On the heels of last year's excellent Bootleg Box Vol. 1 now comes Vol. 2, continuing to showcase Tangerine Dream's legendary live sets. Vol. 2 (7 CDs, 6hrs 24 min.) documents concerts from 1976 through 1983.

By far the best show here is Nottingham (11-8-76, 79 min.), picking up a mere 6 months from the last show of Vol. 1, it brings the classic line-up of Froese/Franke/Baumann in perhaps one of their best outings ever. Melodies take their time to build up, and when the deep synths, moogs and mellotrons fire up all cylinders, it's as good as TD has ever/will ever sound. The Washington show (4-11-77, 2 CDs, 109 min.) is also very good musically, but as it's culled from an FM broadcast, it's annoyingly interrupted on several occasions by the radio announcer. The Hamburg show (2-24-78, 52 min.) is the first post-Baumann show, and moreover features the Cyclone-era drummer and flutist/vocalist. I can handle the drums, but I cannot handle the occasional vocals, sorry. The Newcastle show (10-25-81, 2 CDs, 110 min.) is quite good, although by now the experimental live improvisation has left, but instead (with now Schmoelling in the line-up) is now more structured; fragments from "Logos Live" and "Exit" are featured in this set. Finally, the Frankfurt show (6-11-83, 35 min.) starts off as a somber tribute to the deceased German filmmaker Rainer Fassbinder, and then evolves into a preview of what we now know as the "Poland" set, quite nice.

In all, this is a most welcome addition and logical sequel to Vol. 1, which will satisfy many Tangerine Dream early-era fans (like myself). This is definitely not for the casual fan. And if I may say so, let the "Bootleg Box" series stop right here, right now: 2 volumes, 10 concerts on 14 CDs, it's been great. Why not quit while you're on top?

The second volume of the "Bootleg Box Set" series captures more historic live concerts from electronic music pioneers Tangerine Dream. Whereas the first volume focused on the classic period of 1974-1976, the second volume branches into the band's transitional period through their second golden wave in the early '80s.
The Nottingham and Washington concerts are definitive classic Tangerine Dream showcasing the line-up of Edgar Froese, Chris Franke and Peter Baumann at their improvisational best. The Washington show is somewhat marred by a radio broadcaster who speaks between each piece of music performed. Apart from this, the music performed is stunning and features unaltered versions of pieces that made it onto the 1977 live album "Encore".
The 1978 Hamburg concert displays the band in its transitional phase with the departure of Peter Baumann and the additional of vocalist/keyboardist/wind player Steve Jolliffe and drummer Klaus Kruger. Unfortunately, this recording quality of this concert is somewhat distorted and there are sections that are close to unlistenable especially when Jolliffe's flute and vocals enter in. It's impossible to discern whether he is singing lyrics or making wordless malismas. On the positive side, it's great to hear this line-up in a live setting having never heard them before (except on the studio album "Cyclone").
The Newcastle and Franfurt concerts from 1981 and 1983 respectively feature the second classic line-up of Froese, Franke and Johannes Schmoelling. This is where the band tones down its live improvisations and goes for a more structured melodic approach. The music is in the same vein as its 80s classics "Exit", "White Eagle", "Logos Live" and "Hyperborea". The 1983 historic Fassbinder Memorial Concert includes several piece which would later show up on the band's monumental 1984 live album "Poland".
All in all, this is a great follow-up to the first "Bootleg Box set". The band's studio releases from this period were only part of the story while the live concerts represented the rest of the picture. For Tangerine Dream die-hards, this is definitely a must.
I'd give this five stars if it weren't for the poor sound quality of the 1978 concert. Musically, this set is definitely worth more than five stars.

This is a collection of live concerts by Tangerine Dream as their classic line up (Franke, Froese, Baumann) began to fall apart. For that reason the earlier concerts are better. That said it is recorded better than the first bootleg box set but that doesn't mean you should buy it first. I mean what started off as a great proto-ambient experimental electronic band begins to degenerate into a bunch of new age noodling. The 1976 concert is a classic, the 1977 one is good but is interrupted by annoying DJ who is impatient for the band to continue playing (they should have edited this out) and after that its not quite as good. That said the 1981 concert has some good pieces from Exit. All in all, Tangerine Dream began to lose their live edge when they stopped improvising and focused on actual pieces. That said, if you enjoy their later stuff and would like to hear what it sounded like live, you can't do better than this.

I was about to start this review with, "during the 70s Tangerine Dream's sets were totally improvised, and the '76 and '77 shows demonstrate, blah, blah, blah", but if you're reading this you probably already know this. That said, this box set is not intended for the casual Tangerine Dream fan. There are lots (and lots, and lots) of other TD albums one should get first before spending your hard earned money to explore this live set. It is indeed a "bootleg", the recording quality isn't as good their "official" releases. But the two CDs from the Lisner Auditorium in DC from 1977 are from an FM broadcast, and worth the price of the box. I've had this recording for years, and they really did a GREAT job at cleaning it up, I was amazed how good the quality was when I first spun this show. I could tell as soon as the DJ started speaking in the beginning - the background noise that was present even on my early generation tape is almost completely absent. The DJ only speaks during the music one time, on the first track, and the CD is indexed so you can skip through his talking between "songs" if you choose. This 1977 show is an incredible set, and should had been released instead of the stuff they put on the 1977 live album "Encore" that they mixed with studio material and is not nearly as good. The second set of the show is incredible - and includes plenty of bubbling, space infused, heavy Moog sequencing madness that made this Froese/Franke/Baumann era so impressive.

The '78 show is only good because it is the only commercially available live set from that disposable post-Baumann era. The 80's shows are good because they have some material not available on any of their other live albums (mixed with a bunch that is), and the sound has been improved from what the fans have been trading over the years.

A purchase of this set a MUST for serious TD fans. The 1976 Nottingham's first tune is as incredible as it comes. This show also features improved sound quality from the tape I've been listening to for so long, but an audience tape is an audience tape. Such a great performance on the first track is worth the audible pain, though.

Again, none of the material in the box comes close to the '77 show or the first track of the '76 audience tape, but still, the box is worth it. I'm happy.

Truly a welcome treat to fans who are hungry, thirsty and dying to get the classic live years. My special thanks to Perry Fernandez of California who bought both sets and brought it all the way here to Manila. He knows I cant get them here so he made all effort to procure one for me again my deepest gratitude to Perry. As for the music, it is just what a long time fan wants music from its classic years with those crude long pulsating sequencers that rocks!!! Now I have reason to live on earth again.