Romance 76

On Romance 76, Berlin electronic composer Peter Baumann captured well his own personal transition to robotic sound in real time (and in front profile; see front cover), wresting free from Tangerine Dream group life in the mid-70s. After five intense years of tour and chart presence with the band, it became his first full-length under his own name, made just before his eventual leave in 1977. Modular synth and Mellotron make for a thrilling, twilling sonic mix on 'Romance', 'Phase By Phase' and 'Meadow Of Infinity'; not unsurprisingly Baumann later credited David Bowie as a sentinel presence in sessions, encouraging restraint and understatement.