Featuring shorter compositions and an increasingly lyrical lexicon of electronic sounds,
Le Parc has more in common with the burgeoning new age movement than
Tangerine Dream's earlier, eerier work. The songs are essentially musical postcards from great parks around the world, though the focus is on the mood generated by these places rather than a literal translation of geographic qualities. Thus, "Yellowstone Park" is rendered with an American Indian spirituality, "Zen Garden" is peaceful and mysterious, "Central Park" highly stylized and danceable.
Tangerine Dream's music in recent years had shifted toward more accessible and melodic arrangements, so coming from the vantage point of a
Phaedra or Stratosfear, the music on
Le Parc could be viewed as a considerable "dumbing down" of their artistic origins. Part of
Tangerine Dream's earlier appeal was their ability to evoke images in a language alien to the average listener; by adopting contemporary and relatively common sounds for these arrangements, some of their appeal is lost. The band is still capable of delivering engaging electronic music, but
Le Parc operates on a more immediate level that values quick gratification over introspective study. That's not to suggest that listeners won't enjoy this record -- the warmly remembered "Tiergarten" is well worth hearing, for example -- but it operates on a superficial level that longtime fans may find slightly distasteful. ~ Dave Connolly