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Tangerine Dream: White Eagle

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Virgin Records
Released: 1982
Time:
 37:44
Category: Electronica
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.tangerinedream-music.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2000.12.23
Price in €: 5,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Mojave Plan (Franke/Froese/Schmoelling) - 20:08
[2] Midnight in Tula (Franke/Froese/Schmoelling) - 4:00
[3] Convention of the 24 (Franke/Froese/Schmoelling) - 9:37
[4] White Eagle (Franke/Froese/Schmoelling) - 4:34

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Johannes Schmoelling - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Producer
Edgar Froese - Synthesizer, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Design
Chris Franke - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Producer

Johannes Schmoelling - Producer
Simon Heyworth - Remastering
Monique Froese - Design
Mark Prendergast - Liner Notes

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded and mixed Januari 1982 in Berlin.



I’ll start off by saying that I’m not too obsessive, even though I’ve replaced my Virgin imports of Encore, White Eagle, Logos Live, and Hyperborea with the new domestic “Definitive Edition” CDs. I traded my old ones for $5 a pop and bought the new ones on sale for $10 each, making my total outlay $20.

With that justification out of the way, let me answer the most pressing question: do they sound better? Well, a little. There is definitely more presence in the high frequencies and sharper definition in the lows. Whether this is your preference or you enjoy a more “rounded” sound, I can’t judge. One thing is clear: Virgin did a pretty good job the first time around.

As far as the packaging goes, it’s a bit of a disappointment. Although we get the original covers, there is much overlap between all four. Each CD booklet folds out to reveal an introductory blurb about the band written by Mark Prendergast (who I believe writes for Britain’s “Record Collector”). There are then a few paragraphs that focus on the particular CD, the last two with quotes from Johannes Schoemelling. However, these are merely “transcripts” from the forthcoming box set. The reverse side of the foldout has small color reproductions of the Virgin albums. Also included in the booklet is the album’s highest chart entry for the U.K., and section timings for the longer compositions.

Now with the basics covered, I’ll say a little about each CD, working backward chronologically. Hyperborea still sounds fresh after 11 years. It’s hard to believe the same line-up produced such a boring work in Le Parc a scant two years later. “Cinnamon Road” is in my opinion the most successful “commercial” tune they have ever done, with a good balance of melody and sequencers. The longest composition, “Sphinx Lightning,” does get a little redundant toward the end. It seems as though it’s over, but no—it’s just the beginning of the final section. Still, a fine album.

The live Logos sounds great—there’s an added punch to the bass that’s not on the original Virgin CD. Compositionally, it has a good mix between structured melodic sections and the more free-form ones. However, I still find “Dominion” a little weak. If nothing else, it shows how far sampled drum technology has come in a decade.

There are two problems with this re-release. First, although the booklet shows the timings for each section of “Logos” (and my player does display them subindexed), the only way to access them is by fast-forwarding through the composition. Admittedly, I’d probably only listen to the tune as a whole, but it would be nice to access each section easily. (The indexing works fine on our player. Each section identified in the booklet is, in fact, accesible by index. –Ed.) Like the older CD, there is no album-side “break” between Parts One and Two (actually, there’s no longer two parts). Second, the band photos that were on the back cover of the original CD are not reproduced on the “Definitive Edition.”

White Eagle is probably the most redundant as far as remastered sound. Although there is a discernible improvement, all the tape hiss from the original is still there. “Mojave Plan,” which starts off so experimentally and fresh, falls apart halfway through and wanders aimlessly. “Midnight in Tula” is another one of those structured “tunes” that I just can’t get behind. “Convention of the 24” has a repetitive sequence throughout that sets an other-worldly mood and helps sustain my interest in its nine-plus minutes. “White Eagle” is of course one of TD’s all-time gems, and demonstrates the perfect marriage between technology and composition.

I’ll be brief concerning Encore, one of my favorite TD albums, because I want to cover it in-depth in a future issue of Beyond the Horizon. Again, the sound is a slight improvement, although there’s no indication if they’ve found the original master. The good news is that through cross-fading they’ve made the CD sound like one continuous performance, as opposed to the original where the audience faded out after each composition. Highly recommended.

By Jonathan Block
July 1994



The new CD version of Encore is a marked improvement over the old, which means that it’s time to frame the inner gatefold of the LP version. The electronic percussion that used to sound so plodding has been cleaned up, making it sound as fresh as anything being done nowadays. Phras-ings in the melodic lines are much more apparent than before. And you can listen to the piano parts of “Monolight” at low volume and still get a full sound. Of course, since the music was originally recorded live in 1977 on a U.S. tour, when recording technology was not as advanced as today, there is the occasional bit of distortion, such as in the opening of “Coldwater Canyon” and in the right stereo channel during “Monolight Part II.”

Although the original cover art from the LP made its way onto this new CD, the inner gatefold montage did not—hence the necessity to preserve it. In its place are small photos of the covers for all the Virgin TD releases (including a different one of Exit and one of Rubycon without the title on it), a brief history of the band up to 1983 and a description of the album. As part of the description, all the tracks are indexed by “movements.” Much of the indexing is in total conflict with that of the LP, and I’ll bet most of you predicted that the Stratosfear melody in “Monolight” would start as one of the index points. As for myself, I think I’ll continue to think of “Coldwater Canyon” as consisting of a 15-minute part and a three-minute part.

