Cyclone

Since we last visited Tangerine Dream, Peter Baumann had packed his bags for a solo career, most notable though was his excellent production work for the French Egg label. Edgar Froese and Chris Franke then took the dramatic steps of reinventing Tangerine Dream by inviting drummer Klaus Krieger and wind instrumentalist Steve Jolliffe into the band. Jolliffe had been in an early incarnation of the band during the late '60s, but his tenure now would certainly be more controversial: Jolliffe would also supply Tangerine Dream with vocals! This change of direction, including adding acoustic instruments to the mix, was another attempt to broaden the band's sound. So at the very least, hats off to the band for trying something radically new. The album opens with "Bent Cold Sidewalk"; a straight-up song with a decent hook, the chorus fades into the much more familiar terrain of a great sequencer workout before ending in vocal refrain. "Rising Runner" is even more of a short-take; riding on a sinister keyboard line and Krieger's quick tempo, it seems more like proof of concept than a finished work. Taken alone (and vocoder aside), Jolliffe's vocal contributions may not be ideal, but they certainly integrate well with the music. So whatever the prognosis, Froese and Franke must have put some thought into what they were doing here. Yet if the first side of the album left anyone feeling short- changed, the second side's "Madrigal Meridian" more than makes up for it. Here Tangerine Dream offers a journey as dark and sinister as the cover art. Krieger's syncopation with the sequencers is perfectly hypnotic and the track ends in a gloriously romantic refrain. Jolliffe's leads, whether flute, lyricon or modulated whatever, float effortlessly, and Froese offers one of his best guitar solos on record. The album took quite a bit of critical heat upon release, but certainly not commercial. Cyclone lays claim to be the album that broke the band in their native Germany, and the subsequent European tour in support of the album had record attendance. I have to agree: the album is one of the most original and unique in the timeline. Yet the fact remains, Tangerine Dream would never weather this type of storm again.