In March and April of 1977 Tangerine Dream enjoyed their first North American tour, where they were welcomed enthusiastically. Long-haired musicians barely visible behind the stacks of analog electronic equipment, with a huge Moog synthesizer staged in the center, right behind Christopher Franke, with lights dancing around, synchronized with the psychodelic - for that was how they were received - music from the moon. Imagine that you have never heard this type of music, and then bang, you discover that the ways humans musically expressed themselves so far - are very limited. New worlds of excitement are open for you to roam about. That was an unforgettable series of concerts, the series that made Tangerine Dream widely popular. They conquered the American market, the biggest audience in the world. Europeans and everyone who was not able to travel with Tangerine Dream - received a priceless gift in the form of the longest-to-date album, "Encore", featuring various concert pieces mixed into four movements.

This album is also the swan song of Peter Baumann, for this was the last gig he participated in, the last album featuring his name, the last compositions that have been partially conceived by this brilliant musician. In early summer of 1977 Tangerine Dream was down to two members: Edgar Froese - the founding father, guitarist and mellotron player, and Christopher Franke, the godfather of the trade-mark Tangerine Dream sound, the Moog maestro of the bubbling ostinata, the primary composer of the band. What they lost with the departure of Peter Baumann was the eerie feeling of the fantasy Tolkien marshes, the misty swamp atmosphere of his synthesizers, the memorable flute passages, which could make you heartbroken. Never again was Tangerine Dream's music so personal, so spontaneous, so complicated and yet simply beautiful. Indeed, the loss of Peter Baumann as an active musician was the largest loss for everyone who loved the electronic roots music.

For all the aforementioned reasons, "Encore" is a monument, a historical landmark, and an album, which is virtually worshipped by generations of audiophiles all over the world. "Encore" is monumental indeed - it features four long compositions, which used to correspond to the vinyl 'sides' of analog records - for in the times of black records, it had been a double album. The mood of all compositions reflects the classical masterpiece of Maestro Vivaldi - 'Le Quattro Stagioni". The resemblance of the atmosphere and concept is so strong, that it's stunning. The opening track, 'Cherokee Lane', is SPRING - vivacious, full of hope, vitality, energy; it bursts with optimism and dynamism. Nature wakes up from the haze of winter sleep, and enters the periodical evolution race for growth. 'Monolight' comes into play silently, where the world is full of magical scent, and the happy universe is enjoying the peak of its creative abilities. Such is also 'Monolight', where beautiful melodies, resembling "Stratosfear", are inter-looped with one another, and where the composition nears its end, you might feel a painful regret of the SUMMER that will die soon. For the AUTUMN comes fast, with its monotonous showers of rain, with its howling winds, with the death of the vivacious, the optimistic, the warm. 'Coldwater Canyon' is very much like Vivaldi's memorable third movement. One might make exactly the same comment for 'Desert Dream', the WINTER part of the album. Cold, detached, frozen, frigid, glacier winterlanschaft music, only at times intercepted with beautiful tunes, which perhaps signify that even in winter one may curl up under the blankets in a snow-bound hut, light an oil lamp, and read 'Moomintroll Midwinter', and still be happy.

This beloved album deserves to be treasured, listened to, and enjoyed. Spontaneously composed tracks, composed during the gig - show that Tangerine Dream was the band of extremely able and literate musicians. "Encore" is the work of art, the work of genius.

The four tracks presented here cover a good selection of Tangerine Dream's live styles from the late 70s, bearing in mind that Froese, Franke and Baumann habitually improvised nearly all of their concerts. This remastered edition removes many of the recording problems that earlier copies of "Encore" suffered from, although the sound is now a little muddier in places than it was. Generally, though, this edition is much to be preferred over the earlier releases and can be recommended without reservation: this remains an indispensable item for the Tangerine Dream enthusiast's collection.

If you like what you hear here, be sure to investigate TD's albums "Stratosfear", "Ricochet" and "Sorcerer" for more great sounds like these.

For many of the faithful, the mid-70's lineup of Froese, Baumann and Franke was the defining incarnation of Tangerine Dream. Combining polished, classically -influenced compostional structure with emerging synthesizer technology, the band hit the right balance between harmonic substance and cosmic de-materialization -- frequently afterwards, especially as a result of personnel changes, the band's competing stylistic biases often yielded mixed results. This live CD from the very sucessful 1977 American tour is a fairly raw document, neither the sound system nor recording standards remotely comparable to today's standards, but they do reveal a band confident in its excesses and sublimely gifted at delicate dynamics, deep spatial excursions and some playful fun. The last half of "Desert Dream" beautifully sums the band's 70's experience, but the entirely CD (originally a double-album, though only 70 or so minutes in length) is a fitting document of the band's visionary presence in a world relatively unknown to ambient, techno or anything particularly cosmic. A must for long-haul Dream fans, at the very least. And, for the adventurous newbie Dream fan, a glimpse of days (long) gone by.

This album gets 5 stars just for the guitar lead in COLDWATER CANYON, it is unlike most of the other 9 TD albums I own where I dont hear much obvious guitar. The entire album makes a great short concert. Highly recommended if you love complicated trippy space music. You wont believe its just 3 guys making all that wild sound!

This 1977 album brings together live performances from the North American tour and would prove to be the last with Peter Baumann, who left the group shortly afterwards. Overall, this is a great live album that captures the dreamy, outer space soundscapes of the group, with the added spectacle of the hooting and hollering that typically goes on at live shows. Fortunately, the hooting and hollering is restricted to the beginning and end of each track.

Although the four (lengthy) tracks are essentially new tunes, bits and pieces of Stratosfear (1976) turn up here and there. Overall, the album is a fine example of brooding "Berlin School" electronica, replete with pulsating sequencers, soft mellotron pads, and synthesizers of all descriptions. In addition, Edgar (Froese) turns in some exciting solos on a distorted electric guitar, and the use of percussion lends a nice textural element to the music.

This remastered definitive edition is OK and features great sound quality (for a live performance) and a few liner notes that discuss the "ins and outs" of the album and group circa 1977.

Unfortunately, in addition to losing a key member, this would prove to be last album that boasted the classic Tangerine Dream sound. After this, the group released the controversial Cyclone album (1978), which dipped a toe (or two) into the musical mainstream - not unlike most progressive and jazz rock groups active at the time come to think of it.

All in all, this is a great live album by the group and is highly recommended along with the other live album Ricochet (1975).