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Edgar Froese

Early years
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Albums for Brain and Virgin
All but one of Edgar Froese's original solo albums were made for the Brain and/or Virgin labels from 1973 to 1983. Many of these were done for contractual obligation reasons, although this does not detract from their quality, and much of Froese's solo work has achieved considerable critical acclaim. Other albums were intended as the start of a possible solo career in the eventuality that Tangerine Dream should break up, an event which almost occurred on several occasions.

In 1973, Tangerine Dream was in a state of transition. Peter Baumann quit the group, and their contract with Ohr Records was up for renewal. The group decided to continue as a two-piece band, and switch over to Brain Records, both labels being owned by the same parent company, Metronome Records of Germany. Froese was also considering the option of breaking up the group and continuing as a solo artist, and began planning a solo album. But first, the two-piece group began a new album which was abandoned in light of subsequent events, although they returned to it and completed it 10 years later, releasing a highly modified version as Green Desert in 1985.

Later in 1973, Baumann returned to the band when they were offered a contract by Virgin Records in the UK, who offered to release their albums internationally. Their albums up to this point had been released exclusively in Germany, with no sign of their record company wishing to expand internationally, although it had recently licensed two Tangerine Dream albums to Polydor Records for British release in respone to a large demand for their imported albums. The group attempted to find a way to accept this offer from Virgin without completely cancelling their new contract with Brain. Initially, Brain wanted to continue releasing Tangerine Dream albums in Germany, and was willing to license them to Virgin for release in the rest of the world, or arrange for the band to be signed to both labels. But Virgin wanted to have full contractual control over future albums. A compromise was reached in which Brain's new 5-album contract with Tangerine Dream was converted to a contract with Froese as a solo artist, and this contract would be shared with Virgin. Previous Tangerine Dream albums and future Edgar Froese albums were to be released by Brain in Germany, and by Virgin for the rest of the world, while future Tangerine Dream albums would be released worldwide (including Germany) by Virgin. This agreement would break down before completion, but Froese nevertheless recorded 4 albums, one of which was a double, to fulfill the 5-album contract. In light of the group's new exclusive contract with Virgin, and the return of Peter Baumann, the album they had begun recording for Brain was abandoned.

Aqua
Aqua, Froese's first solo album had originally been recorded as three long minimalist tracks with heavy repetition, but he added the more accessible "NGC 891", one of the tracks recorded for the abandoned 1973 Tangerine Dream album as a fourth track; therefore this track includes Christopher Franke as well, but only Froese is credited as the composer. This was likely a positive move, as the album was well received, considering its heavy minimalism.

The album exists in two versions, one released in Germany on the Brain label, and one for the rest of the world on the Virgin label, both in 1974. All modern editions on CD are the latter version. The earlier version begins with "NGC 891", but at the last minute Froese decided the album should not begin with the most accessible track, as that could result in poor reception of the rest of the album. The problem was resolved by reversing the sides, so that "Aqua" became the first track. Froese also re-edited the album to make the changes described below. He had already submitted the first version to Brain, and when the second was submitted, he was too late, as Brain had already cut the album from the first master. The two versions also have cover art variations; the Brain cover is actually upside down in relation to Virgin's, and the back cover of one version became the front cover of the other. The cover art shows an abstract photo of shaved ice, and looks acceptable in either orientation. Also, Virgin Records' art department (under the direction of Trevor Key) altered the tint of the cover art to make it brighter, and more blue.

"Aqua" – This piece is identical in both versions, aside from slightly different mastering equalization which gives the Brain version a softer tone. This difference was also applied to the other tracks.

"Panorphelia" – The first version begins and ends with overdubbed Moog sound effects. These were removed for the second version, which begins with a slow hissing or breathing sound that continues into the main opening section.

"NGC 891" – During recording, there is a point where the sequencer stopped working, and had to be restarted and reprogrammed on the fly. This moment was completely edited out in the first version, but the edit was improperly executed, and did not join parts according to the rhythm pattern. In the second version, this section was restored, but in the process, about 30 seconds of material was repeated, and so appears twice in the piece. The overdubbed ambient acoustic recordings of automobiles, aeroplanes and street sounds are more vibrant on the earlier Brain Records version.

