Featured album: Tangerine Dream - Ricochet

**battema** · 09-19-2020

Originally Posted by calyx

Well, that doesn't make it a lesser album for sure, but why the lie ? I don't have a source for this but I once read it reported that the band claimed "Ricochet" was compiled from dozens of hours of live recordings from the tour, which suggested the tantalising notion that a number of different performances had been professionally recorded. It was also suggested that the reason why none of them had been released was that somehow Chris Franke had kept them and wouldn't return them to Edgar Froese. Not sure there's ANY truth in any of this.

As regards other albums, I'm ready to believe "Monolight" is live (there's a few bum notes played by the Minimoog that they wouldn't have left in had it been re-done in the studio), and "Cherokee Lane" with the spoken intro (from Washington DC I believe) is made to sound like it's live, but I'm prepared to believe some of it isn't as it's so perfect. It may well be that, as turns out to be the case with "Ricochet", it's a studio recreation of a recurring section of their live shows on the tour.

I'm in the middle of reading Edgar Froese's book, and it's not clear whether they carried with them the equipment needed to make professional multi-track recordings of their shows. Edgar seems to imply that "Encore" is a genuine 100% live recording but we know that to be untrue, if only for the "Oedipus Tyrannus" bit.

IMHO...

Encore does appear to be more live. But based on the multiple other shows available from that 77 tour it also seems like they'd seriously cut down on improv by that point. There are bits from Oedipus, also bits from some of Froese's solo album...it is possible that they were already starting to lean on backing tracks by that point. (Edit: just re-read the Hades book...nope, except for Monolight which was mostly live the rest of Encore is also non-live. So, good call on Monolight, sir

).

Thanks to the box, we now have two pretty darn clean live recordings from around the time Ricochet happened, recorded by Virgin Mobile themselves. Maybe Virgin didn't think they were strong enough to release. Maybe Froese had some "better idea" in mind. Whatever the reason, it was probably a good commercial decision...while the actual live shows are a treat I doubt they'd be held in the same high regard as Ricochet.

Froese seems to have a very "fluid" idea of history. On one hand, it's really hard to read many of his recollections without a serious skeptical eye (to be clear, I've not read his book, so this is based on his past statements, liner notes, etc.). On the other hand...I suppose it added an air of mystery around the band for many years.

I didn't get to finally see TD live until 1992 but to my then-young ears it was a thrill. But when 220 Volt landed a year later it was a total "WTF!?" moment...like, did I remember the concert incorrectly? It wasn't just that the earlier songs were all left off...the opening track wasn't and indeed it wasn't even the live version...they'd just put the CD single (and studio recording) of Oriental Haze over some cursory audience applause. It was just weird and awkwardly obvious and felt like some sort of "Emperor's New Clothes" moment. And it got nominated for a Grammy.

**calyx** · 09-19-2020

Originally Posted by battema

Froese seems to have a very "fluid" idea of history. On one hand, it's really hard to read many of his recollections without a serious skeptical eye...

Indeed. His ability to recollect entire conversations word for word is a little too superhuman to be believable. He makes it look like every conversation he ever had with anyone had the right amount of punchlines, historical perspective, insights into the future, etc. It makes for a good read but I'd be curious to know if the other protagonists would confirm Edgar's recollections of events.

**dropforge** · 09-19-2020

TD released the '77 Detroit show as a 2CD a few years back, a good one to have alongside Encore. Pretty sure most of "Desert Dream" isn't live, but fairly certain "Monolight" is.

**wiz_d_kidd** · 09-20-2020

Live, not live, or even partially live -- it simply is the best TD album by far!

**ctoelle** · 09-20-2020

Ricochet was the 1st full TD album I ever heard and is still one of my favorites. (The very first thing I ever heard from them was watching Firestarter way back when in the mid 80s and was entranced by the soundtrack. I made it a point to read the end credits to see who did the music)
So glad this one was mixed int 5.1. It's really a stunning mix

**Zappathustra** · 09-20-2020

Originally Posted by JJ88

It's a terrific album; there's a shift to a slightly more user-friendly sound...

Yeah, that had to be said. I would say it as a slight shift towards the mainstream.

**TCC** · 09-20-2020

Favorito here too!

**Nashorn** · 09-21-2020

Ricochet was my first TD album, and probably still is my favorite. I borrowed it on LP from the local library when I was about 15 years old and dubbed it on a cassette.
For me it is also strongly connected to some of the books I read while listening to it over and over again. So it has a very special place for me.

**Udi Koomran** · 09-23-2020

the piano intro on side 2 is such an amazing contrast to the rest of the piece

**Trane** · 09-23-2020

Originally Posted by wiz_d_kidd

Live, not live, or even partially live -- it simply is the best TD album by far!

Yup, who cares really?? But to my ears some parts do sound live, others don't

Originally Posted by Nashorn

Ricochet was my first TD album, and probably still is my favorite. I borrowed it on LP from the local library when I was about 15 years old and dubbed it on a cassette.
For me it is also strongly connected to some of the books I read while listening to it over and over again. So it has a very special place for me.

very much my experience too. Tangerine's music of the Virgin years being fairly cinematic, I've got tons of images reemerging from the depth of my brains, whether pictural representation of the novel I was reading back then or the places I was passing (it makes great driving music) through.

**NogbadTheBad** · 09-23-2020

Originally Posted by Trane

very much my experience too. Tangerine's music of the Virgin years being fairly cinematic, I've got tons of images reemerging from the depth of my brains, whether pictural representation of the novel I was reading back then or the places I was passing (it makes great driving music) through.

Dear god, I can't remember why I walked into a room or where I left my keys.

**battema** · 09-23-2020

Originally Posted by NogbadTheBad

Dear god, I can't remember why I walked into a room or where I left my keys.

As long as it wasn't on the desk in the Knoxville Crowne Plaza, you're gold

**TheNefariousHED** · 09-25-2020

I so love the album. It's hard for me to separate Phaedra, Rubicon, Stratosfear, and Ricochet. Stratosfear was the one I had in high school. Many stony evenings spent on that journey with my HS pals.

**Sturgeon's Lawyer** · 09-29-2020

Does anyone here want to bet that the section beginning at around 2:00 at least partly inspired Donna Summer's "I Feel Love?" Same bass line without the echo...