Tour De France [CD-single] [Enhanced]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
Single for groundbreaking 1983 cut by Germany's godfathers of electronic music. Contains three versions of 'Tour De France' (Radio Version, Kling Klang Analog Mix and Remix Francois K.), plus a multi-media track. Slimline jewel case. 1999 release.

Tracks:

Prologue
Tour De France 03 - Etape 1
Tour De France 03 - Version 2
Tour De France 03 - Etape 3
Chrono
Vitamin
Aero Dynamik
Titanium
Elektrokardiogramm
La Forme
Regeneration
Tour De France

Customer Reviews:

Not Good.......2007-07-19

Kraftwerk has done some wonderful music - Key word "has". The music on this CD is awful. I cannot believe how they took one song and played it over and over again with maybe a one bar change - evidently they didn't have enough material or creative juices flowing to introduce new songs. It seems as if they hastily made the CD to re-enter the music market and profit from loyal fans - of which I was one. Purchasing this was a complete waste of money. Sometimes it's better to leave well enough alone - PLEASE Kraftwerk - NO MORE!

Why is this so under-rated?.......2007-04-18

The pressure on genius electronic artists such as Brian Eno and Kraftwerk is immense beyond all belief. Eno's new album, released less than two years ago, was basically tarred and feathered! Given the nature of those odd persons who listen to such brilliant electronic compositions such as Another Green World, Ambient 1, Music Has the Right To Children, and Autobahn, I am not surprised that they expect only the best.

Lets face it, Kraftwerk is getting old. Older people's brains usually become mushy due to things beyond their control. Not Kraftwerk. This recording sounds beyond modern and almost club-ish. Kraftwerk must have taken a drink from the Fountain of Youth (I thought it was in Florida not Germany!). Expecting another Trans-Europe Express is foolish. Such a thing is not possible.

They got back to their roots a bit with simple but effective synth-pop on songs like "Elektro Kardiogramm". Such songs are so charming. Mature electronic beats are to be expected from this album. And Kraftwerk delivers with a smile.

Traveling Familiar Ground For A Triumphant Return.......2007-01-18

The song Tour de France has been a fascinating ride for the band.

Initially released in 1983 - during a time when Ralf Hutter & Florian Schneider-Esleben were diving into the sport - it featured an outstanding danceland video with clips of legendary cyclists. It was actually part of an abandoned project, with elements appearing in Electric Cafe.

The song showed up in a a variety of versions in one dozen European releases from 1983-1999. And 20 years after its initial release - and 17 years after the band released Electric Cafe - yet another re-mix of the song becomes the central theme of the band's re-emergence from the studio.

Having a concept allows the songs to subtly build up the theme, just like the daily stages in the race leads the riders on a variety of courses, twists & turns. A classic dance track is Elektrokardiogram, which proves the band still has intact their cutting-edge creativity. The latest Tour de France mix isn't as strong as the original, though.

Cycling is truly a sport where the human (rider) and machine (bike) becomes one on the road. The merging of the human and electronic elements in the recording studio can certainly be compared with cycling.

The (studio) route that Kraftwerk takes from here will be interesting to follow. The band took the old and made it new & it just may be the foundation needed to get at least one more outstanding studio project out of Kling Klang studio.

The Album That Should Have Been Released 20 Years Earlier.......2006-11-17

Released in 2003, as a 20 year celebration to their independent single "Tour De France" that came out in 1983. When this came out, Kraftwerk hadn't released anything since 1986 album "Electric Cafe" and fans just as well as critics were eager to see how good this concept album worked after almost 20 years outside of the music world. However, the story behind this goes far longer back then, just like I pointed out the single "Tour De France" came out 1983 and it was expected to be part of an album called "Techno-pop" that eventually never got released. Many of the songs however, would appear on "Electric Cafe" instead but some songs were probaly never released at all. In 2003, they decided to make a comeback and release a whole album dedicated to just "Tour De France", The original 1983 song though, doesn't appear here. But there is a new improved version that does.

