Ricochet

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2007-09-29 rating:
LIVE ???
Ricochet is the so called live album following Tangerine Dream's tour of 1975. br / By then, the band had enjoyed considerable success here in the UK with their previous two albums 'Phaedra' and 'Rubycon' which had made the top ten and top twenty respectively over here. The music on 'Ricochet' is previously unreleased music, specially written for the tour, so this is by no means a live 'greatest hits' package. br /The way the album is put together is nothing like a live package, so you have to view 'Ricochet' almost as a studio album. I'm not even convinced that this music was recorded exclusively live. It sounds too good and the production is way too slick for it to be lifted wholesale from a live show or two. I'm willing to bet there's been more than a few tweeks here and there in the studio. br /As for the music itself, it's a far cry from the improvised freeform experimentation of the first handful of Tangerine Dream albums. It's also considerably more accessible than the studio knob twiddlings of the previous two releases. br /Yes, there are mellotrons and sequencers aplenty, lots of moods and atmospheres and more than enough to keep the die hards happy. Where 'Ricochet' differs from usual Dream fare is that we have more percussion/rythmn, electric guitars and pianos that show that indeed the musicians in this band can actually play a bit. Moreover, there's more going on musically in terms of melodies and tunes. br /'Ricochet part 1' has a glorious, synthesizer opening, before we get some guitar and drums. Then the sequencers kick in, and we have a lovely, flowing piece of music. br /'Ricochet part 2' begins with a haunting piano tune which wouldn't sound out of place in a Hollywood chiller flick, before the sequencers kick in again and we have another gorgeous, well constructed piece that flows seemlessly. br /For me, 'Ricochet' is the first real Tangerine Dream album, in terms of the direction the band would become more famous for. It's very much a bridge between the kind of music the band recorded previously and what was to come, especially when Johannes Schmoelling joined the band in 1980. There's an accessibility to the band's music that wasn't there before, but it doesn't go as far as to alienate the fans that had enjoyed 'Phaedra' and 'Rubycon'. This was Tangerine Dream attempting to reach a wider audience without abandoning their fundamental principles, and they pull it off marvellously. br /It's a shimmering record that NME magazine described as the most beautiful album of the year in 1975. It's hard to argue.

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review by: Natural minor date: 2006-10-14 rating:
After previous heights, the beginning of the bore
When my then girlfriend bought Phaedra for my 1973 Christmas present, her brother commented that "it sounds like a Pink Floyd backing track". This revealed that he had (rudely) listened to it before I received it and that he had cloth ears. Phaedra was, and remains a seminar work. Unfortunately, the intensity and invention of Phaedra lasted only for one more album (Rubycon) before Ricochet indicated an easier path. Ricochet is not clever and it is not threatening, unlike the previous two albums which were both. TD were to follow this easier path for the rest of their career. The lack of orginality is partly because over thirty years have now passed and may be due, partly, to the live environment in which it was recorded. But neither is not much excuse, and certainly thirty years have not dimmed Phaedra. Nevertheless, I remain an occasional listener to Ricochet because, unlike the previous two albums, it is so monumentally pretentious that it takes on a sort of grandeur. Listen to Ricochet on Friday evening, after an entire bottle of wine and a particularly important pat on the back from the boss. Otherwise, buy Phaedra or Rubycon again, even if you have them already.

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review by: date: 2006-07-20 rating:
One of My Favourite TD Albums
I've always had a huge soft spot for this album, which marked a slow evolution into slightly more melodic avenues, without completely losing the freeform experimental side at this point. This release is compiled from a number of concerts the band gave in 1975 and is beautifully done, the whole sounding almost seamless. br / br /All their gigs at this time were still almost totally improvised, although certain sequences and themes were beginning to be shared from one concert to another. The bulk of Part 2 seems to have been (significantly) edited from a performance in Croydon in October '75, with some echoes of a concert at the Royal Albert Hall a few months earlier. I'm not sure where Part 1 came from, but the (later) added percussion does no harm at all, driving things along brilliantly. br / br /(P.S. The Coventry Cathedral gig broadcast on TV used music from this album as a backdrop, not the actual soundtrack of the event, for some reason...) br / br /The band started to evolve their sound into different avenues after this period and, until very recently, were as far away from this era musically as it's possible to get, although some "atmosphere" is creeping back into their current work (people like Mark Shreeve's "Redshift" are keeping the seventies vibe going though, thankfully). The remastering seems good too, retaining the dynamic range of the original, apart fom the loss of the "hand claps" at the beginning of part two - why? -. br / br /Go-on, treat yourself, you may become hooked as I have been for over thirty years. I RECOMMEND this CD without hesitation!!! br / br / br /

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review by: date: 2006-02-24 rating:
The best one
I remember seeing them on the TV on a sunday night at Coventry Cathedral. This is what was played. brBouncing arpeggiated rhythms that come and go.brYep it's the best.pTotal cutting edge.pThis album was more melodic and had better beats than others at the time so it stood out as the gateway between ambient and pop.pBut it is so pure electronic it makes you feel and love the transistors driving it. It has that sinister feel too.pI would love TD to rediscover this sound.


review by: ajking106 date: 2005-03-30 rating:
the best!
No real need for a review, this is just 'the' best Tangerine Dream CD ever, forget the rest (yes I own them all, and love most of them), but this it, this is the one. Go buy it and then play it until on the '1's and '0's fall off! ;)pHow did they do it? who cares, you can't explain art, just enjoy it.

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