TANGERINE DREAM – STRATOSFEAR LP – Nr MINT UK  PROG AMBIENT

Tangerine Dream – Stratosfear
(Virgin Records  1976  V2068)
Matrix No’s: A5/B4 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Gatefold Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only continuous member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the group was its mid-70s trio of Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann. In the late 1970s, Johannes Schmoelling replaced Baumann. Since Froese’s death in 2015, the group has been under the leadership of Thorsten Quaeschning (Froese’s chosen successor and the current longest-serving band member, having joined in 2005).

Tangerine Dream are considered pioneers of the early days of electronica.^[3] Their work with the electronic music Ohr label produced albums that had a pivotal role in the development of the German musical scene known as kosmische (“cosmic”). Their “Virgin Years”, so called because of their association with Virgin Records, produced albums that further explored synthesizers and sequencers, including the UK top 20 albums Phaedra (1974) and Rubycon (1975). The group also had a successful career composing film soundtracks, creating over 60 scores, which include those for the films Sorcerer, Thief, Risky Business, The Keep, Firestarter, Legend, Three O’Clock High, Near Dark, Shy People, and Miracle Mile.

From the late 1990s into the 2000s, Tangerine Dream continued to explore other styles of instrumental music as well as electronica. Their recorded output has been prolific, including over one hundred albums. Among other scoring projects, they helped create the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto V. Their mid-1970s work has been profoundly influential in the development of electronic music styles such as new age (although the band themselves disliked the term) and electronic dance music.

Their most recent album, Quantum Gate, was released on 29 September 2017, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the band. The album is based on ideas and musical sketches by founder Edgar Froese and was completed by the remaining members of the band.

Stratosfear is an electronic music album released in 1976 by the German group Tangerine Dream. It marks the beginning of the band’s development away from their uncompromising early 1970s synthesizer experiments toward a recognizably more melodic sound, a trend they would pick up again in 1979’s Force Majeure. The title track “Stratosfear” has been played live many times and has been released in a re-mixed form on a number of other albums.

Stratosfear combines Tangerine Dream’s acoustic and electronic influences more tightly than before. For instance, at the end of the last track, “Invisible Limits”, the deep piano/flute tune reveals the album’s romantic flavour even after the earlier predominantly synthetic compositions (tracks #1 to last part of track #4).

The LP reached No.39 in the UK, in a 4-week chart run, and eventually reached silver status for selling an excess of 60,000 copies.

Track listing

Personnel

• Christopher Franke – Moog synthesizer, Birotron, organ, percussion, harpsichord
• Edgar Froese – Moog synthesizer, Mellotron, guitars, 12-string guitar, grand piano, bass guitar, mouth organ
• Peter Baumann – Moog synthesizer, Mellotron, Project Electronic Rhythm Computer, Fender electric piano