Tangerine Dream – Rockface

2 reviews for Tangerine Dream – Rockface

1. 

   Simon Stopher / England – 2022-11-22

   Oh dear. I listened to this, after listening to the first disc in Bootleg Box 1 (Sheffield in 1974). Am I listening to the same group? Where in 1988 is the sense of wonder, imagination,and creativity? A two disc release of possibly some of TD‘s most uninspired musical offerings, purported to be live”

2. 

   Wouter Bessels / SonicImmersion.org – 2022-11-22

   In the past year, Tangerine Dream aficionados have had no reason for complaints because of the release of all those ancient audience recordings from the famous orange box. Though they were originally not endorsed by the band, they provided a unique chance to hear what the punters must have heard way back when in the seventies. And now, pretty unexpectedly, Rockface has been released.
   This double CD contains live recordings made by the band themselves from the concert at the Berkeley Convention Center on September 24, 1988. They had embarked on a four-week American tour to promote their latest release, Optical Race. After Chris Franke had departed at the end of 1987, this album proved that they had changed their sound to a more compact and accessible format. Froese and Haslinger busied themselves with the Atari ST computer and had found a new band member with Ralf Wadephul (who did not exactly outstay his welcome though). During this tour the band in their new line-up played a lot of material from their latest CD, but also some older pieces with new arrangements, like Phaedra and Logos. A fine and neatly balanced set, but one which the fans at the time dismissed as less dreamy and too lightweight compared to the 1986 tour.

   I personally always liked the music they played between Logos and Cat Scan during these concerts. This symphonic sounding piece has never been released before. A short piano part played by Wadephul (which opens the second CD) provides a nice and quiet interlude before the party continues and Froese and Haslinger pick up their axes for the guitar solos. This part ends with city noises and lapping waves. For this track alone one should buy this set, as it contains the best TD had to offer in the late eighties.
   Musically it harks back to Underwater Sunlight and Tyger rather than Livemiles or Optical Race. I have just one small gripe about this set: due to a necessary tape change a very short part is missing, but I can live with that. Force majeure for technical reasons!
   Upon listening to this concert one cannot help but notice the wonderful flow of the music. Everything just blends over perfectly into everything else right up to the end of the set, in which tracks like Marakesh and Ghazal from the Optical Race album feature prominently.
   The encore contains some material from Canyon Dreams, amongst others. It is also quite nice to hear Edgar thank the audience after Optical Race, though his words are all but drowned out by the roaring applause.
   With Rockface, TD have finally proven that they are able to beat the bootlegs from the 1988 tour. This is the first real TDI production to outsmart the bootleggers, as the original recordings have not been tampered with, praise indeed! The cover (featuring the well-known TDI-style) prominently shows San Franciscos famous Golden Gate Bridge and the liner notes are extensive, with nice pictures. But when will we be treated again to another one of Monica Froeses hallmark cover pictures? Lastly I would like to point out one glaring mistake: the cover states that the tour took place during June and July 1988. Of course this should be August and September 1988.

   If TD should continue in this way and release more of their (complete and original) concert recordings, we are in for some more treats.
   I am very happy with this release!

   2004. Wouter Bessels / SonicImmersion.org