No matter what you think, electronic music today might be a very different proposition were it not for the gargantuan efforts of TANGERINE DREAM. Not only have they been bringing their sequencer-led multi layers of sound to a neophagic, eager world, but they have actually inspired and to some degrees innovated the instruments of today. Try telling the spoon-fed TB303 / TR808 / Bass Station press-the-button-and-wait-for-the-cash-to-roll-in Youth Stars of today that they'd actually have to create and build the gear themselves to get a specific sound and they'd soon make a radical career change. TANGERINE DREAM fought and sweated over hot electronics to lead the way, so to forge the territory most of us take for granted. I seem to recall a comedy sketch from yore - I think it was DAVE ALLEN playing a Robinson Crusoe character who discovers a set of footprints in the sand, pursues them, discovers a second set, then a third, a fourth & so on, the inevitable conclusion being that he had been walking in circles, following his own steps. On this album, remixed from the "Tyranny Of Beauty", "Rockoon" & "Turn Of The Tides" albums, TANGERINE DREAM have fallen into regular 4/4 beat over which their gossamer-gentle zephyr layers of sound wash. The tunes here have more hook than ever before, and in many ways it's nice to see them returning from the hinterlands of such albums as "Optical Race" which always seemed quite dilute to my ears. They certainly have mastery over their instruments, and the composition, with all those sudden chord changes which rear up like startled horses, seems as natural as breathing to them. But I cannot help but feel that they have become TOO aware of what's happening around them, and have decided to splice into the Chill Zone of the club scene. The music here is like ROBERT MILES with style, verve and variety - the piano sound's bright and perky set against the huge banks of chord muscle, and the haunted, Blade Runner floating almost Oriental voices which appear here & there add humanity to the sound. And a very human sound it is too - the machine element has receded almost to nothingness. But as nice as this album is (and it does get played often in my domicile) it seems anaemic compared to their previous work. This type of music gets played during transmission breakdowns, with testcards and to accompany the "Jobfinder" late night spot on television - impressive at volume, but a little too pallid if played low. Somewhat influenced by those who found their inspiration in TD, the group have become ALLEN's castaway, walking in their own footsteps. Zeitgeist music, even if it's someone else's zeitgeist. Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.