The theme of this album is, as the title suggests, park spaces around the world. At first glance, the concept appears unassuming and hardly feels the topic for great musical expression. Bear in mind, though, that Tangerine Dream are masters of musical landscape and this topic certainly has given them scope aplenty to demonstrate this mastery. The hallmark Tangerine Dream electronic textures have been enhanced on several tracks by the inclusion of appropriate environmental recordings (of children playing, traffic passing and gulls crying over the sound of the sea) all of which add to the sense of actually being there.

Thus we can't help but feel the bustle and vibrancy of 'Le Parc (L.A. Streethawk)', enjoy the expansive views from 'The Cliffs of Sydney (Sydney)' and become involved in the daring of the skateboarders of 'Central Park (New York)'. Every inch of this musical journey is a delight, from the well-ordered lawns of 'Tiergarten (Berlin)' and the impressive but civilised beauty of 'Gaudi Park (Guell Garden, Barcelona)' to the vast imposing grandeur of 'Yellowstone Park (Rocky Mountains)'. This latter comes complete with haunting Amerindian tonalities and Clare Torry's wordless evocation of an ancient and almost forgotten spirit-world. Particularly beautiful too are the synthesised oriental flutes, strings and drums that portray the mystical peace of 'Zen Garden (Ryoanji Temple, Kyoto)' and which provide a perfect setting for Katja Brauneis' exquisite wordless vocals.

My only complaint about this disc is that there is simply not enough of it! Just less than 40 minutes in duration, it is decidedly slim fare by today's CD standards. You should be aware too, that the 5-CD set "The Dream Roots Collection" contains 7 of the 9 tracks from this album (the missing ones are 'Hyde Park (London)' and 'The Cliffs of Sydney') so, if you are currently without this disc, and also "Tyger" and "Underwater Sunlight", you might want to consider buying the box set instead of the single CDs. The box set versions are slightly different, but are in no way inferior to these originals. It would be a shame not to have the Sydney track, though...

Le Parc(1985). Tangerine Dream's 20th(?) studio album.

Although Germany-based electronic music group Tangerine Dream has been around since the late 60s, their career can technically be divided into several different periods. Not by the decades per se, but rather by their tenure with certain record companies throughout the years. For instance, the first several albums from the late 60s until 1973 all came from what is known as the "Pink years". This was when TD were exploring what kind of sound that they wanted to perform, highlighted with albums like Alpha Centauri(1971) and Zeit(1972). In 1973 they signed a ten year contract with Virgin Records and went through the "Virgin years" phase, considered to be their most popular period, starting with Phaedra(1975) and ending with Hyperborea(1983). 1984 was a low profile year for TD, seeing as they were involved with many soundtracks at the time. However, they managed to sign another contract which resulted in the "Blue years". It's not their most well known period, and it only lasted a few albums, but it was the last really important phase to date, and churned out a few masterpieces of instrumental synth-score work. This is where Le Parc comes in.

By the mid 80s, keyboard and synthesizer technology had advanced far enough to incorporate a wide variety of soundscapes which had drastically improved from the beginning of the decade. Afterall, pop music groups were (attempting to) utilize this technology in their own ways, although very few could pull it off well. Thank god for TD to show the rest how it's done.

Le Parc is somewhat of a departure from previous TD works, the most noticeable differences being in that the dark atmosphere of albums like Exit(1981) and Hyperborea is pretty much gone and the tracks are now all shortened in length and quite numerous. Nine tracks on an album was literally unheard of for TD up to that point. Of all the 80s albums that came out, I can see Le Parc being the one that might put off the older fans the most. However if you follow me, you'll see that this change isn't necessarily a bad one. In fact, the results are actually quite astonishing.

Le Parc draws its inspiration from various natural and unnatural locale settings from around the world, being sort of a concept album. They had already done "theme-based" concept albums in the past, but this is probably the first one with a specific idea in mind. The music here is very accessible, yet layered enough for listeners to find new things in the music each listen. At first, only a few of the tracks caught my attention and I wasn't thoroughly convinced, but since then repeated listens have opened up the rest of the songs, and now I love Le Parc. Yes, it is definitely very mid-80s sounding (you know what I'm talking about), and there are no broodingly trippy passages from their 70s albums in sight, but you'll find that TD know how to incorporate a rich keyboard array with various instruments from time to time.