Musically, of course, Encore is a real treat. “Cherokee Lane” and “Monolight” are, for the most part, well-structured compositions that played a significant role in defining the “classic TD sound” many of us know and love. As evidence of this, a melody line from “Cherokee Lane” popped up on “Betrayal” from the Sorcerer soundtrack. The improvisational side of TD can be heard in Edgar Froese’s guitar solo in “Coldwater Canyon” (one of my all-time favorites) and in the more ambient “Desert Dream.” Interestingly enough, the ending of “Desert Dream” provides us with some insight into the musical directions that TD (as well as a few other electronic artists!) would pursue in the early 1980s.

The people at Virgin Records are to be commended for the job they have done in preparing the “Definitive Edition” of Encore. They have been able to take advantage of the latest technology to clean up the sound as best they could, while preserving the feeling of the original work. Equally remarkable is the fact that the remastering process has drawn out subtleties and nuances that were not previously apparent. It’s a fitting testament to extraordinary music.

By Dave Kaufman
July 1994



1. Mojave Plan

Echoing thumps and clicks, and discordant wails. An unsettling drone sets in, with some synth stabs on top. This goes on for a bit, and then there's that crazy metallic whooshing effect at 2:06. It's hard to describe. Very futuristic. At 2:40 (second movement), everything changes completely. The synth-drums play a mechanical rhythm (actually, most of the rhythms in "Mojave Plan" remind me of machines or trains), and there's an incredible choral sound over a buzzing sound. I picture something like blue light reflecting from a rotating mirror (how's that for a meaningless and vague mental image?) each the buzz reasserts itself at 2:52, 3:02 and 3:12. Meanwhile, a steadily propulsive sequence has appeared. Echoing clicks like those from the intro appear. 3:48. There's a new sequence entirely, a more upbeat and active one, and a new beat. Every time I blink there's a new layer--a repeating melody over the top (perhaps a sequence), a few synth-string chords, a lead melody. Train/machine evocation continues. It feels sort of like being in an airy room full of smoothly operating grey machinery of uncertain purpose. Whooshes and rolling kick drums start somewhere around 5:40, shortly before the pseudo-guitar part. I believe Armin said this was a PPG Wave in a post to the old UWP list. In any event, it's definitely being played to sound like a guitar (like a solo, in places). There's a nice flutey sound backing it up. No shortage of whooshing, either. Another of those rolling sequences I keep mentioning from review to review appears. The unguitar starts to wail and build up to a climax, and then everything breaks down. After the rolling sequence fades away, we hover around amid the whooshes and crashes for a bit. It sounds a bit like a waterfall. Then at about 10:30 (third movement now) a very trainlike rhythm moves us along. A new bassline starts up, and the drum machine and keyboards return. This part doesn't say much to me, until suddenly at 12:08 a fast, catchy new sequence bursts in, with a long "zeeow" effect. I can't tell if it's a filter sweep kind of thing or a portamento slide. Or both. Anyway, it sounds cool, and it leads into much crashing and whooshing. There's a strange whirling effect at 12:29 (and a few other places) that was earlier heard in "Ricochet." Meanwhile, I'm really liking this sequence. A soft, thoughtful melody arrives at 13:00. The pairing of thumping, clicking machine rhythms and this gentle sound is spine-tingling. Chattering voices, also from "Ricochet," bring on the end of this movement at about 15:00. The next one isn't too different, with that soft lead instrument followed by some tension-building chords. It goes on in this vein until an orchestral string section suddenly appears at 18:13 and plays a dramatic sting, and as we approach the 20-minute mark these strings usher in the end of the track. Wow. My favorite track on the album, no question. (Number of times I said "whoosh" in that description: 5)

2. Midnight in Tula

This is a short track, but rather unlike any of the ones that characterized the preceding album. It's faster (about 190 BPM, according to MacBPM), less funky and more robotic. There's a lot going on in this one. There are some really catchy keyboard themes, and what sounds like samples of a racquetball ricocheting around the court and off the racquets. That "whirling" sound I mentioned above is in here too. I also like the reverbed claps from the drum machine. Okay, fine, so it's kind of cheesy, but it's fun.

3. Convention of the 24

The track's distinctive sequence is all we hear at first. Various sound effects show up along the way. A very guitarish part appears at about 1:05. I don't know if this is another pseudo-guitar or the real thing, but it sounds quite realistic, and the tune it plays is more in line with Edgar's guitar style than the pseudo-guitar solo in the first track. Unlike the other long track on this album, "Convention of the 24" doesn't have many different phases. It follows the same template just about all the way through, with only a few exceptions. This makes it very easy to describe. One of the exceptions occurs at about 3:10, when the sequence partially disappears (hmm, was it really a couple sequences at once?) and a flute sound (vaguely "Remote Viewing"-esque) gets the spotlight. I think the thunderous drum sound from "Choronzon" shows up in there too. The track returns to its previous form, sequence(s?) intact, at about 4:15. The next major development is yet another sequence added on at about 5:45. And then another one, at about 6:15. This pretty much sums up the track; it consists of slow, driving, hypnotic sequences layered on each other, with random sound effects in the background. I like it, but not as much as the other tracks.

4. White Eagle

This is another track defined by its sequence, but it's a very different kind of sequence. It's soft, sparkly, and very relaxing, rather than driving and intense. Gentle melodies come and go around it, along with a few samples that were also used in "Mojave Plan," and some more of those crashes. I think there's even another Pseudo-Guitar(tm) in there. Unlike "Midnight in Tula," which ended at just the right moment, this one could have stood to go on longer. Excellent. Not as good as the sonic voyage that is "Mojave Plan," but comparing a 20-minute track to a 4-plus-minute one is unfair. It's a really tough call, but this just might be my second-favorite TD album of the '80s (" Logos " provides very stiff competition). Reviewing that one will be fun.

© Daniel (Quarlie)
 

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