Zeit

There are four different main CD versions of this release. The first release in the 80s on Jive, along with a couple others in different countries, the first remastered 1996 version, the 2000 era Castle release with just the album and brickwalled sound on 3 tracks, and the newer Esoteric release with full dynamic range and a second disc of extras. Sound Quality is all up to your ears. The original which is a little crusty, although some people seem to like its sound from the old 80s ADC convertors, the 90s version which sounds fine, the early 2000 version which sounds fine but has a quite low DR on some tracks, and the two disc Esoteric to my ears sounds great and a bit more lively on the top end. Altogether I think the new Esoteric releases are mandatory for TD fans because of the stellar packaging. Some have said there is a bit of noise reduction, but I am not really hearing it to any harsh degree. New analog to digital convertors I am sure pick up tons of noise, and at any rate the sound is fantastic to my ears. I honestly cannot hear all that much difference on any of the remasters. I find the EQ just fine for the most part. The album still has a lot of noise on this 2011 release. One poster on Hoffman forums, who I find in every thread about Esoteric TD remasters, seems to think falsely that they have worse dynamic range. This is the opposite case for Zeit. All tracks actually have the full dynamic range here. I don't hear but a pinch of noise reduction and quite honestly these records need a bit of it. The cover art for the Castle Remaster and 2CD Esoteric are slightly different in color and tone. Overall, I find the Esoteric release to be totally satisfying. These old TD records can have too much hiss if you ask me, and they are still plenty noisy even with this new remaster. I for one am listening on quality hardware, and I find it hard to distinguish between the two at times. You really don't need to know much about this one for the actual content. It is one of TD's utter masterpieces. Innovative and enthralling to the end. "Birth of Liquid Plejades" may be the single greatest ambient/electronic track in history. Eerie and so encompassing in high-end headphones. Smoke up for this one and turn the lights off. There is nothing else quite like it. The rest of the CD is highly experimental and still of very high quality. The extra disc on the Esoteric presents two long alternate tracks from the era and a different spin on TD's abilities. Well worth the price for the stellar extras on this one. Zeit is well worth your money.

I have known this album for decades and I am definitely in the 'Love It' camp. This is early Tangerine Dream, before their breakout on the sequencer driven albums released by Virgin Records. There are no drums here, and while there may be some glissando guitar but this album is dominated by synths, keyboards, a mellotron and four droning cellos. Zeit is four tracks with each ranging between 16 and 20 minutes. Sections flow and then morph into something else. Faint sounds appear and eventually fade away. This is compelling but tough music which is best suited for headphones and no distractions. Nor is it something that you will want to spin often, but when the mood strikes, Zeit is stunning. The bonus on this release is a second disk containing 78 minutes of the Klangwald concert also from 1972. Where many older albums are given bonus tracks that are "one and done" in regards to the number of times it gets listened to, this concert is good enough to have been released separately.

For the longest time this was my least favorite Tangerine Dream album of the 70's. Well, after listening to the whole album twice yesterday, I am happy to say that I was completely wrong about it all of these years. I finally get it! This is another classic TD album and while I still don't consider it to be one of my favorites, I do like the album a whole lot. Right now I would have to say it's my favorite of the pre-Phaedra albums. You should get it!

I won't review ZEIT... but instead I'll review KLANGWALD [ SOUND FOREST ]. ...WOW !!! a quality recording from 1972. I've had several bootlegs. this one beats them all. what's it sounds like ? it sounds like the best parts of ALPHA CENTAURI, ATEM and ZIET [ without the cellos ] shuffled together. !!! WOW...

My favorite CD edition of perhaps the most formative album of the ambient genre. This includes a second disc with a live improvised show from the same year and of such compatible nature that it is like an extension of the original album. To be fair to the fans who did the work, the bonus disk is a bit-for-bit copy of the fan-produced Tangerine Tree edition of the same concert, but since the Tangerine Tree sharing network was shut down by Edgar's request in 2006, this is by far the best chance to get a copy of one of the best volumes of the series. Add to that as beautiful reproductions of the original package art as can be had in this size, and an ample booklet with photos and information that may be new to even die-hard long-time fans such as myself, and this is not to be missed.

