Tangerine Dream are considered a pioneering act in 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, The Soldier, 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.
The group is currently working on a new album as a four-piece to be released in 2021 via Kscope.
Tangerine Dream began as a surreal rock band, with each of the members contributing different musical influences and styles. Edgar Froese's guitar style was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, while Christopher Franke contributed the more avant garde elements of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Terry Riley. Yes-like progressive rock influence was brought in by Steve Jolliffe on Cyclone. The sample-based sound collages of Johannes Schmoelling drew their inspiration from a number of sources; one instance is Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians on parts of Logos Live, and the track "Love on a Real Train" from the Risky Business soundtrack.
Classical music has had an influence on the sound of Tangerine Dream over the years. György Ligeti, Johann Sebastian Bach, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Maurice Ravel, and Arcangelo Corelli are clearly visible as dominant influences in the early albums. A Baroque sensibility sometimes informs the more coordinated sequencer patterns, which has its most direct expression in the La Folia section that comes at the very end of the title track of Force Majeure. In live performances, the piano solos often directly quoted from Romantic classical works for piano, such as the Beethoven and Mozart snippets in much of the late 1970s – early 1980s stage shows. In the bootleg recording of the Mannheim Mozartsaal concert of 1976 (Tangerine Tree volume 13), the first part of the first piece also clearly quotes from Franz Liszt's Totentanz. The first phrase is played on a harpsichord synthesizer patch and is answered by the second half of the phrase in a flute voicing on a Mellotron. During the 1990s, many releases included recordings of classical compositions: Pictures at an Exhibition (on Turn of the Tides), Largo (from Xerxes) (on Tyranny of Beauty), Symphony in A Minor (by J. S. Bach), and Concerto in A Major / Adagio (by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (both on Ambient Monkeys).
Since the 1990s, Tangerine Dream have also recorded cover versions of Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze" (first on 220 Volt Live) and The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "Norwegian Wood".
An infrequently recurring non-musical influence on Tangerine Dream, and Edgar Froese in particular, have been 12th–19th-century poets. This was first evident on the 1981 album Exit, the track title "Pilots of the Purple Twilight" being a quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Locksley Hall. Six years later, the album Tyger featured poems from William Blake set to music; and around the turn of the millennium, Edgar Froese started working on a musical trilogy based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, completed in 2006. Most recently, the 2007 album Madcap's Flaming Duty features more poems set to music, some again from Blake but also e.g. Walt Whitman.
Pink Floyd were also an influence on Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, the band in its very early psychedelic rock band phase playing improvisations based on Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive". Madcap's Flaming Duty is dedicated to the memory of the late Syd Barrett. The title refers to Barrett's solo release "The Madcap Laughs".
The band's influence can be felt in ambient artists such as Deepspace, The Future Sound of London, David Kristian, and Global Communication, as well as rock, pop, and dance artists such as Porcupine Tree, M83, DJ Shadow, Ulrich Schnauss, Cut Copy, and Kasabian. The band also clearly influenced 1990s and 2000s trance music, where lush soundscapes and synth pads are used along with repetitive synth sequences, much like in their 1975 releases Rubycon and Ricochet, as well as some of their music from the early 1980s. The group have also been sampled countless times, more recently by Recoil on the album SubHuman, by Sasha on Involver, and on several Houzan Suzuki albums. Michael Jackson also cited Tangerine Dream as one of his favourite bands, especially their 1977 soundtrack for Sorcerer.
A Dream of Death
Tangerine Dream Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With hollow mourning, far too loud,
And sighs that were but empty sound,
And laid me low within the ground.
I felt her tears through all the rest;
Past sheet and shroud they reached my breast;
They warmed to life the frozen clay,
And I began to smile and say:
I rose up in the dead of night;
I sought her window;—'t was alight.
A pebble clattered 'gainst the pane,—
"Who's there? the wind and falling rain?"
"Ah! no; but one thy tears have led
To leave his chill and narrow bed
To warm himself before thy breath;
Who for thy sake has conquered death.
Arise, and love me, Helena!"
She opened the door, she drew me in.
Her mouth was pale, her cheek was thin;
Her eyes were dim; its length unrolled,
Fell loosely down her hair of gold.
My presence wrought her grief's eclipse;
She pressed her lips upon my lips,
She held me fast in her embrace,
Her hands went wandering o'er my face:
At last thou lov'st me, Helena!
The days are dark, the days are cold,
And heavy lies the churchyard mould.
But ever, at the deep of night,
Their faith the dead and living plight.
