Search - Kaleidoscope :: Tangerine Dream

One of the greatest U.K. psych bands EVER!

Bryan Russell | U.S.A. | 08/30/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kaleidoscope's Tangerine Dream is an absolute classic of the genre.Equally ranking with such classics as Syd Barrett era Floyd,Tomorrow,Blossom Toes,Zombies(Odessey and Oracle),and of course,The Beatles.Peter Daltry's fairytale lyrics and the groups exquisite playing with beautiful harmonies and memorable hooks simply captivate the listener transporting them into a colorful kaleidoscopic dream.This totally demonstrates what was so great about the fertile U.K.pop psych scene of 67 thru 69.If you like this CD please search out their 2nd LP which was also put on CD called Faintly Blowing.It pretty much follows the same path with a few more progressive textures added but is also a masterpiece.I would still give Tangerine Dream the edge of the two but not by much. Bryan"

Quintessential English psych, songwriting still holds up wel

Elliot Knapp | Seattle, Washington United States | 10/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From a ways away, the cover of Kaleidoscope's (not to be confused with the US band of the exact same name) debut album, Tangerine Dream, resembles many other late 60's psychedelic album covers from both sides of the Atlantic; weird, swirly text, and a bunch of guys dressed in the outlandish fashion that was popular during those acid-fueled days. If you look a little closer, you'll notice that these guys were really just baby-faced kids when this album came out (even if one of them could grow a mustache). Despite their apparent fresh-faced youth and their attachment to a VERY popular musical movement that spawned as many middling bands as it did classics, today Tangerine Dream sounds like a cohesive, well-crafted psychedelic pop rock album, thanks especially to Peter Daltrey and Eddie Pumer's engaging songwriting, and some more original sounds and hooks that the band packed into the music.



The opener, "Kaleidoscope," makes it clear that this is 1967 British psych: a driving piano riff backs harmonizing vocals as they describe a vibrant perception of busy streets. Yep, we're in trip-land now, and if you don't like that kind of music, you're probably in the wrong place, because Tangerine Dream is catchy, trippy rock from start to finish. What's great is that even though Kaleidoscope is playing in an idiom sparked by the Beatles with Sgt. Pepper etc., they certainly aren't derivative. Less hard-rocking than, say, The Move or the Small Faces, and not quite as virtuosic as The Soft Machine--more along the sweet, off-kilter sounds of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn-era Pink Floyd, or Tomorrow.



The rest of the album is chock full of accessible moments, but also the British quirk and charm that makes this type of music resonate so well with some people. The creatively-titled "Please Excuse My Face" is a tender, vulnerable heartbreak tune set to nylon-stringed acoustic. "Dive Into Yesterday" might be my favorite track, with staccato morse-code-sounding guitar, shifting tempo and dynamics, snaky vocal harmonies, and a blissed-out, swirling bridge. You can tell Daltrey was influenced by Dylan (unsurprising, and not a bad thing), but he manages to go some really interesting and unique places with his writing.



Many of the songs have the dark themes of isolation commonly found in British psych, like "Mr. Small, The Watch Repairer Man," "Flight From Ashiya" (about a doomed airline flight), and "The Murder of Lewis Tollani." Despite these weighty themes, Daltrey pulls it off with grace, a light hand, and manages to back the words with music that isn't depressing. "In The Room of Percussion" has edgier echoes of the Byrds, and the album's closer, the epic "The Sky Children," is absolutely sublime, dreamy, and perfect. In my opinion, the only misstep is "A Lesson Perhaps," a spoken-word/classical guitar story that gets a bit too caught up in forced poetics to really make a strong point.



Overall, this is one of the better British psych albums I've come across--I've enjoyed it enough to check out their second, Faintly Blowing. As with their usual standards, Repertoire's reissue is great--glossy digipak case, lots of photos (check out those guys' clothes and hairstyles!), some enlightening notes, and some worthwhile bonus tracks--single versions of a few, and the flawless, jaunty pop of "Jenny Artichoke." Since Kaleidoscope had to make a few hit singles before a record company would invest in Tangerine Dream, it's cool to hear the songs that got them their record deal. If you like British psychedelic, chances are you'll enjoy this record."

GREAT

Elliot Knapp | 02/05/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not sure why you would give this cd a low rating just because it wasn't the band they thought it was... This is a really oustanding album. Nearly every song is amazing British pychedelic pop, much in the same vein as Syd's Pink Floyd, Tomorrow and Small Faces. Its great. If you like the beatles, or early floyd or anything decent, you'll like this cd."