Tangerine Dream - Underwater Sunlight (1986)

Jumping five years this time in TD history from the last post, to land squarely in the 'blue' years on Jive Electro.  The departure of Johannes Schmoelling in 1985 was for a long time my cut-off point for enjoying Tangerine Dream, but uncritical listening to this 1986 release reveals lots still left to love.  Froese plays more guitar on this one, Franke was still around for another year or two to bolster the sound, and of course Schmoelling had a replacement in the 23-year old Austrian pianist Paul Haslinger.

A classically-trained pianist who'd been playing jazz in Viennese clubs, Haslinger soon acclimated to the electronic trio and its armoury of new equipment.  There was still room for Haslinger's considerable piano talents, with an early highlight of this album's first side suite being his gorgeous solo at the halfway point.  The 19-minute Song Of The Whale may be the highlight of this aquatic-themed record, but the more uptempo tracks are fun too, even if we're well on the way from the 'electronic rock' TD of the early 80s to comfortably new age territory.  Some fine guitar work from Froese prevents things from ever becoming bland.  The final deep-sea ambience of Underwater Twilight rounds off the album well.

link

pw: sgtg

Bonus post: Tangerine Dream live at WDR Sendsaal, Cologne, 29 March 1986

Just prior to recording Underwater Sunlight, the new TD lineup undertook a month-long European tour, almost all of it in the UK followed by a single show in Cologne and one in Paris.  From the Cologne concert, the first hour exists as a radio broadcast recording, so makes for a nice short entry in the Tangerine Tree series that gives a flavour of the pre-album tour.  Material that wouldn't be included in Underwater Sunlight is particularly interesting here, such as the lengthy Akash Deep and its coda Beneath The Waves, Coloured Rain and The Cool Breeze Of Brighton (I understand at least some of these titles were fan-assigned and have since become semi-canon).  The opening re-work of the Stratosfear title track is good to hear too, as is a Haslinger solo piano spot which includes his eventual Song Of The Whale bridging section.

 

link

pw: sgtg

 

Previously posted at SGTG:

Electronic Meditation

Alpha Centauri  

Zeit

Atem 

Phaedra (scroll past main post)

Rubycon & Richochet

Stratosfear
Encore

Cyclone
Force Majeure
Tangram

Pergamon

Thief 

Exit

White Eagle 
Logos: Live At The Dominion
Hyperborea

Poland

Le Parc