TANGERINE DREAM – THIEF LP – Nr MINT UK 1981 PROG ELECTRONICA

Tangerine Dream – Thief
(Virgin Records  1981  V2198)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT condition

Vinyl 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 1979, 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). He is joined by violinist Hoshiko Yamane who joined in 2011, Ulrich Schnauss who joined in 2014 and Paul Frick who joined 9 June 2020.

Tangerine Dream are considered pioneers of the early days of electronica. 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, Flashpoint, 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 of all-new music, Quantum Gate, was released on 29 September 2017. In December 2019, the band released Recurring Dreams, a compilation of new recordings of some of the band’s classic compositions.

Thief (1981) is a soundtrack album by the German band Tangerine Dream for the film Thief, directed by Michael Mann It reached No. 43 on the UK Albums Chart in a 3-week run.

“Beach Theme” and “Beach Scene” are two different mixes of the same piece. The album version of “Dr. Destructo” is quite different from the film version An extended version of “Dr. Destructo” was available only on a promo single. “Igneous” is a remix of “Thru Metamorphic Rocks” from the 1979 album Force Majeure. Neither “Beach Theme” nor “Trap Feeling” appear in the film.

After Tangerine Dream completed the soundtrack, Mann needed another sequence. As Tangerine Dream was on tour, Craig Safan composed and performed “Confrontation”. The original 1981 Elektra LP released in the U.S. featured “Confrontation”, but subsequent releases featured “Beach Scene” instead.^{[citation needed]}

During the 1980s, Toronto television station CITY-TV used “Scrap Yard” as their background music when inserting technical difficulties slide cards.

The soundtrack was also nominated for Worst Musical Score at the 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards.

Track listings

Personnel

• Edgar Froese– keyboards, electronic equipment, guitar
• Christopher Franke– synthesizers, electronic equipment, electronic percussion
• Johannes Schmoelling– keyboards, electronic equipment
• Craig Safan– composed and performed “Confrontation”