Tangerine Dream - Lily On The Beach FLAC download

Lily On the Beach starts in familiar territory, coming in off the back of Optical Race. A year's development has allowed a certain loosening of the sound - this is still very much MIDI programmed, but the drums have at least some semblance of performance again, and the opening track (the excellent-but-for-its-terrible-title 'Too Hot For My Chinchilla') features extensive guitar work from Edgar, something that was in short supply on the previous record. Otherwise, the synth choices, and poppy verse/chorus structures of Optical Race remain in place. On the more pensive, thoughtful side are tracks like Alaskan Summer, while pieces such as Desert Drive add more energy and drive to proceedings. Sadly, somewhere around the halfway mark, the album loses direction somewhat. At thirteen tracks, the group have never included so many individual pieces on an album before, and sadly it seems that it might be slightly beyond them. Whilst the aforementioned tracks are memorable and catchy, the second half of the record contains some of the more forgettable numbers on the album. By the 40 minute mark, the album does suffer from featuring a seemingly endless parade of similar synth chords and guitar solos (including one by Edgar's son, Jerome).As the album draws to a close, something different does at least happen: Long Island Sunset, a sentimental sounding ballad, features an extensive saxophone solo. The piece is startlingly different from anything the band had done before. It works as an emotional end to the album, but may prove far too saccharine for many fans of the group.Despite starting on five or six strong pieces, Lily On the Beach is ultimately a disappointing album, lacking in enough musical ideas to justify its length; were it around the 40 minute mark of the group's classic albums, it would be much stronger and a worthy follow-up to Optical Race. Sadly, as it is, the album was a worrying suggestion that perhaps Tangerine Dream were beginning to lose their way a little.