Who would not die if certain bliss
Could be foreknown? and such as this
No life—away! the hour is nigh,
With heart on fire she waits my cry:
Arise, and love me, Helena!
The song "A Dream of Death" by Tangerine Dream is a haunting and emotional piece that tells the story of a man who has died and is brought back to life by his lover's tears. The opening verse describes his funeral, where he is wrapped in a shroud and laid in the ground. However, he can still feel his lover's tears, and they bring him back to life.
In the second verse, the man rises up from the dead and goes to his lover's window. He throws a pebble at the window, and his lover asks who is there. He tells her that he has come back to life for her and asks her to love him. She lets him in, and they share a passionate embrace.
The final verse describes how the man and his lover meet in secret, pledging their love to each other despite the cold and darkness of the world around them. The man sees his return from the dead as a chance to experience an eternal happiness with his lover. The song is a powerful exploration of love, death, and what it means to truly live.
Line by Line Meaning
I DIED; they wrapped me in a shroud,
The singer has passed away and has been wrapped in a burial cloth.
With hollow mourning, far too loud,
The mourning for the singer is insincere and exaggerated.
And sighs that were but empty sound,
The sounds of sadness from others are meaningless to the singer.
And laid me low within the ground.
The artist has been buried in a grave.
I felt her tears through all the rest;
The artist is aware of a particular person's tears amongst the crowd.
Past sheet and shroud they reached my breast;
The tears reached the singer's chest despite the cloth covering it.
They warmed to life the frozen clay,
The tears have a restorative effect on the singer's body.
And I began to smile and say:
The artist gains consciousness and starts speaking.
At last thou lov'st me, Helena!
The artist is overjoyed to realize that Helena loves them.
I rose up in the dead of night;
The artist gets up from their grave during the nighttime.
I sought her window;—'t was alight.
The singer sees that Helena's window is illuminated.
A pebble clattered 'gainst the pane,—
The artist throws a small rock at Helena's window to get her attention.
"Who's there? the wind and falling rain?"
Helena wonders aloud about the source of the noise.
"Ah! no; but one thy tears have led
The singer informs Helena of their identity and reason for being there.
To leave his chill and narrow bed
The singer has left their grave to be with Helena.
To warm himself before thy breath;
The artist desires warmth and comfort from Helena's presence.
Who for thy sake has conquered death.
The artist has defied death for Helena's sake.
Arise, and love me, Helena!"
The singer implores Helena to love them and accept their presence.
She opened the door, she drew me in.
Helena welcomes the singer into her home.
Her mouth was pale, her cheek was thin;
Helena shows physical signs of grief and sadness.
Her eyes were dim; its length unrolled,
Helena's grief is further exemplified by her disheveled appearance.
Fell loosely down her hair of gold.
Helena's blond hair is let down, adding to the melancholic atmosphere.
My presence wrought her grief's eclipses;
The singer is able to distract Helena from her sadness, at least momentarily.
She pressed her lips upon my lips,
Helena kisses the artist passionately.
She held me fast in her embrace,
Helena hugs the singer tightly.
Her hands went wandering o'er my face:
Helena caresses the singer's face with her hands.
At last thou lov'st me, Helena!"
The singer is content in knowing that Helena loves them.
The days are dark, the days are cold,
The artist relates to the dreary and dismal nature of the living world.
And heavy lies the churchyard mold.
The artist acknowledges the weight of the burial site's soil.
But ever, at the deep of night,
The singer continues to visit Helena at night.
Their faith the dead and living plight.
The unwavering loyalty between the singer and Helena is emphasized.
Who would not die if certain bliss
The artist would be willing to die if it meant being with Helena forever.
Could be foreknown? and such as this
The artist sees their relationship with Helena as a blissful paradise.
No life—away! the hour is nigh,
The artist would rather die than be without Helena.
With heart on fire she waits my cry:
Helena eagerly anticipates the singer's visit.
Arise, and love me, Helena!"
The artist once again pleads for Helena's love.
Contributed by Katherine N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@bobbyneal6322
LOVE IT!! Thanks again, PROPHET V!!
@miklosviola6633
It's an amazing track! Fantastic! Thx for upload!
@jackvern
i listened to this 4 years ago until today i still have this melody in my brain...
@PROPHETVberlinschule
As always, Berni adds his own brand of guitar magic to this track😎
@PROPHETVberlinschule
I'm pleased that you like it, Miklós.
@PROPHETVberlinschule
PPm meets TD.
@Jan37ful
guitar Berni