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Tangerine Dream

The Melrose Years

Optical Race
Lily On The Beach
Melrose
The Re-Recordings 2003

- Re-release/Studio, released November 2002 -

Covers


CD release Germany 2002
Design: Edgar Froese

Download release 2007
Cover of first CD
Artwork: Edgar Froese

Download release 2007
Cover of second CD
Artwork: Edgar Froese

Download release 2007
Cover of third CD
Artwork: Edgar Froese


Contents

1.Optical Race [b]
2.Lily On The Beach [b]
3.Melrose [b]


Details

Recording date2002
Recording site(s)Eastgate Studios (Vienna)
Composer(s)Edgar Froese, Paul Haslinger, Ralf Wadephul, Jerome Froese
Musician(s)Edgar Froese, Jerome Froese, Mark Hornby, Iris Camaa, Linda Spa, Jack Liberty, Lerk Andebracht


Notes

In late 2002 Tangerine Dream released a set of three CDs, titled The Melrose Years. It includes the three studio albums Optical Race (1988), Lily On The Beach (1989) and Melrose (1990), all completely re-recorded in 2002 (nevertheless the release is subtitled 'The Re-Recordings 2003'). Furthermore each CD includes one bonus track that was not released on the original albums. The track sequence was changed compared to the original releases. Some of the re-recordings sound quite close to the originals, on others the instrumentation was changed, and some were largely enhanced by additional guitar solos, keyboard sounds or percussions and sound much more lively and warmer than the originals -- especially the album Optical Race was regarded sounding kind of sterile and cold due to the use of digital equipment. One of the most pleasing aspects of this set is the first official release of the composition The Back Of Beyond, originally performed live during the 1990 tours and available only on bootlegs so far.

 


After release there were several comments and questions about a skipping sound that can be heard on the track Cool At Heart. The sound appears around 2:23 and then again at the end of the song. There was an official statement by TDI: "After talking to Edgar Froese, we can assure you that this sound is neither a mastering flaw nor the result of a faulty pressing, but a deliberate effect created by a filter plugin that chops up sound bytes. If you watch the time display on your CD player you will see that the CD runs through in a normal fashion when the sound appears and if you listen closely, you will notice that the 'skipping' sound is in sync with the tempo of the piece. This was intentional and is no cause for alarm. You will not need to return your disc, as the sound effect will be found on every one of them." Listening to this track it is hard to believe that this is a 'deliberate effect' and was included 'intentional'...

 


Another thing pointed out by several fans was that the last track on the first disc was not previously unreleased as announced, but in fact a slightly remixed version of Ivory Town (with some additional music during the last 30 seconds), that had been already released as part of the i-Box set two years ago. A few days later TDI stated: "We had to notice that a mistake has been made regarding the track content of the Optical Race disc. The bonus track that was included was indeed Ivory Town from the i-Box and not, as intended, the unreleased track Ruling The Waves. When putting the tracks for the CD's in sequential order for burning the CD-masters, the wrong track must've slipped in. TDI MUSIC wish to sincerely apologize for this mishap, as we did not intend to misinform potential customers. In order to rectify this error in the fastest and easiest way possible, we will put the 'missing' track Ruling The Waves up for download in some days time." These 'some days' turned out to be some months, but eventually the track was provided for free download via www.tadream.net.

 


In January 2007 this release became available as MP3 download at the Tangerine Dream Download Shop, featuring the same mistakes regarding the compositions Ruling The Waves and Cool At Heart as mentioned above.

 


In March 2009 these re-recording were finally re-released on three single disc albums as part of an extensive digipack series (consisting of a total of more than 60 CD and DVD releases) by the Germany based Membran record label.


Releases

Germany
2002: TDI/EFA
3CD: 63033-2; three-fold digipack
2007: Eastgate
Download: complete release or individual tracks as MP3
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