“This is a good compilation that has the merit to address to all fans of TD”
CD 1
1 Cloudburst Flight 2008 8:09
2 Scrapyard 2008 4:09
3 A Streetcar Named Desire 8:14
4 The Last Wave 5:23
5 Modesty and Greed 7:03
6 Hunter Shot by a Yellow Rabbit 9:31
7 Boat to China 7:27
8 No Man's Land 9:40
9 Desert Dream (Palm Desert Version) 4:01
10 Exit to Heaven 4:43
CD 2
1 Sadness of Echnaton Losing the World Child 6:23
2 Huckebee's Dream 10:46
3 Angel in Barbed Wire Robe 4:33
4 La Boca Race 9:53
5 Tomorrow Never Knows 5:09
6 Oracular World 4:42
7 Fire on the Mountain 7:39
8 Sunshift 7:15
9 Beyond the Cottage and the Lake 4:39
10 Trauma 9:25
Eastgate 033 (CD/DDL 138:46) (V.F.) (E-Rock, New-Age, Ambient)
That's it, the Booster episode becomes a series' project. If the first Booster had somewhat displeased me, this recurrence of Eastgate has the merit to offer a stronger music on 2 cd almost well filled. An editing and a well-arranged selection of tracks which, on the other hand, relies on a false advertising representation since on the website of Eastgate it is written that this last compilation includes 8 new releases and unreleased remixes. Obviously, if you don't have all the material from Tangerine Dream's the last years, you can be fooled by this promotional lie. In reality, BOOSTER Vol II contains only 3 original titles and 2 unreleased remixes on 20 tracks. Tracks that are mostly from recent albums and/or EP's like One Times One (Modesty and Greed and Sadness of Echnaton Losing the World Child), Autumn in Hiroshima (Oracular World and Trauma), Fallen Angels (Angel in Barbed Wire Robe), Views from a Red Train (Hunter Shot by a Yellow Rabbit and Fire on the Mountain), Hyperborea 2008 (No Man's Land) and Anthology Decades (Boat to China, Exit to Heaven and Huckebee's Dream).
Cloudburst Flight 2008 is among the targeted new releases, but not Scrapyard 2008!!! Try to understand! Still, the 2 new versions are more rock, with good guitar and synth solos, in a Tangentized ambience. A Streetcar Named Desire is a real novelty. A track in the purest TDI tradition starting with an ethereal wave that floats on a bass as discreet as the choirs. The movement comes to life on a keyboard with flickering chords. The percussions come and we are in the mold of the 90's with Iris Camaa touch. Nothing very new. TD of the most simplistic, and this even if Edgar seems to sweat behind his guitar. Another new title is The Last Wave. A good track with a nice set of sequenced percussions that are surrounded by beautiful enveloping strata and those damn insipid choruses that Edgar Froese carries around since the Atomic Seasons saga. It's still beautiful, especially with a rhythmic crescendo that grows with great emotion and intensity. Another novelty? Not sure that Desert Dream is one of those! It's rather an excerpt of a track that has disappeared for ages from the Dream's contemporary repertoire. It's a superb melody driven by a divine mellotron. A pure delight that comes from .... Monolith from the double live album Encore in 1977 and included on the mega compilation Tangents: 1973-1983. We have to wait until La Boca Race to get another real new track in our ears. A very Froese one, from the Pinnacles/Stuntman era, with a nervous synth on a spasmodic sequencer doing rhythmic spins in loops. Yes... always those damn choruses! A beautiful track that will surprise many, as well as the cover of Tomorrow Never Knows by Thorsten Quaeschning. Sunshift is another unedited track that seems to come out of the Atomic Seasons sessions with its morphic approach that grows on a nervous sequence that is surrounded by very pronounced choirs. Beyond the Cottage and the Lake is a great melody that breaks out of the Legend mold. It almost sounds like a remix.
Don't get me wrong, BOOSTER Vol. II is a beautiful and a good compilation. A compilation that has the merit to address to all the fans of Tangerine Dream. Even if you have everything, the new tracks and remixes are worth it. I liked the new versions of Cloudburst Flight and Scrapyard. It's a heavier and a rockier electronic music with good arrangements. In fact, there is really nothing to complain about with this BOOSTER Vol. II. Only the marketing, which is a big hoax.
Sylvain Lupari (April 7th, 2009) *****
Available at Groove nl