Sorcerer
Tangerine Dream

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"Sorcerer"1977MCA RecordsMCL 1646 (LP)

At the time of release I thought that this was great. A soundtrack.It gave some unneeded validity to my liking for this kind of music. Wow! awhole film utilizing music from Tangerine Dream. I went out and purchased theLP as soon as it hit the record racks, took it home and played it for weeksand weeks. I was so into it. For some reason, though, I totally missed thefilm on the big screen. (Screens were really big in those days b- like twentyor thirty feet high.) It would have been nice to see that BIG music on theBIG screen, but that is water under the bridge. I finally saw it on cableabout five years ago for the first time, and found the sound editing to be abit choppy, but, Oh, well.The LP still sounds fresh and resilient. Very spontaneous (as muchas sequencers _can_ be at least). Very primitive and primordial. Matches thetheme of the film very well, I think. The film is quite dark in character andso is the music, but I don't find it overwhelmingly so. It is an odd concept,but the way that the action and the music balance the darkness actuallyalleviate the pressure quite successfully. The filming hands the mood to themusic and the music hands it back so that the feeling does not getexcessively depressing.I think that, although the film actually fails in its attemptedthematic endeavor in this case, the production values succeeded and have beencopied in more successful and subsequent venues.I am likely biased in that, however.Good music. "Abyss" is wonderful, and "Impressions of Sorcerer,"with its Froese earthy lead guitar, has definite Stonker capabilities.Nice job guys!! Or is this primarily Froese? The thought keepsreturning.

Phil N.

Very late with this one... the reason is simple... this is the firstthat I do not have on CD... only on vinyl. Not a problem I hear youall cry... well it is if you haven't got a turntable. So, one weeklater I have managed to listen to this from an audio cassette (justabout - far too much hiss). And only having heard it twice, ratherthan the good half dozen I usually manage, here are my thoughts... inmy usual format.

Sorcerer (Recorded Mar/Apr 1976, Released July 1977)

1. Main Title2. Search3. The Call4. Creation5. Vengeance6. The Journey7. Grind8. Rain Forest9. Abyss10. The Mountain Road11. Impressions of Sorcerer12. Betrayal

All recording credits are (E.Froese - C.Franke - P.Baumann)

EF: Fender Stratocaster & Gibson Les Paul Custom Guitars, twinkeyboard Mellotron Mark V, Steinway grand piano, Oberheim polyphonicsynthesizer, Arp Omni string synthesizer, PPG synthesizer, modifiedMoog synthesizer.

CF: Moog Modular synthesizer, Projekt Elektronic sequencer,Computerstudio digital sequencer, Mellotron, Arp Soloist synthesizer,Elka string synthesizer, Oberheim sequencer

PB: Projekt Elektronic Modular synthesizer, Projekt Elektronicsequencer, Fender Rhodes piano, Arp Soloist synthesizer, Mellotron

As I'm on audio tape here, I can't really give any timings like Iusually do. The first track 'Main Title' is probably the least maintitle-like music I have ever heard. Usually, the main title is thememorable theme from a film, but not in this case. Having said that, Ihave never seen the film, nor have I ever seen it anywhere to rent orbuy, so unless it comes round one day on TV I will probably never getto see this, which is a shame because many people say that it's areally good film which the soundtrack fits perfectly.

Search starts with a sequence added to by a couple of melody linesthat mirror each other . Nice stomping music, the sort I like bestfrom TD. A great 3 minutes, wish it had been longer, but such issoundtrack music!

The Call is another track that is way too short. Nice Mellotronsounds. Good atmosphere.Creation is one of my favourites, relentless bass sequence. Lovely.Vengeance is very much in the same vein, but slightly more rigid andless flowing. Again, nice work on the Mellotron. Paul described thistrack as having a 'military' feel to it, and I think he's bang on themoney with that single word description. Not quite as good as theprevious track.

The next track, 'The Journey' has an almost random sounding rhythmwith a 'flute' melody over the top, which given the absence of a fluteon the recording credits, I presume came from the Mellotrons. A goodtrack.

