, particularly in the vast realm of TD soundtracks, but I'm glad I was able to revise some of my past negativity.