I decided to get this after hearing an interview where Steven Wilson stated this was probably his favorite overlooked record . After being admittedly obsessed with Mr Wilson's catalog of music I can clearly see now the influence this band and this particular release had on him...especially the Bass Communion and I.E.M. stuff

This is a great remaster of the classic album, and it's all on one disc. The extra disc, which is of a concert TD gave in the Seventies, is OK but not an essential listen. Great buy, but only for diehard fans.

Zeit, the album is quite good with experimental sounds and a laid-back sonic landscape. The bonus disc, Klangwald, is also very good with a lot of experimentation, though the music is not as sparse as the album Zeit is.

Un classico del kraut rock !!!

Ich selber besitze die neue, 2011 erschienene Doppel-CD-Verson von "Zeit" noch nicht. Meine Rezension gilt ausschließlich der beiden Bonusstücke, die zum ersten Mal offiziell und nur auf dieser Fassung zu hören gibt: "The Klangwaldt Performance - Cologne November 1972". Diese Aufnahme ist von guter Soundqualität, da es keine Zuschaueraufnahme ist. Klanglich aber ist sie nicht mit einer offiziellen LP-Veröffentlichung gleichzusetzen. Zuerst veröffentlicht wurde diese Aufnahme im August 2004 als Volume 52 der "Tangerine Tree"-Serie (eine non-profit-Sammlung unveröffentlichter TD-Live- und Studioaufnahmen, die von 2002 bis 2006 unter Fans gehandelt wurde; einiges davon wurde später sogar offziell als "Bootleg Box Set" oder "Bootmoon" von Tangerine Dream veröffentlicht). Die Originalquelle der "Klangwald"-Aufnahme war ein altes, mit "Klangwald" beschriftetes C120-Tape (selbst die Marke kannte ich nicht, die Cassette stammte wohl aus den späten 70ern), welches ich 2004 von einem mir unbekannten belgischen Sammler zugeschickt bekommen hatte. Dazu war die Musik auch noch komplett in Mono, allerdings wurde sie für die "Tangerine Tree"-Reihe wie alle anderen Aufnahmen auch noch einmal hervorragend von W.B. in 'pseudo-Stereo' remastered. Da ich selber ein großer Fan von "Zeit" und "Atem" bin, sind diese Aufnahmen für mich mit der größte musikalische Schatz an unveröffentlichtem TD-Material aus dieser Zeit. Wer auf diese Alben und z.B. auf Klaus Schulze's "Cyborg" oder "Irrlicht", und Ash Ra Tempel's ruhige Momente der ersten 3 Alben steht, MUSS sich diese Aufnahmen einfach zulegen. Übrigens ist die Musik nicht identisch mit der 50-minütigen Rundfunkaufnahme, die schon viele Jahre unter Sammlern kursierte: "Klangwald" 25.11.1972, WDR-Sendesaal Köln (inkl. Anmoderation von Winfried Trenkler, "Schwingungen"-Hörern sicherlich bekannt). Letztlich kann die hier auf der "Zeit"-Version erhältlichen Stücke auch von einem anderen TD-Konzert von 1972/73 stammen. Oder sie wurden im Studio für eine mögliche (Rundfunk-)Ausstrahlung verwendet, wer weiß. Schade, dass es für Tangerine Dream nicht möglich ist, selber eigenes Archivmaterial zu veröffentlichen. Somit muß auf 'Fanmaterial' zugegriffen werden. Andererseits hat diese Sternstunde kosmischer Musik nun wenigstens einen würdigen Begleiter bekommen. Es wurde aber auch ZEIT ;-)

In 1974, the release of Tangerine Dream's Phaedra captivated Canadian youth and was to hold them in thrall for three further albums. I was one of them. Thus, a heretofore unknown German band had toppled Pink Floyd's reign, that they had held since Ummagumma and would never regain. Krautrock had come to Canada and changed popular music forever. On the merit of Phaedra, I quickly discovered the first four albums on Ohr (mach das Ohr auf) Records, which were deeper and more rewarding than the rather commercial Phaedra. Of these, Zeit, the album that sums up Tangerine Dream the best, sounds as visionary and mysterious today as it did then. If you are looking for the one TD album to fill that gap in your collection, this is the one to buy. It has both LPs on one disk and, as a bonus, is accompanied by a fine 78-minute live performance from the same year on a second disk. Weit draußen, Mann!

Music that feels like you are travelling through the darkness of outer space - and the additional live performance is very much more of a good thing - am playing regularly to wind down at the end of the day.

Tutto perfetto