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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Peter Baumann

Romance 76

Review by Gary Hill

Peter Baumann was a founding member of Tangerine Dream. The music on this reissue shares a lot of territory with the sounds of that band. This is an instrumental album (well, there are some non-lyrical vocals). It has quite a range of sound from song to song, really. There are definitely reference to things ranging from Mike Oldfield to Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Larry Fast and more. Of course, that’s all in addition to the Tangerine Dream links.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2016  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Bicentennial Presentation

Starting with an almost Kraftwerk kind of sound, I like the melodies on this. It has some energy to the rhythm section with some cool processed keyboard sounds over the top.

Romance
Some playful, almost jazzy keyboards open this. As it works forward it becomes something that’s a bit like Larry Fast, Vangelis and Kraftwerk all rolled into one. I really dig the piano things at the end.
Phase By Phase
Slower and a bit moodier, this is more like Kraftwerk for sure. Yet there is a really dark element to this thing. The chiming bells are intriguing. There is some really jazzy jamming later in the piece. It turns a bit trippy and spacey beyond that section.
Meadow of Infinity (Pt. 1)
There is a really creepy element here, brought on to a large degree by the operatic non-lyrical vocals. There is a real classical side to the music, that is often sparse. This is definitely strange, but cool, stuff. That movement holds it until around the half way mark. Then it powers out to some rather jazz rocking type music. It gets more of those voices and some symphonic craziness infused near the end.
The Glass Bridge
Jazz and classical music merge on this building piece. The percussion is out front and intense. There are some more of those voices later, but more as icing than driving factor. That’s over the top of a percussion movement. Then, the piece moves into some cool territory from there that makes me think of Mike Oldfield a bit.
Meadow of Infinity (Pt. 2)
This is suitably spacey electronic music. I love the slow moving backdrop and keys that dance over the top. Around the one minute mark there is a false ending. The cut builds out from there with a dramatic, slowly surging, symphonic styled movement that gradually builds. Those vocals are heard here, too. This works to some electronic based classically inspired sounds from there that have a lot of drama built within. The vocals are gone by the time it gets to this section. It gets a bit mellower for the closing movement.

 

  
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