Mark Snow music.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

I will have to look into it further to see what it would take to get a hold of some Mark Snow CDs. My main interest would be in the Millennium music, but I would probably also be interested in the X-files stuff. This is really my kind of music, and I would love to have some MM music to enjoy for long drives out of the city. I probably sound like a broken record, but the creators of this series got everything right, and Mark Snow is a perfect example. They picked all the right actors, writters, locations, settings, etc, and Mark Snow tops it all off with some truely incredible music. I have been a long time fan of artists like Tangerine Dream, Mark Isham, James Horner, Vangelis, etc., for their film and TV music, but I don't think any of those artists have done anything better than the Millennium work of Mark Snow, and it would be nice to add some of his CDs to my collection. I know I have the MM DVDs, and have enjoyed his music through those, but it's not the same as listening to the music on CD, without any distractions. MM is the type of show where you get pulled in and focus on the story and charactors, but it will be interesting to make more of a conscious effort to appreciate the music more. I became a fan of Mark Snow the first time I heard the incredible MM theme all those years ago, but have only just recently become familear with the man himself through this board. This thread is just another of those wonderfuls gems that can be found here at the MM forum.

[4th Horseman]

"I will have to look into it further to see what it would take to get a hold of some Mark Snow CDs."

Millenniumisbliss - as has been covered here at TIWWA countless times concerning Mark Snow's MillenniuM music, i see you reside in the U.S. - itunes (free download) has a MillenniuM compilation which consists primarily of S2 with a very small sprinkling of S3....it is available from itunes, and goes for either 9.99 for the entire album, or .99 cents per each song...it is in mp4 format and i believe it will allow you to burn approximately 6 copies before shutting down....

NOW...as for the promotional compilation.....24 of the most compelling, haunting, and beautiful tracks you will ever hear, Gehenna, Lamentations, PPTD, Maranatha to name a few, but all consisting of only S1 music...not commercially available because it was never intended for release. As The Old Man and i have said in the past, this is a VERY, VERY touchy subject. There are certainly members who can lay claim to owning a copy, but it most likely will remain an elusive enigma.

now, you are truely speaking to my heart with your mention of Tangerine Dream...I can't begin to tell you how much i have loved their stuff, mostly their earlier albums up to around the early to mid 80's...Rubicon, Poland, Stratosfear, Force Majeure, Tangram, Exit, Ricochet, Pergamon, Logos...just to name a FEW....once they got to "Underwater Sunlight", it started to become a bit too fluffy, light-jazzy, too commercial....but man those earlier albums really had a pronounced impact on my life while i was growing up...

4th Horseman...

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

"I will have to look into it further to see what it would take to get a hold of some Mark Snow CDs."

Millenniumisbliss - as has been covered here at TIWWA countless times concerning Mark Snow's MillenniuM music, i see you reside in the U.S. - itunes (free download) has a MillenniuM compilation which consists primarily of S2 with a very small sprinkling of S3....it is available from itunes, and goes for either 9.99 for the entire album, or .99 cents per each song...it is in mp4 format and i believe it will allow you to burn approximately 6 copies before shutting down....

NOW...as for the promotional compilation.....24 of the most compelling, haunting, and beautiful tracks you will ever hear, Gehenna, Lamentations, PPTD, Maranatha to name a few, but all consisting of only S1 music...not commercially available because it was never intended for release. As The Old Man and i have said in the past, this is a VERY, VERY touchy subject. There are certainly members who can lay claim to owning a copy, but it most likely will remain an elusive enigma.

now, you are truely speaking to my heart with your mention of Tangerine Dream...I can't begin to tell you how much i have loved their stuff, mostly their earlier albums up to around the early to mid 80's...Rubicon, Poland, Stratosfear, Force Majeure, Tangram, Exit, Ricochet, Pergamon, Logos...just to name a FEW....once they got to "Underwater Sunlight", it started to become a bit too fluffy, light-jazzy, too commercial....but man those earlier albums really had a pronounced impact on my life while i was growing up...

4th Horseman...

