''Optical Race'' is the thirty-fifth major release and eighteenth studio album by

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 lineu ...

. ''Optical Race'' is the inaugural album of the Melrose Years era, as it is the first appearance of the band on the

Private Music Private Music was an American independent record label founded in 1984 by musician Peter Baumann as a "home for instrumental music". Baumann signed Ravi Shankar, Yanni, Suzanne Ciani, Andy Summers, Patrick O'Hearn, Leo Kottke, and his forme ...

label, founded by former Tangerine Dream member

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, w ...

. It was their first album without

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 eventu ...

since 1971's ''

Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri ( Latinized from α Centauri and often abbreviated Alpha Cen or α Cen) is a triple star system in the constellation of Centaurus. It consists of 3 stars: Alpha Centauri A (officially Rigil Kentaurus), Alpha Centau ...

'' and the band's first to be programmed largely with a computer, an Atari ST using Steinberg/Jones software. The sleeve of the 12" release and the first release on CD and Compact Cassette features a die-cut outer sleeve with a multicolored inner sleeve. "Atlas Eyes" is in time. "Mothers of Rain" first appeared two years before the album's release, during the band's 1986 European tour. "Turning Off The Wheel" was re-released on the '' Transsiberia'' album in 1998 under the title "The Golden Horn". "Optical Race" was played by the group on German TV show '' Wetten, dass..?'' (moderated by

Thomas Gottschalk Thomas Johannes Gottschalk (born 18 May 1950) is a German radio and television host and entertainer. He is best known for hosting '' Wetten, dass..?'', for many years Europe's biggest television show, which he steered to huge success in Germany, ...

) in 1988.

Track listing

Personnel

Paul Haslinger Paul Haslinger (born 11 December 1962) is an Austrian musician and composer. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. Life and career Early life Haslinger was born and raised in Linz, Austria. He attended high school at Kollegium Aloisi ...

– composer, musician * Edgar Froese – composer, musician * Ralf Wadephul – composer * Christian Gstettner – studio technician * Monica Froese – cover concept * Norman Moore – art direction and design

References

{{Authority control 1988 albums Tangerine Dream albums