Klaus Schulze – Timewind

Funnily enough, my copy still has that "Deutscher Schallplattenpreis" sticker attached to the front sleeve, albeit the copy is the one with black labels (and definitely a very late re-pressing, as I bought it new in late 1988).

I listened to side 1 with the volume set to quite high. Lets just say that the ending scared the pants out of me.

Klaus...thanks for the 50 years that you were my mentor. R.I.P

For your information, my copy was bought on September 1979

This is the quintessential electronic album for anyone remotely interested in entrancing instrumental music that's geared towards the mind rather than the body. The journey begins with the Dali-esque artwork which is dark, ominous and futuristic. From there you delve deeper into uncharted music waters as the atypical music aficionado will find no blues, jazz, rock or r&b elements nor vocals, guitars and or drums. This is purely inspirational non mainstream music and a Schulze IMHO magnum opus which spawned that celestial electronic musical recipe for later releases like Moondawn, Body Love and Mirage. These are long tracks that ebb and flow in dynamic crystalline movements rising and falling with that warm hum of analog synthesizers and sequencers. The remaster is worth owning because it sounds much better than the original cd from the 90s and the bonus music is a gift to put a smile to many a electronic music fans face. This is the album along with Tangerine Dreams Phaedra launched an entire sub genre of music called berlin-school and rightfully so, the German's got it right to shun the mainstream music business and step into the vast void of uncharted creativity!

TIMEWIND was undoubtedly the one that really put him on the scene proper. When you look back, there was nothing (circa 1975) at all like it, with two very long cosmic dreamscapes almost an hour total in length! On this album Klaus has amassed a whole orchestra of keyboards, he had become a true technophile - but one with a heart and the ability to exude deep emotion, feeling and atmosphere. The influential TIMEWIND was certainly a major factor in defining the synth music of today, particular as influence on early Neuronium, Mark Shreeve, Michael Stearns, Steve Roach, and of course Kitaro!
From my Klaus Schulze feature in Audion #21, published in May 1992

I should write this below the Moonlake album page, but there don't seem to be the comments allowed. I am just discovering the sound of Klaus Schulze and the first (and so far the best) track was Playmate in Paradise. I know it's very different from the usual KS production, but I just want to ask where I can find more music like this, Klaus Schulze's or not.

When anyone talks about the world of electronic music usually the first names that come up are "Tangerine Dream" "Kraftwerk" & of course "Klaus Schulze" not necessarily in that order : ) - anyway many fans of Klaus & there are many, have their own personal favorite albums that they like & admire by him & he has quite a few classic gems in his discography - yet this one in my opinion stands out above them all, the re-release of this album is definitely worth getting & if you can find it buy the Japanese import (mini - lp version) of this excellent cd it may be a bit expensive but well worth it... Just a fantastic album... enough said...

While "Bayreuth Return" conquers your mind with its pulsing, mesmerizing gamelan-like ostinatos that agitate and persist beneath the imperative soundings of some monstrous and inconsolable being, it is "Wahnfried 1883" that conquers your emotions.

Surfacing from the unimaginable abyss of some impossibly vast panorama, the plaintive, tragic and intensely eerie resonances of this monolithic aria all but obliterate one's emotional defenses, insisting--imploring--total surrender.

Re-release of this classic album.
Bayreuth Return is a floating;soft;beautiful sequencer piece.A cosmic ride through a windy landscape.This sound has been copied countless times by others,but none can match this original.One of the bonus tracks:
Echoes Of Time;is a longer "live"variation of this track.
From a mystical desert landscape,to a soaring trip into the cosmos,Wahnfried 1883 is an ecstatic journey of contemplation.Absolutely stunning!
The other bonus tracks are the appropriately named Solar Wind,and the more recently recorded,but short:Windy Times.Both are also excellent.