Tangerine Dream fans are a demanding, proprietary lot made up of various factions who get their knickers in a twist whenever Edgar Froese goes off on yet another stylistic tangent. There are Tangerine heads who are fixing to boil Froese in oil for the heresy of using lyrics and vocalists (not the first time) on last year's Inferno. There are those who despaired when Tang D produced a long string of fairly conventional records in the '90s replete with guitars, sax, flute, dance beats and trance stylings. There are those who long for the band's spacey halcyon daze of the mid-70s to mid-80s. And finally, there are those who feel Edgar & Co. have done nothing but insult the senses and take money under false pretenses since 1973's dense, dark avant garde gem Atem. So which camp comes away happy with Mota Atma? Well, I've loved TD for 30 years and this one may be their most consistently trippy outing since Phaedra and Rubycon in the mid-70s. No pretty melodies or conventional song structures here, only those patented Phaedra-like bubbling rhythms percolating with sinister mystery under an array of sweeping synth washes and synapse-frying electronic effects. At times, the synth tones evoke the big, frizzy metallic buzz of TD's Johannes Schmoeling era in the early 80's. The percussion work is simple and much closer in feel to when Chris Franke was a major player in the 70s and 80s. Yet there is a clean up-to-date feel. My only niggle is the sameness of these 10 tracks, which are 99 percent atmosphere, albeit very effective atmosphere. It's almost as if Froese and son Jerome are toying with variations on a stylistic theme, but they draw the listener in nonetheless and carry you along for a pretty nice ride. Unless of course, you demand sax and guitar and melody with your Tangerines. In that case, you'll likely be firing up a big pot of pitch in a fit of righteous indignation.

With Vangelis making the boring Mythodea and Jean Michel Jarre going into lounge with Geometry of Love we are lucky that TD are still around and kicking.

A very good album(although a soundtrack) after many conventional ones.It reminds their great albums of the 70's.

Recommended to TD 70's fans or to anyone who wants to hear some good electronic music.

TD has done it again. The sound is so beautiful and there is a little of something for every kind of TD fan in there. This disc reminds me an awful lot of "TRANSSIBERIA" in both sound and tempo. It has alot of the same feel to it. Please just remember it is a soundtrack and not an album, so yes the theme runs continuously throughout. It is always nice to get more TD. Add this one to your inventory (yes, there are that many after all) and enjoy them for what they are... great music for any age. Keep up the great work, guys!

I've listened to this CD numerous times on headphones ususally when I'm flying. I am immensely drawn to the first few tracks. Somewhere in the middle of the disk, however, I get lost. But those first few track are enough for me. This music is fresh and steaming with tension. The recurring theme only makes it more compelling. My mind can only imagine what is happening in the film. Tangerine Dream is the group that can make new music while all the world, with every gadget money can buy, can only try to copy. Four stars for sure...maybe more.

First, let me start by saying I am a lifelong listener to the music of TD. I have around a dozen or so of their cds. I bought my first TD LP in around '71 or so. but enough about me. This cd is not what I'd call one of their most creative. At first it seems to promise a little bit of their early sound (think Phaedra), but some how it just does'nt seem to deliver. When TD is at their best the songs change constantly in rythm, texture, and melody. These do not. Still, if you want cool background music while you're doing something else. This ain't all that bad.