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Tangerine Dream: Mars Polaris

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Eastgate Records
Released: 1999.07.27
Time:
 70:45
Category: Electronic, Avant-Garde
Producer(s): Edgar Froese
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.tangerinedream-music.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Comet's Figure Head (Jerome Froese) - 10:02
[2] Rim of Schiaparelli (Edgar Froese) - 6:15
[3] Pilots of the Ether Belt (Jerome Froese) - 10:15
[4] Deep Space Cruiser (Edgar Froese) - 4:42
[5] Outland (The Colony) (Jerome Froese) - 9:15
[6] Spiral Star Date [Level ♇] (Edgar Froese) - 6:13 *
[7] Mars Mission Counter (Edgar Froese) - 5:45
[8] Astrophobia (Jerome Froese) - 9:57
[9] Tharsis Maneuver (Edgar Froese) - 4:31
[10] Dies Martis [TransMercury] (Edgar Froese) - 4:00

* - ♇ is the astronomical symbol for Pluto

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Edgar Froese - Keyboards, Lead Guitar, Drumming, Artwork, Cover Design, Mixing, Editing, Producer
Jerome Froese - Keyboards, Drumming, Lead Guitar, Mixing, Editing, Mastering

Gerald Gradwohl - Guitar
Emil Hachfeld - Percussion

Christian Gstettner - Engineer, Studio Assistant
Mark B. Sherman - Engineer, Studio Assistant
Peter Liendl - Musical Assistance Software, Studio Assistant
Markus Virck - Artwork, Printing Matter
NASA - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Tangerine Dream had debuted on record the same year of the original Moon launch, and 30 years down the road, Edgar Froese and co. decided to dedicate a recording to the next step, the eventual landing of a man on Mars. The result, Mars Polaris, is what sounds like a surprisingly accurate rendering of the unmanned Mars Polar Lander's visit to the Red Planet (destined to arrive late in 1999), though the evocative atmospheres and gaseous effects are helped along by the equally descriptive titles "Mars Mission Counter," "Tharsis Maneuver," "The Silent Rock" and "Spiral Star Date."

Keith Farley - All Music Guide



1969 conjures up some of the most vivid images of human life and achievement from throughout the 20th century. Although every year has had its slice in the pie of notoriety, no other year comes close to the impact that 1969 had, and certainly not on such a wide scale. Thoughts of hippie concerts such as Woodstock, the death of Wizard of Oz star Judy Garland, the last public performance by The Beatles and the start of The Sesame Street are all conjured. Yet above it all came a feat that signified man at his greatest, the Apollo 11 spaceflight. At a time when astrology was at the forefront of humankinds thoughts, the music industry followed suit. Sweeping spacey psychedelic sounds took over the entire world, with bands like Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and Tangerine Dream blowing the minds of young sci-fi nerds. One month after the Apollo 11 spaceflight, Tangerine Dream recorded their first album, Electric Meditation and did not stop there, releasing album after album of astonishing sci-fi landscapes.

30 years later, as mans attention was shifting more and more from the desolate moon to new horizons, Tangerine Dream once again followed suit. Mars Polaris almost describes its intent and its sound through the cover art and album title. To the fans of the early Tangerine Dream work, Mars Polaris will undoubtedly be one of their favourite modern Tangerine Dream albums. Yet Mars Polaris is far from a return to their old epic avant-garde sound. In early Tangerine Dream albums, each song would pave its own path through a new mystical world, with no incessant rhythm or purpose, the album would flow through a myriad of emotions, sights and sounds. In Mars Polaris, each song feels more individual, as if each song has a set plot from the beginning. To a more modern audience, the script-like approach to composing certainly makes more sense than mentally challenging 20 minute cryptic pieces of art.

To some the percussion within Mars Polaris will contradict the flowing wavy moog soundscapes, yet unlike in some Tangerine Dream albums from the 80s and 90s, Mars Polaris does not focus entirely on a strong driving rhythm, but rather uses it to link together segments of lunar beauty. Perhaps the best example of this is in Outland (The Colony) where a hurried and vibrating percussion drives the song past sights of majestic synthesized beauty. The contrast of long-extended synthesizer notes and frantic percussion works nicely to create the image of a mechanic object amongst a world of natural beauty, a lone human structure on the desolate planet of Mars. It is this mechanical aspect that makes up the ugliest part of the album. In Tangerine Dreams past it has often been their Achilles heel, and sadly Mars Polaris falls prey to it too often. Although the percussion cannot be solely blamed, it certainly does contribute to a lack of emotion throughout the album. The pinnacles of emotion appear and disappear quickly, as if teasing the listener into wanting more. They are there, and for observant listeners, provide great reward.

For a Tangerine Dream album to stand out amongst their 100+ album discography, the textures need to stand out just as vividly. Unfortunately with Mars Polaris, much of the content within falls into doldrums. Songs like Tharsis Maneuver and Deep Space Cruiser feature moments of sonic pleasure, yet these moments are fleeting and are trapped underneath a torrent of dull synthesized sounds. For many listeners, this will be a turn off, hard to overcome. But for the dedicated listener, the fleeting moments of electronic oneness will make Mars Polaris an album worthy of the name Tangerine Dream.

It must be taken into consideration when comparing their early space influenced material with Mars Polaris, that they were at the cutting edge of technology in the 70s, exploring new dimensions of electronic sound. Mars Polaris does not feel worthy of these revolutionary standards, but conforms to the norm. For those that loved the pioneering sound of 70s electronic movement, Mars Polaris contradicts this totally with rehashed sounds and rehashed ideas. The percussion follows the path of previous Tangerine Dream for the most part and the spacey synthesized soundscapes in Mars Polaris sound far too generic. Sadly, Mars Polaris falls into the dull category of average. Moments of sheer pleasure prevent this album from falling below average, as does the unique structuring of each song (as plot-driven as it may be). It would be hard to recommend this album to anything other than an ardent Tangerine Dream fan, or a dedicated electronic elitist: Which is sad, because this album promised to be so much, yet failed like so many other Tangerine Dream albums from the 90s.

Daniel Incognito - June 4th, 2006
Copyright 2005-2014 Sputnikmusic.com



Mars Polaris — Deep Space Highway To Red Rocks Pavilion, is an album by electronic group Tangerine Dream. It was originally released in 1999, and re-released in 2009. All the tracks appeared on their live album Rocking Mars, which was released in 2005 with 4 extra tracks. It was recorded at Stadthalle in Osnabrück.

According to Voices in the Net, in June 1999, Tangerine Dream performed a one-off concert during the Klangart Festival in Osnabrück, presenting their new album Mars Polaris — Deep Space Highway To Red Rocks Pavilion. The whole album was performed, though the track order was changed. The music performed is essentially identical to the studio versions, with some guitar and percussion work added. Some older tracks were included in the main set and the encores (which did not appear on Mars Polaris).

There is a version of the album that includes tracks from Great Wall of China. It is limited to only a few hundred copies. The master disc that included these tracks was mistaken for the Mars Polaris master, and was pressed shortly before Great Wall of China was released. The composite master was purposefully made, and was originally intended to be released to promote both albums.

Wikipedia.org
 

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