R.I.P. Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream)

[snifferdog]

From the band's website

Dear Friends,

This is a message to you we are deeply sorry for…
On January 20th, Tuesday afternoon, Edgar Froese suddenly and unexpectedly passed away from the effects of a pulmonary embolism in Vienna.
The sadness in our hearts is immensely.

Edgar once said: “There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address."

Edgar, this is a little comfort to us.

I'm saddened to read this. While I'm no fan of Tangerine Dream's latter output, I still go back again and again to their 70s stuff. Not just their albums but the numerous live recordings/bootlegs from that era. In some ways, they were ahead of their time and it's surprising how much of their old music still stands up.

[The Gunner's Dream]

RIP

I consider myself a moderate fan of Tangerine Dream. I feel like they released too many albums of unfocused, meandering synthesized/sequenced stuff, and if they had released maybe half as many albums and put more focus on keeping the good bits and excising the meandering material I would have enjoyed a lot more of their music. Edgar Froese was obviously the driving force behind TG and it is a shame he is gone. The band has released great music; much of their soundtrack work is brilliant, as are their early albums from the 70's up through the mid 80's.

[Hudini]

Sad news. While I never considered myself a true fan of TG, I do like their 70s output a lot. I always thought that Froese deserved more recognition for his work, but he always seemed too quiet and reserved even the news of his death went almost unnoticed.

[henno]

RIP Edgar

alpha centauri for the morning i think.....

[snifferdog]

I always thought that Froese deserved more recognition for his work, but he always seemed too quiet and reserved even the news of his death went almost unnoticed.

I agree with this. Though maybe having a lower profile is what he was happier with. When you look at how much music Tangerine Dream produced, all the touring and a solo career, he sounds like the sort of man who loved making lots of music. I agree with Gus's point though - TD's discography really is a triumph of quantity over quality. Alongside the gems there's an awful lot of bland, new-agey, disposable filler.

[The Gunner's Dream]

I like how both Hudini and I made the same mistake of using "TG" instead of "TD" as an abbreviation

Listened to "Logos" live in the car earlier. I think their early 80's stuff, roughly 1980-84, is pretty under-rated. The melodies became more commercial, sure, but the music was overall a lot more focused in structure than some of their really spacey, ambient early stuff. Things started going bad in the late 80's, as the bland, elevator-ish tunes began to take over. One album I own from that era though and enjoy is "Optical Race" from 1988. The sounds were produced through what sounds like a 32 bit Nintendo, but a lot of the melodies are great.

[my breakfast.]

I feel like they released too many albums of unfocused, meandering synthesized/sequenced stuff, and if they had released maybe half as many albums and put more focus on keeping the good bits and excising the meandering material I would have enjoyed a lot more of their music.

Such a fitting eulogy. I'm tearing up here as I type.

Edgar Froese in the '70s though... holy mother of hair.

I think there was a time in the '70s when you could sit on a darkened stage with an 8-voice sequencer, a mellotron, a few effects pedals and tape loops and improvise random ambient music and get away with it. I'm not sure people would be so taken with it now. You can download better soft synths onto your phone for free. The appeal of '70s TD would be the exotic, hopelessly expensive gear they schlepped about. This was synthesis in the truest sense, as the band were not trying to ape existing acoustic instruments. Perhaps the most fitting tribute is the various genres of ambient and trance music that came out of what they did. At times I feel TD were ruled by their equipment, rather than the other way round.

[jambo]

Never listened to much TD, but I will definitely look in to it after checking some YouTube clips.

I did however, love their work on the Grand Theft Auto V score, really amazing work.

[rememberaday]

RIP.