Totally stunned by this news.tangerine dream have been one of my favourite bands for nearly 30 years.can't believe he died on Tuesday and there's been nothing about it on the news.if this was some talentless nobody from x factor it would be front page headlines.
Sad news.Tangerine Dream are my favourite band of all time. I started listening to them when I was around 10 years old, and I still have all the old vinyl albums from Phaedra up to Tyger. Underwater Sunlight was a great album, but they were never the same after Johannes Schmoelling left to be replaced by Paul Haslinger. Still love them though. Easily up there with Kraftwerk as being one of the most influential electronic artists of all time. RIP Edgar.
Today, I feel very sad. TD were and still are my all time favourite band. I also liked the solo albums by Edgar and other band and ex band members. Stratosphere, the original version is my all time TD favourite. R.I.P. Edgar.
Just listened to the last 5 minutes of the live album 'Soundmill Navigator'.
It is so powerful and sends shivers down my spine whenever I listen to that last part of the album.
very sad to hear about Edgar. Phaedra and Rubicon are two of my favourite albums still. A true pioneer along with the other members of Tangerine Dream.
Read it online last night, very sad news and very unexpected.
As others have already said the Virgin years are my favourite eras, although they were still capable of some very good work after that but records like Phaedra,Rubycon, Stratosphere, Ricochet, etc, will always represent "classic" Tangerine Dream for me.
When compared to Kraftwerk I don't think they have been given the recognition they deserve in this country, certainly not over the last 20 - 30 years.
TD are up there with the likes of Kraftwerk. Innovators and have a huge following.
It's sad that a lot of people only seem to credit Kraftwerk with influencing the sound of early disco, techno and rap due to their use of keyboards, sequencers and loops.
But yet TD and Edgar Froese were for me equally as innovative and influential in this respect. And in turn much of that technology and technique is utilised in a lot of todays music.
The interesting thing is what will happen now, if the band will continue. Not really sure...there have been many personnel changes over the years, and Edgar's son Jerome has been part of the and for a while, but he left to do his own thing some years ago. He currently has a band called Loom, which though of a more modern sensibility than TD do carry the influence of his fathers legacy.
And though a lot of people will say TD were kind of past their prime, and consider the 70's music to be their definitive era, I have still listened to their subsequent recordings with interest.
True, the 90's stuff was not the best, veering into laid back, easy listening elevator music in places. And then Edgar's penchant for remixing and recording the classic tracks was not a popular move for many, but I actually did not mind them too much.
And I liked a lot of the Dream Mixes stuff too.
And it has to be said the band and indeed Edgar's output was incredible...I don't think the guy ever slept! I remember about 15 years or so back I was heavily into the band, and decided to try and collect everything, but soon gave up. Not only was there a lot of official recordings, but also stuff available only via the website/fan club/live gigs etc.
I have always checked out the new stuff, and though it was hardly the same as the older stuff it was always interesting to hear. Booster came pretty close to the old sound.
I also saw the band live many times over the years, and the changing line ups and varying styles of music helped to keep things interesting. In recent years I like the concept of the band playing almost continuously, mixing new pieces of music in with the older stuff.
I think the Tangerine Dream project should be laid to rest now. Underwater Sunlight in 1986 was their last really good album. After that they lost their way and, it pains me to say, produced some really naff music that's dated terribly. When Chris Franke left it was all over and probably should have ended there.
Now their line-up consists of Ulrich Schnauss (who is actually an amazing artist in his own right and whose own music is better than anything TD have done in over 20 years), Japanese violinist Hoshiko Yamane and Thorsten Qaeschning on keyboards. Together they might produce something good but it won't be Tangerine Dream. Now Edgar's died they should drop the name and create a new project if they wish to continue working together.
I think the Tangerine Dream project should be laid to rest now. Underwater Sunlight in 1986 was their last really good album. After that they lost their way and, it pains me to say, produced some really naff music that's dated terribly. When Chris Franke left it was all over and probably should have ended there.
Now their line-up consists of Ulrich Schnauss (who is actually an amazing artist in his own right and whose own music is better than anything TD have done in over 20 years), Japanese violinist Hoshiko Yamane and Thorsten Qaeschning on keyboards. Together they might produce something good but it won't be Tangerine Dream. Now Edgar's died they should drop the name and create a new project if they wish to continue working together.