Thank you for the info. I will have to look into the subject further to get an idea of how hard it would be to get this stuff on CD, and I understand what you say about it being a touchy subject. It seems like some of the best stuff is so hard to find, and it is often a mystery why it is not available when so many people seem to have an interest.... It is nice to find another fan of the great Tangerine Dream. They are a prime example of the availability issue. The thing that first drew me to them, all those years ago, was their incredible music in the film "The Keep". It took me forever to find a copy of the soundtrack, and the emergence of Ebay is probably the only reason I ever did. However, after spending $30 on the Orange Records copy (which was actually a great bargain at the time, I have seen it go for up to $60), I was devastated to find out that there was a ton of music on the CD that was not even in the film, and a lot of music from the film was not on the CD. To make a long story short, I had to acquire the "Keep Ultimate Edition" to satisfy my craving for the actual film music. I know what you mean about their music. I too enjoy the earlier stuff, and you have named some of the great ones. I have gotten a good number of their newer recordings, but they are not nearly as good as the old stuff. Still, I have enjoyed some fairly recent stuff, such as Mota Atma, Mars Polaris, and Canyon Dreams. They also did some great soundtrack work in the 80s that I enjoyed, like Wavelength, Legend, Thief, Sorcerer, Risky Business, and one that I'm sure is near and dear to everyone's heart here, Near Dark (staring Lance). Like you mentioned though, after Underwater Sunlight, their really good recordings are few and far between but in many cases listenable.

[4th Horseman]

Like you mentioned though, after Underwater Sunlight, their really good recordings are few and far between but in many cases listenable.

Oh, yes they did retain a certain listenability, but by that time, they had begun to infuse electric guitar, etc into a trio who had always remained true to the synthesizer...but, again, the earlier recordings were far more dreamy, etheral. Members here may only know about TD superficially or from what they have heard recently on the radio, but i would implore those who are interested to explore some of their earlier recordings...Logos Live, Exit, etc...We often talk of how beautiful Mark Snow's music and how much it means to us, well, i would have to say that TD equals Snow in many aspects, contributing to a wonderful sense of peace and wonder. Many a drive home years ago were made much more enjoyable thanks to TD...the band today consists only of one origional member, that being Edgar Froese...the intial members were Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann. This trio stayed consistent until the early 80's when Johannes Schmoelling replaced Baumann. It stayed this way for quite some time, but eventually both Baumann and Franke left due to creative differences..the band now consists of Edgar Froese, Jerome Froese, and Thorsten Quaesching..

and now for something completely different..

a bit of trivia regarding Tangerine Dream..

1. If you look closely at the earlier albums, (Phaedra, Exit), any album around that time, you will notice a picture of a child placed in random spots. I often wondered about those photos, and there was no information forthcoming concerning who they were of...well, it turns out that Edgar Frose's wife took the pictures, and those photos were of their son Jerome who now plays with his father..pretty cool, huh??

soundtracks...Risky Business was one of their finest moments. Edgar had said in an interview once that this was the first movie that they had been given access to PRIOR to recording the music. They were able to view it and compose the music as such. Nearly all the other soundtracks they have done were composed "blind"....

here is a list of their accomplishments..

Studio Albums..

• 
  
• (1971) Alpha Centauri
  
• (1972) Zeit
  
• (1973) Atem
  
• (1974) Phaedra
  
• (1975) Rubycon
  
• (1976) Stratosfear
  
• (1978) Cyclone
  
• (1979) Force Majeure
  
• (1980) Tangram
  
• (1981) Exit
  
• (1982) White Eagle
  
• (1983) Hyperborea
  
• (1985) Le Parc
  
• (1986) Green Desert (originally recorded in 1973)
  
• (1986) Underwater Sunlight
  
• (1987) Tyger
  
• (1988) Optical Race
  
• (1989) Lily On The Beach
  
• (1990) Melrose
  
• (1992) Rockoon
  
• (1992) Quinoa
  
• (1994) Turn of the Tides
  
• (1995) Tyranny of Beauty
  
• (1996) Goblins Club
  
• (1999) Mars Polaris
  
• (2000) The Seven Letters From Tibet
  
• (2004) Purgatorio
  
• (2005) Kyoto (reworked 1983 tapes of Froese and Schmölling)
  
• (2005) Jeanne D'Arc
  
• (2005) Phaedra 2005
  
• (2006) Blue Dawn (Edgar Froese & Ralf Wadepfuhl)
  
  Selected soundtracks (among about 30 in total):
  
  
  • (1977) Sorcerer
    
  • (1981) Thief
    
  • (1983) Risky Business
    
  • (1984) Wavelength
    
  • (1984) Firestarter
    
  • (1984) Flashpoint
    
  • (1985) Heartbreakers
    
  • (1985) Red Heat
    
  • (1985) Legend (U.S. theatrical version)
    
