TANGERINE DREAM: Under Cover - Chapter One (2010)

“There is so much potential behind the vast majority of selected tracks that we can only be disappointed by the very timid approach of the Dream”

1 Cry Little Sister 5:40

2 Everybody Hurts 5:06

3 Precious 4:21

4 Space Oddity 5:35

5 The Model 5:30

6 Wicked Game 4:29

7 Hotel California 7:39

8 Suzanne 5:24

9 Heroes 4:35

10 Forever Young 5:41

11 Iris 4:09

12 Norwegian Wood 5:33

13 Hallelujah 6:19

14 Wish You Were Here 6:53

Eastgate | CD046

(CD/DDL 76:56) (V.F.)

(E-Rock, Synth-Pop)

Is it another element to fatten all those legends revolving around Tangerine Dream or simply an easy explanation to justify the intrusion of Froese and Co in the very easy world of synth-pop? However, UNDER COVER-CHAPTER ONE is the result of a bet between Tangerine Dream's members and one of the Los Angeles concert's promoters held at the end of 2008. The idea was to see if Tangerine Dream was able of playing rock music (And what about Rockoon?). But not of any kind; reprises of some biggest pop songs of the last years! The stake in the bet is a long ballad L.A. / Vegas for each of Dream's members if the group failed and, in opposite case, the mysterious promoter would have an interesting proposition on the table for the band aged more than 40 years. Well....is it a myth or reality? Let's hope that the offer was worth it because this is a perilous incursion in a very melodious musical world where passion, words and vocals have a direct incidence on the quality of these hits. Fafans of TD, I already see you frowning the eyebrows. But don't worry, even if Edgar has to possess one of the most complete and sophisticated studio (we remember that was the purpose of all these reeditions, remasterings and soundtracks was to build a studio at the state-of-the-art technology), UNDER COVER-CHAPTER ONE is an average album with a strong commercial potential where I dare to believe that the promoter respects his part of the bet. But there is something that's annoying me...

The album opens with Cry Little Sister, a 1987 strong hit pulled out The Lost Boys' soundtrack. It's a good rock doubled of a nice ballad and the Dream is approaches it such as it, a bit like a copy-paste with good riffs but quite fade percussions. If guitars and sequences are good, the rhythmic portion is cold and without big depth and it's the album's big weakness; if sequences, keyboards and guitars are aptly returned, the voices and rhythmic structure are weak and very far from improving (isn't the idea behind every interpretation from a track written by someone else?) the original version. I like the version of Everybody Hurts. The piano, synth strings, and Chris Hausl's voice, are giving a more intimate version than the original. I don't know Precious from Depeche Mode that much. But from what I heard, I vaguely have the impression that this interpretation misses punch because it's sounds strangely like Cry Little Sister's version and Forever Young. I salivated at the idea of hearing what the Dream would make of Space Oddity and I got a bitter disappointment, in spite of dazzling guitar solos. I don't understand why the gang of Froese wants so much to give a rock and techno-pop approach to this avant-gardist track. I expected more and with good reason, considering the enormous potential of the musicians present there. Idem for Hotel California which, except for guitar solos, is a version that misses imagination and emotions, quite