Grind is a corker. 3 minutes of classic TD. Great pounding sequence,great lead sounds. Not much else to say really. Now, Rain Forest is astrange sounding chap. It's hard to get on first listen, but quiterewarding after a second attempt. Not really as musical as the rest ofthe album, this is more a rhythmic collection of sound effects.

Abyss. A bit meandering and long winded for me. Not enough stomping,too much swirlies. All that. Still, I'm sure that it will appeal toloads of people.

The Mountain Road is another groovy one. A couple of bum notes in itif you ask me.. okay so they may be intentional but they are certainlydiscordant. Yet another great snippet cut short in it's prime. I wouldlove to have heard this at full length, which undoubtedly it once was(given that there are 45 minutes cut from the original tapes).

Impressions Of Sorcerer has some nice guitar work on from Edgar. Movegroovy rhythms. probably the best track on the whole album.

Betrayal. This track is the one that comes to mind when people mention'Sorcerer'. Another great piece. Gives a good fight to Impressions ofSorcerer for the top spot.

The great shame is that I don't listen to this at album at all, withnot having it on CD (hopefully soon to be rectified as I have orderedit from Boxman - I was hoping to have it in time for this weeksdiscussion, but alas, no).

Not a very in-depth review this week, but I didn't spend much time onit I'm afraid (after all, it is 8pm on Saturday!). By the way, Imentioned before on the UWP list that my copy has the vinyl labels"The Sorcerer" on one side, and more inaccurately, "The Scorcher"(yes, as in Phew what a scorcher!) on the other side. It is the UKreissue that I have. Does any one else have this one?

Overall, a dark album but with some great little highlights. By nomeans a must have (like Ricochet and Stratosfear either side), but aworthy addition to any collection, and certainly better than all thepre-virgin stuff put together.

Regards,Lawry

A little pushed for time just now, so not my standard form review. A fewcomments, however.

1) Why are we reviewing this before Stratosfear? Lawry said this was recordedin 1976, but it _was_ released in 1977 and has far more in common with thesound and feel of Encore than with either Rubycon/Ricochet or Stratosfear.

2) Whether its the short-form tracks or whatever, I see this as a low-point intheir Virgin years - perhaps fits well with the film but ofers me little as asecluded listener. What it _does_ offer is a dark, dank atmosphere which, atthis particular moment, I could do without.

3) Why do we always have the same CD vs LP argument every six months? Who givesa flying proverbial? I listen to CDs because they are more convenient - I don'tcare about n-bit x-GHz recording/playback factors. I doubt they'd change myperception of TD's labum by more than 5%!

Sorcerer : 3AS

Hey Gang! Welcome back to the LP vs. CD & Components List! (Formallyknown as the TD List :)

Sorcerer

You know when you go to a record store & you see a TD CD that you donot have? when you buy it, that feeling of elation, AAAHHHHH. I amsure we all know it well. & you know when you play the CD & youexperience even further elation?

Remember playing a new TD CD & asking WHAT HELL IS THIS!?

I used to regard Sorcerer in this way. Though I managed many videostores & saw 1000's of movies (not all x-rated ;} I never saw themovie. I heard it is really depressing & I got to be in the mood forthose things. (Hey you guys can fill my screen with > LP vs. CD &Components "stuff" I can ramble a little:)

But, I plan to take "Synthhtnys" up on his recommendation.

Anyway, I am in the metamorphous stage with this CD. I am beginningto appreciate some of the cuts ( Search & Vengeance for the moment).

However, as will no doubt come up when we discuss other soundtracks, Ido not like all the cuts. I just heard The Journey & some of itreminded me of Radiohead (kewl!), yet I did not really like thecomplete song.

I do not like Main Title or Rain Forest. The "cricket type noise" isvery annoying like Ambient Monkeys (that "pan" is for another time :).

The Abyss on the other hand is pretty good it sounds alot like TDduring that particular era (The haunting spaciness & peculiarsounds).

Impressions of Sorcerer has good guitar, but I do not really like thewhole song.

Sidebar: Years ago b4 I became the "BIG TD FAN" I am today, Iremember someone telling me that TD never used guitar or percussion,they used the Synths to make the sounds. I guess he was wrong.