"Upland" – The first version begins with backward recorded sounds, including piano, and ends with a quiet organ solo which ends abruptly. In the second version, the backward sounds were moved to the end, and a bubbling rhythmic electronic sound became the new introduction. On some copies of the latter version, about 10 seconds of the big organ sound (a repeat of the main section following the introduction) can be heard quietly, almost inaudibly, at the end. It is possible that this was not supposed to have been included, and its exclusion on some copies suggests the disc cutting engineers were not certain if it belongs.

Epsilon in Malaysian Pale
Although Froese's second album Epsilon in Malaysian Pale, and most subsequent albums were not released in North America, they were well distributed worldwide as imports, and this is one of his most acclaimed albums. This album from 1975 contains two long pieces, and much of the title track on side one is an improvised Mellotron solo imitating the sounds of flute, strings, and other orchestral instruments. The Brain Records edition is spelled Ypsilon in Malaysian Pale, which was later declared to be a misprint, but the company never corrected it, and the album remained in print with this title in Germany for over 15 years. Despite the difference in title, the Brain and Virgin editions are musically identical. The Brain edition also omitted the gatefold with a photograph of Froese's son who is seen wearing no clothes, but covering himself with a large ostrich feather. The company was concerned that the photo might be seen as controversial in Germany. On a later album, Ages, the gatefold cover art shows a promotional poster for Epsilon in Malaysian Pale, featuring its gatefold art, lying in a road, as a comment on Brain's decision to "discard" this component of the cover.

Macula Transfer
Macula Transfer, Froese's third album for his shared contract with Brain and Virgin ended up being released only by Brain in 1976. The two companies were engaged in several disputes at this time. Virgin had previously released a compilation album in Germany with an Edgar Froese solo track, in violation of their agreement to allow Brain to release Froese's solo works exclusively in that country, and the album had to be withdrawn. Virgin had also signed another Brain artist, Klaus Schulze, planning a Virgin / Brain co-release of his forthcoming album Moondawn without Brain's approval, and this contract and release ended up being cancelled. In response to these events, Brain decided to withhold the master tapes of Macula Transfer from Virgin, and declared exclusive owership, breaking the agreement. The album was therefore never released outside Germany, although it was heavily exported for over 15 years, and is not a rare album on vinyl, but it is not available (in its original form) on CD. Following the dissolution of Brain Records, the recording was licensed to Manikin Records who briefly released it on CD in 1998, but withdrew it immediately at Froese's demand.

Ages
In 1977, Peter Baumann left Tangerine Dream for the third time (a permenant departure), and once again the remaining group briefly considered splitting up, and Edgar Froese recorded a solo album Ages as the possible start of a solo career. It became a double album in order to complete his contractual obligation for two more albums for Brain Records. But Virgin decided to assert their esclusive rights to Froese's solo material from this point onward, and did not send the master tapes to Brain, but released the album in the UK and Germany in 1978.

On all but one track ("Childrens Deeper Study"), Froese is accompanied by percussionist Klaus Krüger (credited as Claus Criegas on this album, and as Klaus Krieger on Tangerine Dream albums), who became a member of Tangerine Dream in 1978.

Prior to the album's release, one track, "Ode to Granny A." was released as the B-side of Tangerine Dream's "Encore" single (also known as "Monolight"), under the title "Hobo March" with Tangerine Dream credited as the artist. The single version fades out earlier than the album version, but otherwise they are the same track.

Virgin's CD edition of the album omits the final track, "Golgatha and the Circle Closes", to fit the double album on one CD. Froese claims he was not consulted, and would not have approved this alteration. When he released his own remake of the album in 2004, he restored the missing track, but still could not fit the entire album on one CD, and therefore omitted a different track, "Childrens Deeper Study".