Onto the tracks... 'Bois De Boulogne (Paris)' begins the album on a light note and slowly introduces the new sound that is employed on the album. Flutes are used in small parts. Then 'Central Park (New York)' picks up the pace to a more exciting, upbeat, and rhythm driven theme, clearly reminding you of being in a bustling city. One thing TD definitely kept intact from earlier releases was its ability to make you imagine all sorts of settings - very cool. 'Gaudi Park (Guell Garden Barcelona)' picks up the pace even more and manages to pulsate with a very memorable melody. Then the album takes a more relaxing turn with the next two tracks: 'Tiergarten (Berlin)' and 'Zen Garden (Ryoanji Temple Kyoto)'. The former is a brief and peaceful piano-based theme, whereas the latter abandons the rhythm structure altogether for a moody fusion of bass synth and Asian instruments. After it fades out, 'Le Parc (LA - Streethawk)' blazes in with full force and brings the pace back up to the top. 'Hyde Park (London)' is mostly lightweight, but is backed by a powerful melody as the song builds up. 'The Cliffs Of Sydney (Sydney)' feels much like a simple dance number, though it does have a nice melodic bridging section. Finally, the album ends with a glorified winner in 'Yellowstone Park (Rocky Mountains)'. Kicking off and ending with a symphony warming up, inbetween them is a somber theme with many different instrument usages. There is even a female vocalist in there, but there are no words and her voice is used more as one of the instruments, flowing in and out of the other instruments with ease.

Replayability: medium. Gets better over time.

Le Parc is a bit of a blacksheep in the massive TD discography, but it shines in its own ways and after many listens I am thoroughly impressed. I wouldn't start new fans off with this one because of its differences, though it is very good for those who take the time to get used to it. It's just a bit under 40 minutes, but the variety of tracks here keeps the rating locked at 5 stars. I would actually look into the next album Underwater Sunlight(1986) as the first Blue Years release to get before looking into any of the other three. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

NOTE: There is very little difference between the old and remastered editions, being both the price, sound quality, and availability. So any edition works. Good luck finding them in a non-online store, though.

Other Blue Years material:
-Poland(1984), Firestarter soundtrack(1984), Green Desert(1973), Underwater Sunlight(1986), and Tyger(1987).

There are different kinds of fans of Tangerine Dream music, so to understand my reviews, you must understand my tastes. I prefer their later works, with songs that are harmonious, rhythmic, lyrical, and "pretty." Their first excellent album for me was Underwater Sunlight. You might find (by reading lots of reviews) that the people who love TDream's early work dislike the later albums; people who like the later albums don't like the early stuff. I am the 2nd type. Of my 22 or so TDream albums so far, the greatest ones (in approximate order) are: Le Parc, Underwater Sunlight, Architecture in Motion, Private Music, Goblins' Club, Optical Race, Melrose, Lily on the Beach. OK albums are: Tang-go, Force Majeure, Exit. Unpleasant albums are: Turn of the Tides, Rockoon, Stratosfear, Phaedra, Atem, Alpha Centauri, Elect. Meditation, or anything else pre '83. Le Parc is my choice for TDream's best album ever. Many songs end up on other compilations. My favorite is Gaudi Park, followed by Hyde Park. All the songs are so different that I think anyone will have a couple they don't like on here, but the rest are wonderful! Anyone who loves Gaudi Park should listen to Patrick O'Hearn.

"Le Parc", originally issued in 1985, is TD's first studio album after concluding their relationship with Virgin Records on 1983's Hyperborea", and the change in record labels somehow translates also in a profound change in musical styles. "Le Parc" marks the beginning of a slow but sure descend into less adventerous, more "new age" type of albums.

"Le Parc" has its moments, though. Consisting of 9 fairly short pieces (the entire CD clocks in at 41 min.), TD paints musical impressions of parks around the world. The best tracks are "Bois de Boulogne", "Gaudi Park" with a nice drum-driven pulse to it, "Le Park-LA Streethawk" which sounds like a TV theme (and...it is!), and, best of all, "Zen Garden", a terrific piece with nice oriental music flashes. "Yellowstone Park", which concludes the album, is best known for featuring the female voice found on Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig In The Sky".

As correctly noted elsewhere, most TD fans fall in either of 2 groups (pre-1983 vs. later recordings). "Le Parc" and "Underwater Sunlight" are transition albums between those 2 eras, and probably the only albums both groups can still find solace. Bottom line, "Le Parc" is not a bad album, but TD had done so much better!

TD HITS THE RIGHT NOTES ON THIS 85' RELEASE. FLAWLESS PRODUCTION VALUES PLUS SOME OF THEIR CATCHIER TUNES. MAKES YOU WANT TO VISIT ALL THE PLACES THEIR MUSIC EVOKES. BONUS POINTS FOR THEIR USUAL COOL CD COVER. MY "DOMESTIC" VERSION SOUNDED SO GOOD I CAN'T SEE PAYING EXTRA FOR THE "IMPORT" VERSION WHICH HAS NO BONUS TRACKS. "CENTRAL PARK" IS A BLAST.