''Atem'' ( en, link=no, Breath) is the fourth major release and fourth studio album by German

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

group

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup ...

. It was released in March 1973 by record label

Ohr ''Ohr'' ("Light" he, אור; plural: ''Ohros/Ohrot'' "Lights" ) is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations. ''Shefa'' ("Flow" an ...

Content

The music on ''Atem'' ranges from slow atmospheric pieces to more aggressive percussion and vocal experiments with dynamic

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

orchestrations. Describing its style,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote "Atem is more melodic and less dissonant than Tangerine Dream's other early works. The lineup ..puts a nice topspin on the old

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

sound. ..While it is still very common to see TD listed as progressive rock and

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

, this album is pure

space music Space music, also called spacemusic or space ambient, is a subgenre of new-age music and is described as "tranquil, hypnotic and moving". It is derived from ambient music and is associated with lounge music, easy listening, and elevator music. ...

." The album marked the end of the band's seminal "Pink Years" period, with future albums adopting a more structured (and commercially viable) sound.

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

's Head Heritage described it as Tangerine Dream's "transitional album". The baby pictured on the cover is

Jerome Froese Jerome Froese (born 24 November 1970 in Berlin, Germany) is a German musician who, in 1990, officially joined his father Edgar Froese in the band Tangerine Dream. He remained a member until 2006. Prior to his direct involvement in Tangerine Drea ...

, the son of

Edgar Froese Edgar Willmar Froese (; 6 June 1944 – 20 January 2015) was a German musical artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group Tangerine Dream in 1967. Froese was the only continuous member of the group ...

, who would eventually become a member of Tangerine Dream. He was two years and four months old at the time this album was released.

Release and reception

It was largely through DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

's enthusiastic championing of this album (it was one of his "Albums of the Year" in 1973), that Tangerine Dream first came to the attention of British music listeners in a big way. The public began ordering copies of the group's albums through mail order companies (although ''Atem'', along with ''Alpha Centauri'', did get an official UK release on

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

around this time). According to legend, it was this mail order activity that caused

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

to take notice. In its retrospective review,

Head Heritage Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

described it as "TD's most adventurous and exhilarating listening experience", and the title track as "TD’s most powerful moment".

Track listing

Personnel

– mellotron, organ, guitar, voice *

Peter Baumann Peter Baumann (born 29 January 1953) is a German musician. He formed the core line-up of the pioneering German electronic group Tangerine Dream with Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke in 1971. Baumann composed his first solo album in 1976, whi ...

– organ, piano, VCS3 *

Christopher Franke Christopher Franke (born 6 April 1953) is a German musician and composer. From 1971 to 1987, he was a member of the electronic group Tangerine Dream. Initially a drummer with The Agitation, later renamed Agitation Free, his primary focus eventua ...

–

VCS3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS release ...

, drums, percussion, organ, voice

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1973 albums Krautrock albums Space music albums by German artists Tangerine Dream albums Ohr (record label) albums