For a long time I thought Tangerine Dream was one of the most boring bands in the world. Until I heard the stuff the Berlin-based band did before they specialized in endless sequencer symphonies.
Their albums Zeit (1972) and Atem (1973) are different. Both contain dark and menacing, ambient drone music, created with electronics but also with organs, cellos, guitars and other instruments. Haunting, unpredictable and only describable as undescribable.
These albums are actually much more powerful than the esoteric soundscape of Phaedra which followed Atem and became the blueprint of their later work.
It has been told that Phaedra was the result of an accident - they let the tape roll while experimenting with a new synth. I wonder where Tangerine Dream had gone if they had continued on the road laid out with the predecessors.
I'm not a fan of their first two albums, Electronic Meditation and Alpha Centauri, when the band was moving into every possible direction without finding one that is actually listenable, but Zeit and Atem are masterpieces for which Edgar Froese and the other musicians involved deserve eternal credit.
Listen to Zeit above. I'll post Atem another time. You can purchase the albums through Amazon or any other retailer.
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