Cyclone wrote:
Well, that's exactly the kind of blind adulation you mentioned above.
Neuland is something else but by no means a continuation of the 70s.
There is no original spirit, or if there was, it was through the person EF - whatever he was doing (Rubycon or Under Cover).
Peter and Paul are just random players imo. Adding two names does not automatically create quality.
Wow. Where to even start with this particular mess...
"Well, that's exactly the kind of blind adulation you mentioned above."
Incorrect. It's based on listening to the music with a critical ear and an informed mind with knowledge of both music theory and composition.
"Neuland is something else but by no means a continuation of the 70s."
I never said it was a continuation of the 70's, but rather a continuation of the original spirit of Tangerine Dream by two members who both greatly contributed to what made the band unique in the first place.
"There is no original spirit, or if there was, it was through the person EF - whatever he was doing (Rubycon or Under Cover)."
Well the first half of this is statement is completely misinformed, and the second half shows that you're one of those people who think Edgar (and only Edgar) did **everything**. The truth of the matter is that- although he had the original vision for what Tangerine Dream would become- Edgar always surrounded himself with professionally trained (and educated) musicians in order to bring said vision to life. Without Franke and Baumann Tangerine Dream would have never achieved the success they did in the 70's, and even a casual listen to their solo material reveals how much of it was primarily them and how much of it was Edgar playing chords in the background. Baumann himself even said in recent interviews how it was him who'd be left in the studio to mix and master what had been recorded, so- if you follow that through logically- he was the one who gave TD both the tone and the texture of the 70's era music everyone speaks so highly of. TD floundered for a couple years after Baumann's departure, then Schmoelling came in and brought more classical structures and melody into the music. Renewed success, in other words. He tired of it after half a decade, and Paul Haslinger was brought in circa 1986 only to find himself- two years later- responsible for an entire album (minus three songs) and the music for the 1988 tour while Edgar was attending to the business side of things. That responsibility got pulled back in 1989, and the band started what would become a 25 year downward spiral of standard, generic, uninspired releases. Instead of unique sounds that were once created by hand/by scratch (the door creaking sound at the beginning of 'Sphinx Lightning', for example), fans were reduced to hearing keyboard factory presets (the opening of 'Oriental Haze', for example) or complete sections of music being lifted from Enigma and worked into 'At Darwin's Motel'. Why? Because it was just Edgar and Jerome- two
self taught musicians. Course corrections were attempted, naturally (including Jerome being unceremoniously forced to leave in 2006 in order to hand the proverbial reins over to Thorsten) but the ship wasn't righted until the end of 2014 which- unfortunately- turned out to be far, far too late. And let's not forget the glut of compilations, rehashed/reworked material, and live releases that came out between 1994 and 2014. Album sales tanked after MELROSE, the 1992 Rockoon tour saw the band playing to half-empty venues in the U.S., and after that no promoter would book them for a solo headlining tour nor would any label sign them. Hence the overabundance of releases on a hastily created label (TDI, which eventually gave way to Eastgate) and Edgar completely turning his back on the U.S. market. When people are no longer buying new studio albums in large quantities, the only option left is to financially exploit the existing fanbase with whatever can be thrown together and released/re-released/re-recorded/remixed etc.
Reference on U.S. tours (1986-1995):
https://www.tangerinedream-music.com/fo ... d3#p190839
"Peter and Paul are just random players imo. Adding two names does not automatically create quality."
Except that they did- for the reasons mentioned above- plus they have both their respective solo releases (and two different collaborations) to back that up. The fact that you can't hear the quality on said releases is mind-boggling, honestly.