Tangerine Dream East (Live Berlin 1990)

Recorded live on the 20th February 1990 at the Werner Seelenbinder Halle in East Berlin this was an historic concert for a couple of reasons. The Berlin Wall had just fallen, and I believe it was the first concert featuring Jerome Froese. The full lineup is Edgar & Jerome, Paul Haslinger, and Linda Spa and Hubert Waldner both on sax.

TDI representatives have labelled this another "Vault " release, the previous one being 'Rockface'. It's good to see live recordings now being released properly, the sound quality and presentation here are top notch. Hopefully they'll start tracking back in time now, not forward. The fact that this is a single CD as opposed to 'Rockface', which was a double, is perhaps a step in the wrong direction - but let's not be churlish here. If this is the start of the long awaited project to release live archive material in all its sonorous glory then it should be applauded.

The set opens very much in tune with the 'Optical Race' album, presenting the opening two tracks 'Marakesh' and 'Atlas Eyes' bridged seamlessly and expertly together. Sound quality is excellent, bright and punchy and to all intents and purposes they sound like subtle remixes of the album versions. Next up is 'Gaudi Park' from 'Le Parc' and again it's presented immaculately with enough variation from the original to keep interest. Back to 'Optical Race' next with the excellent 'Cat Scan' which then feeds into the sequencer driven 'Teetering Scales' from the soundtrack 'Miracle Mile'. 'Lily on the Beach' is not one of my personal favourites and the title track here does nothing to change my mind, it's so bland and lifeless though fair to say it's performed with precision and expertise. 'Nomads Scale' (previously featured on 'Rockface') livens things up considerably, the first track to feature guitar and a stirring (and relatively lengthy at 8+ mins) blast it is too. 'Daybreak on the River Spree' sounds familiar but I think it's a previously unreleased piece, a laid back affair picked out on that stabby harpsichord vox with the equally standard choral pads in the background. 'Longing for Cashba' is an excellent piece with rapid changes of pace, it's only previous outing was on the 'i-Box' and it encourages me revisit all 6 discs to weed out more hidden gems.

'Mount Shasta', for me the standout piece from 'Lily', follows and its infectious melody is presented with precision and poise. Used in this context, *that* stabby synth voice can be so effective. Shame it became so over-used. 'Alaskan Summer' is another lightweight 'Lily' piece and really struggles even in the live setting, but actually compared to the next track 'Wall Street' it's not that bad. The 'Destination Berlin' album is another with a thick layer of dust in my collection, and when you hear this completely awful sax laden muzak it's not hard to understand why. OK, I know they couldn't plough the 'Ricochet' furrow for ever, but to stray so far from their innovative roots is criminal. 'Hitchhiker's Point' is an improvement though the formula is largely the same, and the sax orgy continues on the insipid 'Long Island Sunset'. If the crowd's reaction is anything to go by my negativity is in the minority, and they greet the encore 'Berlin Summer Nights' with gusto. Most positive thing I can come up with is that at least they didn't choose 'House of the Rising Sun'.