bio
Tangerine Dream are an electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese in Berlin. Their groundbreaking record Phaedra, released in 1974, reached gold status in the UK, and was the band's first success on the Virgin Records label to whom they had recently signed. The recording became a milestone in electronic music. Over the last 53 years, Tangerine Dream released more than one hundred albums. Their early 'Pink Years' albums had a pivotal role in the development of Krautrock. Their 'Virgin Years' albums helped define what became known as the Berlin School of electronic music. These and later albums were influential in the development of electronic dance music.
Although the group released numerous studio and live recordings, a substantial number of their fans were introduced to Tangerine Dream by their film soundtracks, which total over sixty and include Sorcerer (William Friedkin), Thief (Michael Mann), Risky Business, The Keep, Firestarter, Legend (Ridley Scott), Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow), Shy People, and Miracle Mile. In 2013, Tangerine Dream composed the original score for Rockstar's video game Grand Theft Auto V and won the coveted VGX award for the Best Soundtrack in a game. In total, Tangerine Dream have received seven Grammy nominations for their unique compositions over the last few decades.
After Edgar Froese's death in 2015, Tangerine Dream's line-up now consists of Thorsten Quaeschning (since 2005) as musical director, Hoshiko Yamane (since 2011) and Paul Frick (since 2020). The latter replaced Ulrich Schnauss who left the band in 2019 after five years. The band has now returned to the classic sequencer driven sound and Quantum Gate (2017) is their best-selling album since 1987. Tangerine Dream recently performed live concerts at Dekmantel Festival Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Barbican Hall in London. Every performance ends with a live session, a real-time composition that can last from 20 – 45 minutes.
Their latest studio album Raum was released in February 2022 and performed on their tour 'From Virgin to Quantum Years'. The record entered the German Album Chart at #39 and the Official UK Dance Album Chart at #1 among others. Raum marks the band's most successful release since the 1980s and was highly praised by the press. ('The best Tangerine Dream record in decades' - Resident Advisor). Currently the band is working on their third studio album after Edgar Froese’s death and are celebrating their vast music catalogue live with their CONTINUUM TOUR 2025 around the globe.
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press
“The band does clearly demonstrate that synthesizers can do everything, from playing lyric flute-like sounds to ripping out the hard beat. Leader Edgar Froese can play pretty mean guitar too.” - Sunday Sun Times
“Tangerine Dream are a vast, elemental force, an electronic music group whose grandiloquent synthesizer soundscapes tower over the pithiness of pop convention.” - Pitchfork