arlier this year, NASA launched the Mars Polar Lander, which is scheduled
to reach the Red Planet in December. Along the way, the vehicle will travel
millions of miles, passing by or through a variety of cosmic phenomena.
Mars Polaris, a 10-track CD performed by the pioneering electronic
space-rock ensemble Tangerine Dream, presents an instrumental interpretation
of that journey.
Cuts like "Pilots of the Ether Belt" and "Spiral Star Date (Level P)"
emphasize a measured, reverberant sound that evokes the vast emptiness of
outer space. Other tracks, such as "Deep Space Cruiser" and "Mars Mission
Counter," incorporate more mechanical noises, subtly
stressing the technical elements of the voyage.
Meanwhile, selections like "Astrophobia," which begins with a tentative introduction
and then segues into a faster tempo,
spotlight some of the fears and challenges that both the spacecraft's ground
controllers and future interplanetary explorers will confront as humanity
ventures farther into the universe.
For this recording, the band--which has gone through many permutations during
its 30-year existence--includes the father-son team of Edgar
and Jerome Froese. In addition to the standard production credits, the disc's
full-color liner notes contain moderately detailed data about the
Mars Polar Lander and the Red Planet itself. The text is accompanied by numerous
pictures of the Martian surface and even a few shots of the lander. The notes also feature
a brief excerpt from a work titled The Seven Platonic Tales, along with
acknowledgments to various scientists and space agencies.
Entertaining but earthbound
During its heyday in the mid-1970s, Tangerine Dream was arguably the
foremost practitioner of "space rock," a largely synthesizer-based musical
style that in some respects was a precursor to the popular techno and
"electronica" sounds heard today. While the melodies on Mars Polaris
exhibit a few exciting sequences reminiscent of those early years, like many
of the band's releases over the past decade or so, the CD also showcases
fairly mellow, run-of-the-mill harmonic elements. It's a mixture that, though
certainly pleasing, is unfortunately not particularly appropriate for the
subject of this concept album.
The opening composition, "Comet's Figure Head," nicely launches the
fanciful flight. Gossamer synthesized effects float alongside processed
percussive noises, conjuring images of a peaceful yet steadily
accelerating interplanetary probe being hit by cosmic dust particles.
However, as the recording proceeds and songs such as "Rim of Schiaparelli,"
"Outland (The Colony)" and "Tharsis Maneuver" appear, the ethereal segments
are often overshadowed by repetitive chords. Instead of discovering new sounds and surprises
within the music, listeners are treated to enjoyable but somewhat
mundane melodies.
Ironically, the Mars Polar Lander includes a microphone which, if all goes
as planned, should allow scientists to hear atmospheric noises on the Red
Planet. An imaginative interpretation of that clamor, or perhaps a few
judiciously placed (or inventively altered) samples of the telemetry signals
from the spacecraft, might have made Mars Polaris a more interesting CD. As it stands,
although this disc is entertaining, it never breaks its earthly bonds.