Anyway, overall the CD for now is OK a good start to a longillustrious career of soundtrack making.

IMHO, some of the soundtracks are some of the best TD music I haveheard & take minor offense that others feel "a whole week" is toomuch time. But, I understand how others think, look at the lack ofresponse to Sorcerer.

To close, something we all can relate to:

I played some of Live Miles for a Jamaican friend who says "music isher life".

When I asked her what she thought, she said "that's not music".AHHHHHH, some things never change. :)

Gotta go, Voyager is on & it looks to be good.

Now back to: 8-track is better than mini discs.

siberkat

Its VERY dark, very moody and very apt. I love the contrast between theheavy tracks (Main title) vs the lighter ones (Mountain road). As asoundtrack debut - its a stonker!!

Great EF guitar as well.....

Larry

Sorcerer is an old favorite of mine. Unlike some other soundtrackwork by TD, The Movie is superb. If there are any TD fans out therewho haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. This has to be one of theirdarkest albums ever. Look at the picture on the back! Peter Baumannis SCARY!!! AAAUUGH! (Edgar kind of looks like a muppet.)Overall, Sorcerer feels like several thumbnail sketches as opposedto a "finished work" . I sense that many of these pieces were made"on the fly". I.E. they generated the mood quickly and went on to thenext one. Not that this is a bad thing. I like the rawness of it. This albumholds many fond memories as it was the second TD album I bought.I got it when it came out, and remember taking it to my bedroom,turning off all the lights, and burning some errrr... incense, yeah, that'sit, incense. There's legends of leftover music... anyone aware of bootswith this music? Something? Anything?I certainly prefer my electronic music with longer tracks, but TDdoes a good job here with expressing a lot in a short amount of time.

Main title is disturbing and dark, like the intro's to both Rubycon parts.Search is one of my favorites and, I don't have it here with me, but ifmemory serves it is a theme that's revisited on Encores.The Call has a melancholy sound to it. Love those mellotron horns.Creation is my favorite on the album. There's a great moment in themovie where they are trying to fix these ancient trucks to haul somedynamite through the Brazilian rainforests. This music fits perfectly,Though I understand that they hadn't seen any footage when they were makingthe music. Creation drips of rainforest mystery.Vengeance has an almost military quality to the sequence and melodies.The Journey is more detached, like the scenes in the movie whereyou're looking down on the rainforest from above. I really like howChris F. got those polyrhythms with the sequencer.Grind. This one has it all, classic driving sequence, grand themes onmellotron, and an almost psychic interplay between them as they taketurns with melodies.Rain Forest. Creepy Synthesizer mixed with treated acoustic soundsThis sounds to me like the piece William Friedken was listening to ashe wrote the liner notes.Abyss. Kind of sounds like Early TD here... Zeit maybe? Until about1:20 when what seems like a sequence, but I'm sure is Edgarplaying the Mellotron cello sounds by hand. More creepy washesof sound, then Chris's Moog takes over. I really like the chord patternin the strings. Then all hell breaks loose and we fall away into blackness.The mountain road. This one could go on for a long time as far as I'mconcerned. As it is I think it's the shortest TD piece ever (1:54)Here TD proves you can say A LOT in a short amount of time.Impressions of Sorcerer. This is a piece where Edgars guitar worksreally well IMHO. I don't always like the guitar.Betrayal. Fantastic way to end the movie and album. With the patentedTD phasing mellotron string sound

Next week : My all time favorite TD album, (and most played albumin my collection. Along with K.S. Mirage) expect much drooling fromme....Poly

You know that the movie 'Sorcerer' is just a remake of the frenchclassic 'Wages of Fear' (don't know the french original title)? I'veseen Sorcerer, but long ago and my memory fades, but I've seenthe french one again recently - its from the 50s - and this movieis really great, and, keeping in mind that it was made in the 50s,very brutal for its time. It is said that 'Wages of Fear' is waybetter than 'Sorcerer'. I cannot compare that now, but I think'Wages of Fear' is hard to beat!