  • (1987) Near Dark
    
  • (1989) Miracle Mile
    
  • (1996) Oasis
    
  • (1997) The Keep
    
  • (1998) Transsiberia
    
  • (1999) What a Blast
    
  • (2003) Mota Atma
    
    Selected recordings:
    
    
    • (1975) Ricochet
      
    • (1977) Encore
      
    • (1980) Pergamon (1986 title, formerly Quichotte)
      
    • (1984) Poland
      
    • (1983) Logos
      
    • (1988) Live Miles (originally Livemiles)
      
    • (1999) 220 Volt
      
    • (1999) Sohoman (Live in Sydney 1982)
      
    • (2000) Soundmill Navigator
      
    • (2002) Inferno
      
    • (2003) Rockface (Live in Berkley 1988)
      
    • (2003) The Bootleg Box Set Vol. 1 (compilation)
      
    • (2004) The Bootleg Box Set Vol. 2 (compilation)
      
    • (2004) East (Live in Berlin 1990)
      
    • (2004) Arizona (Live in Scottsdale 1992)
      
    • (2005) Vault 4 (Live in Brighton U.K. 1986, Live in Cleveland U.S.A 1986)
      
    • (2005) Rocking Mars (Live at Klangart Festival 1999 in Osnabrück)
      

    The Bootmoon Series

    [*]Montreal - April 9th 1977

    [*]Aachen - January 21st 1981

    [*]Paris - February 2nd 1981

    [*]Sydney - February 22nd 1982

    [*]Ottawa - June 20th 1986

    [*]Cleveland - June 24th 1986

    [*]Brighton - March 25th 1986

    [edit]

    Compilations, remixes

    [*](<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985" title="1985">1985) Dream Sequence - compilation

    [*](1995) Dream Mixes - remixes

    [*](1996) Dream Roots Collection - remixes

    [*](1997) Dream Mixes 2: TimeSquare - remixes

    [*](2000) I-Box 1970-1990 - compilation

    [*](2001) Dream Mixes 3: The Past Hundred Moons - remixes

    enjoy,,,

    4th Horseman

Soundtrack albums

Live recordings

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Like you mentioned though, after Underwater Sunlight, their really good recordings are few and far between but in many cases listenable.

Oh, yes they did retain a certain listenability, but by that time, they had begun to infuse electric guitar, etc into a trio who had always remained true to the synthesizer...but, again, the earlier recordings were far more dreamy, etheral. Members here may only know about TD superficially or from what they have heard recently on the radio, but i would implore those who are interested to explore some of their earlier recordings...Logos Live, Exit, etc...We often talk of how beautiful Mark Snow's music and how much it means to us, well, i would have to say that TD equals Snow in many aspects, contributing to a wonderful sense of peace and wonder. Many a drive home years ago were made much more enjoyable thanks to TD...the band today consists only of one origional member, that being Edgar Froese...the intial members were Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann. This trio stayed consistent until the early 80's when Johannes Schmoelling replaced Baumann. It stayed this way for quite some time, but eventually both Baumann and Franke left due to creative differences..the band now consists of Edgar Froese, Jerome Froese, and Thorsten Quaesching..

and now for something completely different..

a bit of trivia regarding Tangerine Dream..

1. If you look closely at the earlier albums, (Phaedra, Exit), any album around that time, you will notice a picture of a child placed in random spots. I often wondered about those photos, and there was no information forthcoming concerning who they were of...well, it turns out that Edgar Frose's wife took the pictures, and those photos were of their son Jerome who now plays with his father..pretty cool, huh??

soundtracks...Risky Business was one of their finest moments. Edgar had said in an interview once that this was the first movie that they had been given access to PRIOR to recording the music. They were able to view it and compose the music as such. Nearly all the other soundtracks they have done were composed "blind"....

4th Horseman

You bring up some very interesting points regarding TD that I was not aware of. For example, that Risky Business was the only soundtrack where they had access to the movie prior to recording the music. I guess they probably always had some idea what they were trying to achieve with other soundtracks, but it seems like it would still be difficult to record music without having the scenes available for reference.

Yes, I agree, they did remain listenable throughout the 80s and 90s and even up to their current stuff, but there were a few projects mixed in there that I am not compelled to listen to again. It would be interesting to listen to them now to see if my opinions have changed at all, but included in the list of varying degrees of disappointment are such recordings as Destination Berlin, Three O'clock High, and Rockoon.

