All fans of the legendary German "krautrock" / electronic / ambient group Tangerine Dream were eagerly waiting for a video of their favorite - and still living (from 1967-today) group. The band deserved it : those who followed TD during their rich and fruitful career knew there were tons of amateur videos shot (by the group's members or the late Monika Froese) during the recordings, rehearsals, press conferences, live performances and so on. Some videos had been made too - mainly for promotional purposes...
So, when "Three Phase" came, it was considered as the really first attempt to give the group a visual identity. It will resume 25 years of career in... uh, 45 minutes ? - i gasped : everybody knew it was too short. And it would have been a "tour de force" to catch 25 years of music vision in less than an hour... But it was hope.
What we feared was nothing compared to the actual vision : disappointment was the word. This video is mainly focused around the Seattle's live performance from the 1992's "Rockoon" tour : the music is OK, but the poor show and the performance itself lack of magic, warmth (even if the Dream was often more of less considered as "music intellectuals", there were a lot of "fun" in their early-mid-90s albums), and to say the least, originality : the exact replica of the "220 Volt live" - not a bad album, but that's another point.
The worst was yet to come : if we except one video and the closing titles sequence, NO archive footage, no unreleased music of any kind. Where was the "Past" gone ? Here : one remixed tune from the 70's (with "catchy" - i mean : outdated today, but already at the time of release - computer visuals) plus a "Melrose" (1990) video and that's it (+ the closing titles music, circa 1982) : all the rest is early 90's oriented.
My closing words : obviously not a video for their legions of fans, but more a cheap "How to begin with Tangerine Dream" for the American audience.
So, when "Three Phase" came, it was considered as the really first attempt to give the group a visual identity. It will resume 25 years of career in... uh, 45 minutes ? - i gasped : everybody knew it was too short. And it would have been a "tour de force" to catch 25 years of music vision in less than an hour... But it was hope.
What we feared was nothing compared to the actual vision : disappointment was the word. This video is mainly focused around the Seattle's live performance from the 1992's "Rockoon" tour : the music is OK, but the poor show and the performance itself lack of magic, warmth (even if the Dream was often more of less considered as "music intellectuals", there were a lot of "fun" in their early-mid-90s albums), and to say the least, originality : the exact replica of the "220 Volt live" - not a bad album, but that's another point.
The worst was yet to come : if we except one video and the closing titles sequence, NO archive footage, no unreleased music of any kind. Where was the "Past" gone ? Here : one remixed tune from the 70's (with "catchy" - i mean : outdated today, but already at the time of release - computer visuals) plus a "Melrose" (1990) video and that's it (+ the closing titles music, circa 1982) : all the rest is early 90's oriented.
My closing words : obviously not a video for their legions of fans, but more a cheap "How to begin with Tangerine Dream" for the American audience.