I tend to agree unless Jerome is willing to take the reigns.
I also agree that for a long time now, their music has not been what it was with a few exceptions.
I was shocked to hear about the loss of Edgar Froese. It seems as if we were working together about fifteen years ago, not thirty-five.
It was on my first picture, Thief, and Berlin was still a divided city. I had culled music ideas from Tangerine Dream's Alpha Centauri and Phaedra, that I referred to constantly during shooting. In post, after shipping a dupe of the film, many phone conversations and cues back and forth, we spent a week together on the final in their studio. Their studio was amazing. It was a gutted cinema near the Berlin Wall.
Earlier, I had been divided between choosing music regionally native to Thief, Chicago Blues, or going with a completely electronic score. The choice was intimidating because two very different motion picture experiences would result. Right then, the work of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Faust was an explosion of experimental and rich material from a young generation coming of age out of the ruins and separating itself from WWII Germany. It was the cutting edge of electronic music. And, it had content. It wasn't sonic atmospheres. There was nothing in the UK or the States like it.
Further, there was a relationship between the blues and Froese because he had started out as a blues guitarist. Even though their music was electronic, it had a twelve bar blues structure to most of it. More importantly he, as an artist and a man, was connected to the material reality of life on the street and he found musical inspiration there, as does the Blues. Culturally, he was attuned to the politics of the '60s and '70s. Berlin was still steeped in its recent history and its history… the Wall, shrapnel damage to building facades…was still evident.
The score was adventurous with some real voyages of discovery. Working with analog sequencers and synthesizers we were also processing sound effects, which I had brought in a suitcase on mag, so that ocean waves might crash in G Major, the same key as the cue. It was a wonderful artistic collaboration. Thinking back to what was at the time cutting edge technology but so primitive now, it was more fun. They were innovating processes and re-combining components to do stuff on frontiers that Moog never envisioned, as new ideas showed up.
It was Edgar's open spirit and embrace of possibilities that made it all occur. A somewhat unique soundtrack for its time was the result. Working together with band-mates Johannes Schmoelling and Christopher Franke with Froese in the lead in a gutted movie theater, hard by the Berlin Wall, it seems like not so long ago and it was the best of times.
Heartfelt condolences to his family and to all the talented people who knew him and worked with him over the years....
Comments
From the Tangerine Dream Facebook page:
Dear Friends,
This is a message to you we are very sorry for…
On January 20th, Tuesday afternoon, Edgar Froese suddenly and unexpectedly passed away from the effects of a pulmonary embolism in Vienna.
The sadness in our hearts is immensely.
Edgar once said: “There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address."
Edgar, this is a little comfort to us.
Yours,
TANGERINE DREAM TEAM
Been a fan of TD for years. Today I was watching the new blu ray release of Michael Mann's Thief today, and that has one of their best ever scores.
Not just a great composer, keyboard player and innovator, but also a very fine guitarist, which anyone who has ever seen TD live will know.
In fact, I consider this opening sequence one of the best examples of music and visuals ever.
And to those morons who class it as a 'cheesy 80's synth score'...WTF, can't you hear the damn guitar?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEvomyYkIPY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEvomyYkIPY
A true pioneer.
Yes.
TD are up there with the likes of Kraftwerk. Innovators and have a huge following.
Some mistakes in that news item.
Edgar was making solo albums before 2003 as stated in this news item.
It is so powerful and sends shivers down my spine whenever I listen to that last part of the album.
My favourite albums are Zeit (with The Klangwald Performance added), Phaedra & Rubycon.
Movements Of A Visionary from Phaedra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwNwU34yvNg
As others have already said the Virgin years are my favourite eras, although they were still capable of some very good work after that but records like Phaedra,Rubycon, Stratosphere, Ricochet, etc, will always represent "classic" Tangerine Dream for me.
When compared to Kraftwerk I don't think they have been given the recognition they deserve in this country, certainly not over the last 20 - 30 years.
It's sad that a lot of people only seem to credit Kraftwerk with influencing the sound of early disco, techno and rap due to their use of keyboards, sequencers and loops.