You have made mention of Logos a couple of times, so you are no doubt aware of the parallels between that CD and the "Keep" soundtrack. In fact, as you are probably aware, the last title on the Orange Records recording of "The Keep" is called "Logos". Maybe you can answer a question for me, or maybe not, but there is a commercial I have been seeing lately for Visa credit cards that contains some music that sounds an awful lot like the beginning of the Logos track on the "Keep" soundtrack or the segment towards the end of track one on the "Logos" album. If you have heard it, is it my imagination or a coincidence, or is this music influenced by the TD music?

As for the pictures of the child, I was aware of them being on the album covers, but was not aware of the story behind them. I have looked for them and can only find them on a couple of my CD covers. I can see it on Exit and Atem, but can't for the life of me find it on Pheadra. I think I can see it on Alpha Centauri as well.

I would be interested to know when Schmoelling left the band because I am one of those who believes that the band did not suffer any kind of a fall off when he joined them, and actually did some of my favorite work with him in the lineup. Not to beat a dead horse, and I know I am in the minority, but to me, "The Keep" was their best work, and that was during the Schmoelling era. From the discography you provided, I definitely agree that "Underwater Sunlight" was a definite cut off point, and they definitely went in a different direction. I wonder if this is when Schmoelling departed. Anyway's, any lineup that includes Edgar Froese is OK by me, and I have enjoyed his solo work as well, but TDs best work was prior to 1987 in my opinion.

[4th Horseman]

I would be interested to know when Schmoelling left the band -

Schmoelling joined TD in 1979, which completed the trilogy of Froese, Schmoelling, and Franke..during this time i think at least, some of their best work was done...including Logos Live, Exit, Tangram, and soundtracks Risky Business, Thief, and Legend...He left TD in 1986 to pursue a solo career, so your very attentitive post of leaving just after Underwater Sunlight is correct...he has been doing work for German TV and continuing his solo act since then...

In regards to the photos, Jerome could very well not be on Phaedra, i was just trying to recall without research...i know for a fact the photo is on the Exit album and am pretty sure now that i have had time to think about it, on Stratosfear as well...

also, another little tidbit...the ONLY album to ever have lyrics (excluding the female vocalist on the album Tyger) - was Cyclone..."Bent Cold Sidewalk" was the first song ever to have lyrics, and i believe the last...the album was said to have been molded within the framework of Pink Floyd's efforts over the same period of time...I thought the song rocked...lyrics sang thru a vocoder, somewhat similar to "Sheep" from Pink Floyd's Animals album, then about 8-9 minutes of beautiful, sometimes eerie moog lines...

I had a chance to see TD in 1986, just after the Underwater Sunlight release out here in California...i had been waiting nearly 10 years for a US tour, and finally the day came, and i have to say i wasn't disappointed...unfortunately, i saw them at their most vulnerable time, making the transition from their earlier, more etheral work to their current day more "pleasing to the ear" work...There was one moment during the concert that i have to share because i still remember just how much physically it affected me...the human ear can hear down to about 60 cycles..any frequency below that is very difficult to ascertain. There came a moment, during one song when, i distinctly remember not hearing any discernable note, but feeling as though i was being compressed back into my chair as if during a jet takeoff. There was a very quick but noticable pressure across my chest as if someone was squeezing me from behind, and it freaked both myself and the two friends who went with me. Later, i had read where TD liked to employ sub 60cycle notes in their pieces to illicit physical responses...i will NEVER forget that feeling.

anyway, in closing, i know we are hogging TIWWA space discussing this, but if you have liked/loved TD over the years, may i recommend another group, of which you may be familiar with...and that is Dead Can Dance...in particular their Aion album released in 1990. "Fortune Presents Gifts not According the the Book" is a song all of us need to hear...

4th Horseman..

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

I would be interested to know when Schmoelling left the band -

Schmoelling joined TD in 1979, which completed the trilogy of Froese, Schmoelling, and Franke..during this time i think at least, some of their best work was done...including Logos Live, Exit, Tangram, and soundtracks Risky Business, Thief, and Legend...He left TD in 1986 to pursue a solo career, so your very attentitive post of leaving just after Underwater Sunlight is correct...he has been doing work for German TV and continuing his solo act since then...

In regards to the photos, Jerome could very well not be on Phaedra, i was just trying to recall without research...i know for a fact the photo is on the Exit album and am pretty sure now that i have had time to think about it, on Stratosfear as well...

also, another little tidbit...the ONLY album to ever have lyrics (excluding the female vocalist on the album Tyger) - was Cyclone..."Bent Cold Sidewalk" was the first song ever to have lyrics, and i believe the last...the album was said to have been molded within the framework of Pink Floyd's efforts over the same period of time...I thought the song rocked...lyrics sang thru a vocoder, somewhat similar to "Sheep" from Pink Floyd's Animals album, then about 8-9 minutes of beautiful, sometimes eerie moog lines...

