Tangerine Dream-Alpha Centauri (1971)

Experimental, intriguing, and with a touch of krautrock, that's how we could describe "Alpha Centauri", the second album by Tangerine Dream. On this second recording, the German band, led by Edgar Froese and completed by Christopher Franke and Steve Schroyder, embarks on a kind of space odyssey, abandoning psychedelic guitars and much of the acoustic drumming to focus on the strange sounds of string synthesizers and the Hammond organ. These cosmic explorations are reflected in the "Alpha Centauri" suite, twenty minutes of music filled with electroacoustic structures and understated guitar lines, forming a hypnotic and meditative piece. In contrast, stormy and sinister vocals flood the end of the piece, instantly making it a true TD classic. Other tracks on the album include the tender "Sunrise In The Third System", an organ-driven piece, the ethereal "Oszillator Planet Concert", and the distant hint of krautrock in "Fly And Collision Of Comas Sola". All of this makes "Alpha Centauri" a pivotal step from their nascent krautrock sound to the style that would define this legendary German band for the rest of their career.