Alpha Centauri (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Alpha Centauri
Type = Studio album
Artist = Tangerine Dream


Caption = 1971 LP album cover
Released = March 1971
Recorded = January 1971, Dierks Studio
Genre = Kosmische musik, Electronic music
Length = 39:48
Label = Ohr
Producer = Tangerine Dream
Reviews =
* Allmusic: Rating|2.5|5 [http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:pyen97rjkrat link]
*Pitchfork Media (7.8/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22452/Tangerine_Dream_Electronic_Meditation_Alpha_Centauri link]
Last album = "Electronic Meditation" (1970)
This album = "Alpha Centauri" (1971)
Next album = "Zeit" (1972)

"Alpha Centauri" (1971) is an album by the German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. The music on this album is quite different from Tangerine Dream’s first album "Electronic Meditation", due to a heavier reliance on keyboards and electronic technology, although they still mostly remain in the background: the dominant instruments on the album are organ and flute. The shift in instrumentation still resulted in a new, exciting atmosphere, dubbed by Edgar Froese himself as Kosmische musik.

This album sold 20,000 copies in their native Germany, nearly four times as many as their later classic "Phaedra".

A nowadays extremely rare single "Ultima Thule" was released in the same year. Side 1 employs the same guitar riff as "Fly ...", but the single was at the time otherwise an unconnected release. Re-releases of Alpha Centauri in the 2000s have however included either or both parts of Ultima Thule as bonus tracks.

Track listing

#"Sunrise in the Third System" – 4:21
#"Fly and Collision of Comas Sola" – 13:23
#"Alpha Centauri" – 22:04
#"Ultima Thule, Part One" – 3:24 (2002 Sanctuary release, 2004 Arcàngelo release)
#"Ultima Thule, Part Two" – 4:09 (2004 Arcàngelo release)

Personnel

*Edgar Froese – guitar, organ, bass, coffee machine, composer
*Steve Schroyder – organ, voice, echo machines, iron stick.
*Christopher Franke – drums, percussion, flute, zither, piano, VCS3
*Udo Dennebourg – flute, voice
*Roland Paulyck – synthesizer

References

*cite web | last =Berling | first =Michael | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url =http://www.vitn.homepage.t-online.de/alphacen.htm | title =Alpha Centauri | format = | work =Voices in the Net | accessdate =2007-12-19

ee also

*Tangerine Dream discography