I had a chance to see TD in 1986, just after the Underwater Sunlight release out here in California...i had been waiting nearly 10 years for a US tour, and finally the day came, and i have to say i wasn't disappointed...unfortunately, i saw them at their most vulnerable time, making the transition from their earlier, more etheral work to their current day more "pleasing to the ear" work...There was one moment during the concert that i have to share because i still remember just how much physically it affected me...the human ear can hear down to about 60 cycles..any frequency below that is very difficult to ascertain. There came a moment, during one song when, i distinctly remember not hearing any discernable note, but feeling as though i was being compressed back into my chair as if during a jet takeoff. There was a very quick but noticable pressure across my chest as if someone was squeezing me from behind, and it freaked both myself and the two friends who went with me. Later, i had read where TD liked to employ sub 60cycle notes in their pieces to illicit physical responses...i will NEVER forget that feeling.

anyway, in closing, i know we are hogging TIWWA space discussing this, but if you have liked/loved TD over the years, may i recommend another group, of which you may be familiar with...and that is Dead Can Dance...in particular their Aion album released in 1990. "Fortune Presents Gifts not According the the Book" is a song all of us need to hear...

4th Horseman..

Oops, now that you mention it, we are kind of hogging space here with TD. What would Mark Snow think if he saw our little tangents (no reference to TDs box set intended) Ok, so I was not going nuts when I didn't find the picture on Pheadra then? I had heard that the pictures were incorporated into all the early cover art work, but I can't find it on Rubycon either, so I must have been mistaken, or maybe they started that after the birth of his son. As for Cyclone, I never did get a hold of that album. I guess I haven't heard good things about it, and it has always been pretty expensive on Amazon.com (even used), but I would be curious enough to buy it if the right deal came along. I was not a real big fan of Tyger which, as you mentioned, also contains lyrics, so maybe that influenced my decision not to try to get a hold of it. The sub 60 cycle thing is very interesting. I have never heard of anything like that before. That would be a freaky feeling. I love all kinds of music, but I'm not very knowledgeable about the technical stuff, so I have a question. Am I correct that the stuff around 60 cycles is the low bass sounds? I ask this because you mention having a physical response to it, and I am wondering if this is similar to the feeling I get when an imbecile drives by with their car stereo bass shaking the windows. I don't know what it is, but this is a big pet peeve with me, and whenever I hear that crap I feel like strangling the person doing it. I just wonder if there is some kind of reasoning behind why that is so offensive and angering to me, other than the simple fact that it is just downright annoying and disrespectful. PS, I sampled a little "Dead Can Dance". Sounds like some interesting stuff. I have heard of them, but don't know too much about them.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Ahh, the joy of Amazon.com. For those who might be interested, I just found The Snow Files: Film Music of Mark Snow on Amazon.com for the bargain basement price of $1.30. What a great vehicle for purchasing merchandise. I have heard very little of his work, other than MM, so I am really looking forward to getting it. OK, sense this post is about Mark Snow, I wont feel off topic if I make some recomendations. The following are some great artists that fans of Mark Snow might like, followed by what I think are their best albums. Here they are in no particular order. 1. Tangerine Dream, "The Keep" 2. Tony O'conner, "Mariner". 3. Jean-Michel Jarre, "Equinoxe. 4. Steve Jolliffe, "Alien" 5. Vangelis "Themes". 6. Ray Lynch "The Sky of Mind". 7. Kitaro, "Ki". 8. Jon Mark, "Celtic Story". OK, just a few off the top of my head. By the way, anyone looking for "The Snow Files", there are many more available on Amazon.com. I sure don't miss the days of shelling out $18 every time I found a CD I wanted.

[Guest MillenniumIsBliss]

Looks like Amazon.com also has music from the X-files "The Truth and The Light" pretty cheap, only $1.99. Does anyone have that one? I listened to some clips, but didn't enjoy it as much as the Millennium stuff, and the mystery voice talking over the music is kind of annoying. I think I'll pass on that one.

[The Old Man]

I've added some links to the Millennium Music forums (as you have probably seen) for Mark Snow's available scores at Amazon US, CAN and UK for those who are interested. These will not only help generate some revenue for the site, but will more importantly make it much easier to find these CD's. I found some of them hiding under Classical music, some under Music Scores and others under Popular Music at various Amazon stores.