Alpha Centauri and Zeit are powerful examples of the experimental kosmische musik style. Both albums feature songs that feel primal, gaping, terrifying, and awe-inspiring.
Rubycon is widely regarded as one of the group's greatest albums, further developing the sequencer-based "Berlin School" sound that made them famous. Here's an excerpt.
Ricochet developed the band's sound even more, using synthesizers and sequencers to produce a dense ambient soundscape, but sounding much more energetic than its predecessors, often bordering on electronic rock.
Stratosfear marked the beginning of the band's move away from experimental electronic improvisations towards a more recognizably melodic sound. The results are epic as hell, particularly the title track and "Invisible Limits".
The live album Encore is four epic tracks of pure awesome, assembled from several recordings of the band's immensely successful 1977 US tour. Of particular note is "Cherokee Lane" with its mesmerizing sequencer/Mellotron noodling and "Coldwater Canyon" with its impressive guitar improvisation by frontman Edgar Froese.
Tangram contains a mixture of nostalgic glimpses at the band's Berlin School period and foreshadowing of their "new age electronica" to come. And it's absolutely captivating.
Quichotte, also known as Pergamon, carries on the tradition from the previous album with its grand electronic suites held together by atmospheric segues. Much of the first half would later be remixed into serving as the score for the indie sci-fi film Wavelength, directed by Mike Gray and starring Robert Carradine and Cherie Currie.
Pretty much the entirety of Exit qualifies, but especially "Remote Viewing" and "Kiew Mission". About eighty percent of it is played on what would eventually become the band's trademark instrument, the PPG Wave.
The title track from White Eagle is a beautiful and moving bit of electronica showcasing TD at their best. From the same album, the energetic "Midnight in Tula" is a glorious ear worm that would not have sounded out of place in a contemporary action film.
All fifty minutes of Logos Live count as a truly spectacular performance from TD. Parts of this album would later find their way onto the soundtrack to The Keep.
"Cinnamon Road" from Hyperborea combines 1980s electronica with Indian raga to great effect, while the title track is nine minutes of pure cosmic grandeur.
Poland is to the band's 1983 Warsaw concert what Encore is to their 1977 US tour - four epic tracks of pure awesomeness. Standouts include the title track and "Tangent".
The band's brooding score for Sorcerer is among their finest achievements, and paved the way for future soundtracks by the group. For a sample, here's the main theme.
The band's score for The Keep is one of the primary reasons it has become so beloved by its fans over the years, the pounding opening titles theme in particular.
Heartbreakers (not to be confused with the 2001 film of the same name) is the story of two friends in their mid-thirties, played by Peter Coyote and Nick Mancuso, who find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. The soundtrack is one of TD's most moving and emotional scores ever produced. As a side note, the film's director Bobby Roth would collaborate with the band a further five times on his subsequent films Dead Solid Perfect, Tonight's the Night, Rainbow Drive, The Man Inside, and The Switch.
Flashpoint was HBO's first theatrical release, starring Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams as two Texas Border Patrol agents who are plunged into a wild goose chase after finding evidence of a conspiracy in the Mojave desert. As usual, Tangerine Dream delivers with a haunting score evocative of the film's desert setting.
The score to the American cut of Legend is pure awesomeness. Especially the...oh, to hell with it, the whole thing. If righteousness and beauty had a transcription in music, for instance, it would be the unicorn theme.
The Park Is Mine is a 1986 made-for-television film starring Tommy Lee Jones as a Vietnam War veteran who takes forceful control of Central Park in order to draw attention to the plight of his fellow veterans. It features a kick-ass soundtrack by TD, with the high point of the score being "Taking the Park".
TD's haunting score for Near Dark, especially the main theme, is widely acknowledged as the most memorable aspect of the film. (Well, that and Severen.) At times, it resembles band member Christopher Franke's later work on Babylon 5.
and Zeit