Stuntman
Froese's Stuntman solo album of 1979 was made in response to internationally successful electronic music albums by other European solo artists including Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, and former Tangerine Dream co-member Peter Baumann. It is much more accessible and less minimalist or repetitious than most of his other albums. It was his only album aside from Aqua to be released in the USA. Two short songs were included to permit the release of a single: "Stuntman" and "Scarlet Score for Mescalero". "Drunken Mozart in the Desert" was frequently used as background music in television documentaries.

(move note about "Stuntman" use in a television program in current article, to here)

Electronic Dreams
Electronic Dreams is a compilation album released by Brain Records as part of their "Rock on Brain" budget reissue series, even though it is not rock music. It contains three tracks, including "Panorphelia" and "Upland" from Aqua, using the versions from the later and more common master, which had not been released in Germany before. It also includes "Maroubra Bay" from Epsilon in Malaysian Pale covering side two, but playing backward, apparently in error. The cover art, designed by Brain's own art department who created covers for dozens of compilation albums issued around 1980, shows a photograph of a white mouse, which some regard as an attempt to resemble the covers of albums by Triumvirat.

Solo 1974 – 1979
Solo 1974 – 1979 is a compliation album released by Virgin Records in 1981, and the first of any Edgar Froese or Tangerine Dream albums to contain older material altered by new overdubs. These overdubs are not as elaborate as those of later similar work; they consist of a new single keyboard overdub over top of the original master mix, with the overdub quite loud in the mix, becoming the dominant instrument. Only half the tracks received this treatment, and most others are edited versions of the original mixes. The final track, "NGC 891" claims to be a re-recording, but bears no resemblence to the original, and may have been a new substituted track assigned an incorrect title.

Kamikaze 1989
Kamikaze 1989 is the soundtrack for a 1982 film of the same name starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder (who is better known as a film director, but he did not direct this film). Around this time, Tangerine Dream were recording many film soundtracks, but Froese worked on this one alone. It is his only solo album from his Virgin Records years that has not been remade in the 2000s, but remixed tracks are well represented in his many remixed compilation albums.

Pinnacles
Pinnacles was another contractual obligation album recorded to complete Tangerine Dream's contract with Virgin Records in 1983. In 2005, Froese released a remake of the album, omitting the last two thirds of the title track which covers side two, or one third of the entire album, resulting in an album with a duration of under 30 minutes. Froese claimed he did this because he thought the omitted material was too commercial, but reviewers suggested it was the best part of the original album. Froese responded that he was reconsidering this decision, and may release another remixed version of the album with the sections restored, but has not done so.

Post-Virgin albums
Since 1983, Edgar Froese has only released one album of completely original material, 2004's Dalinetopia, but has also issued many compilations with a mixture of new material and remixes of older material, as an extention of similar albums by Tangerine Dream. These remixes include new overdubs. He has also overdubbed and remixed new versions of most of his older albums, with the exception of Kamikaze 1989. Original versions of older albums continue to be available from Virgin Records, with the exception of Macula Transfer and the first master of Aqua, which Virgin never owned or released, and the contemporary compilations. The overdubbed remixes have been controversial, and some have claimed that these were made to renew the copyrights, so Froese could continue to receive royalty payments from old albums after the original versions' copyrights expire. Froese claims he prepared the remakes to give listeners who already have the original albums more value for their money by not attempting to sell the same music in the same form, and also says that the remixes allow listeners to hear the music from a different angle. He also considers these remakes to be improvements reflecting his changing thoughts on how the music can be produced to a new completion.

Some work done as Tangerine Dream was actually recorded by Froese alone. "Mysterious Semblance at the Stand of Nightmares" from Tangerine Dream's album Phaedra was recorded by Froese as a solo track when the Manor recording studio suddenly became available while the other members of the group were sightseeing in London. A 1994 Tangerine Dream box set compilation album Tangents included four CDs of remixed material and a fifth disc of new material, with no personnel credits for the fifth disc, and all tracks composed and produced by Froese. This disc is regarded as a Froese solo album recorded as Tangerine Dream. It is not included in this article's discography.