But yet TD and Edgar Froese were for me equally as innovative and influential in this respect. And in turn much of that technology and technique is utilised in a lot of todays music.
The interesting thing is what will happen now, if the band will continue. Not really sure...there have been many personnel changes over the years, and Edgar's son Jerome has been part of the and for a while, but he left to do his own thing some years ago. He currently has a band called Loom, which though of a more modern sensibility than TD do carry the influence of his fathers legacy.
And though a lot of people will say TD were kind of past their prime, and consider the 70's music to be their definitive era, I have still listened to their subsequent recordings with interest.
True, the 90's stuff was not the best, veering into laid back, easy listening elevator music in places. And then Edgar's penchant for remixing and recording the classic tracks was not a popular move for many, but I actually did not mind them too much.
And I liked a lot of the Dream Mixes stuff too.
And it has to be said the band and indeed Edgar's output was incredible...I don't think the guy ever slept! I remember about 15 years or so back I was heavily into the band, and decided to try and collect everything, but soon gave up. Not only was there a lot of official recordings, but also stuff available only via the website/fan club/live gigs etc.
I have always checked out the new stuff, and though it was hardly the same as the older stuff it was always interesting to hear. Booster came pretty close to the old sound.
I also saw the band live many times over the years, and the changing line ups and varying styles of music helped to keep things interesting. In recent years I like the concept of the band playing almost continuously, mixing new pieces of music in with the older stuff.
Now their line-up consists of Ulrich Schnauss (who is actually an amazing artist in his own right and whose own music is better than anything TD have done in over 20 years), Japanese violinist Hoshiko Yamane and Thorsten Qaeschning on keyboards. Together they might produce something good but it won't be Tangerine Dream. Now Edgar's died they should drop the name and create a new project if they wish to continue working together.
I tend to agree unless Jerome is willing to take the reigns.
I also agree that for a long time now, their music has not been what it was with a few exceptions.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/6450952/michael-mann-edgar-froese-tangerine-dream
I was shocked to hear about the loss of Edgar Froese. It seems as if we were working together about fifteen years ago, not thirty-five.
It was on my first picture, Thief, and Berlin was still a divided city. I had culled music ideas from Tangerine Dream's Alpha Centauri and Phaedra, that I referred to constantly during shooting. In post, after shipping a dupe of the film, many phone conversations and cues back and forth, we spent a week together on the final in their studio. Their studio was amazing. It was a gutted cinema near the Berlin Wall.
Earlier, I had been divided between choosing music regionally native to Thief, Chicago Blues, or going with a completely electronic score. The choice was intimidating because two very different motion picture experiences would result. Right then, the work of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk and Faust was an explosion of experimental and rich material from a young generation coming of age out of the ruins and separating itself from WWII Germany. It was the cutting edge of electronic music. And, it had content. It wasn't sonic atmospheres. There was nothing in the UK or the States like it.
Further, there was a relationship between the blues and Froese because he had started out as a blues guitarist. Even though their music was electronic, it had a twelve bar blues structure to most of it. More importantly he, as an artist and a man, was connected to the material reality of life on the street and he found musical inspiration there, as does the Blues. Culturally, he was attuned to the politics of the '60s and '70s. Berlin was still steeped in its recent history and its history… the Wall, shrapnel damage to building facades…was still evident.
The score was adventurous with some real voyages of discovery. Working with analog sequencers and synthesizers we were also processing sound effects, which I had brought in a suitcase on mag, so that ocean waves might crash in G Major, the same key as the cue. It was a wonderful artistic collaboration. Thinking back to what was at the time cutting edge technology but so primitive now, it was more fun. They were innovating processes and re-combining components to do stuff on frontiers that Moog never envisioned, as new ideas showed up.
It was Edgar's open spirit and embrace of possibilities that made it all occur. A somewhat unique soundtrack for its time was the result. Working together with band-mates Johannes Schmoelling and Christopher Franke with Froese in the lead in a gutted movie theater, hard by the Berlin Wall, it seems like not so long ago and it was the best of times.
Heartfelt condolences to his family and to all the talented people who knew him and worked with him over the years....