Tangerine Dream

The Electronic Journey

10 CD Box Set

(New & Sealed)

Having re-released a large part of Tangerine Dream's back catalog in 2009, the Germany based Membran label released the box set The Electronic Journey in September 2010. It contains ten full-length albums from the Membran catalog, all repackaged in cardboard sleeves and put together in a cardboard box.

Given the more than fair price the box is offered for, no one will complain about some minor flaws regarding the layout of the set. So the box is decorated by the same photo that Membran already had used in 2009 for the box set Ballads, presenting the current live line-up of TD that is not at all related to the music featured on the discs. Furthermore the front cover lists some compositions -- "The First Letter - Haze Of Fame - Stoneyard - Oceanride - Russian Soul - and more" -- just as if these were some greatest hits to induce someone to buy this set. Given that hardly anyone except TD fans will remember just these titles, the whole printing seems somewhat pointless.

The cardboard sleeves of the individual albums do neither feature the original artwork nor that of the regular Membran releases but are designed similarily to the box itself (scans can be found on the pages of the respective albums in this discography); the back sides of the sleeves feature the track listings and credits -- including the usual number of minor errors and inaccuracies TD fans are accustomed to.

There are especially a few major faults present on the regular Membran releases of the individual albums that were not fixed for this box release:

the track listing of The Seven Letters From Tibet lists the composition The Golden Head, though the disc features The Golden Heart;

Cyberjam Collection lists the composition Exit, but the disc contains Pilots Of Purple Twilight instead;

two tracks of The Dante Song Collection are listed with wrong titles;

the first two tracks of Canyon Cazuma are exchanged in the track listing, in respect to the sequence as featured on the disc;

the track listing of The Independent Years features Ruling The Waves, but present is Ivory Town;

on The Independent Years, the track Electric Lion is mastered faulty, making it almost unlistenable (though, according to some unfirmed confirmation, this error is corrected on newer pressings of this set).

Those who have previously bought the albums contained in this box may be annoyed to have paid the full price, but for anyone interested in Tangerine Dream's work, especially of the nineties, this box provides a good overview -- not more (especially as eight of the featured albums are compilations themselves), but not less.

Releases    

Germany 2010: Membran

10CD: 233086; cardboard box