Listening to this album, it sounds like a modern type of Kraftwerk, maybe not so strange considering that the album is pretty new. On The other hand, it sounds too modern for it's own good, atleast musically. The structure of the songs and the robotic voices is the same as before and you can still tell it's Kraftwerk. But this album isn't that revolutionary at all, infact many of their peers even made better albums at the time. This album kicks off with "Tour De France Etape 1-3", however those 3 are not the same as the 1983 hit. That song is saved for last. A few songs, "Chrono", "Vitamin" "Aero Dynamic" and "Titanum" deal with side-topics to biking. "Vitamin" and "Titanum" are both good. "Elektro Kardiogramm" has the sound of breathing, just like their original "Tour De France" song had. "La Forme" is very dreamy, "Régéneration" Sounds simular but it's shorter. Thankfully, the best is saved for last. The new version of "Tour De France" which is worth the whole album itself. Let's just say it's a more modern version of the old song. But based on structure, melody and sound it's classic and even superior then the previous.

Overall, The weakest Kraftwerk in my Oppinion, although "Radio Activity" and "Electric Cafe" were both uneven also there is something with the sound of this album that makes it feel too modern for it's own best. I got the impression that Kraftwerk wanted to be flashy in the new century and therafter they checked contemporary artists in order to still sound modern, But I would have just prefered if they had stuck to the classic retro sound instead. Too many songs here are too simular also. They are not bad, but I had higher expectations on them. What makes this a worthwile album is the new version of the title track and that it was their first album in 17 years, but other then that it's just alright.

Minimalistisch, brillant, mit einem Gefühl der Leichtigkeit.......2006-01-01

Kraftwerk wurden in ihrer fast 35-jaehrigen Schaffenszeit seit jeher mit Vorurteilen konfrontiert. Als sie "Trans Europa Express" herausbrachten, hiess es: "Was beschaeftigt Ihr euch mit so altem Zeugs wie dem TEE, das ist doch Vergangenheit." Als "Computerwelt" erschien - uebrigens 2 Jahre vor Markteinfuehrung des Personal Computers - nannte man sie "Knoepfchendreher".

Dabei realisierten Kraftwerk stets mit klarem Fokus ihre musikalische Vorstellung davon, wie Mensch und Maschine auf harmonische und produktive Weise zur Einheit werden koennen. Auf "Tour de France" ist es der Mensch, der sich aus eigener Kraft bewegt, in geschmeidiger Zusammenarbeit mit einer Maschine, dem Fahrrad.

Diese "Soundtracks" vermitteln wirklich etwas von jener Leichtigkeit der Bewegungen, mit denen ein gut trainierter Mensch Etappen der "Tour de France" bewaeltigt. Nur wer wie die Herren Huetter, Schneider, Hilpert und Schmitz selber begeisterter Radsport-Amateur ist, wird das geschmeidige Wohlgefuehl und den Flow-Zustand nachvollziehen koennen, der hier elektronisch vertont wurde - musikalisch brillant und produktionstechnisch sowieso "state of the art". Eine CD, die sich meistens erst nach mehrmaligem Hoeren erschliessen wird.

Dass die Kraftwerker fuer sich selber Radfahren als eine Art Gesundheitsprogramm praktizieren, macht ihren Gedanken von der Mensch-Maschine-Einheit nur umso glaubwuerdiger: Sieht man, wieviele Menschen in der Musikwelt ausgebrannt sind oder ihre Kraefte und Kreativitaet verschlissen haben, wirken die Kraftwerker auch noch nach Jahrzehnten "voller Energie". Nicht viele Musiker absolvieren mit fast 60 Jahren noch einmal eine ausgedehnte Welttournee mit einem derart perfektem Zusammenspiel von Musik, Klang und Optik. Ein weiterer bedeutender Mosaikstein im Gesamtkunstwerk "Kraftwerk".

Average customer rating:

Makes a Great Workout "Tape"
Even Better than his First "Tour De France" album
Well Blow Me Down!!!!!!
Some of John's best work!

Tour de France...The Early Years
John Tesh
Manufacturer: Private Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | New Age | Styles | Music

Meditation | New Age | Styles | Music
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Tour de France
Garden City
Victory: The Sports Collection

ASIN: B0000000K0
Release Date: 1990-05-25

Tracks:

Headclobbers
Roubaix
On American Shores
Dijon Strut
Road Made For Animals
Noovo Groovo Montage
Noovo Groovo
The Endless Road
Brain Dead Weasel
A Thousand Summers

Customer Reviews:

Makes a Great Workout "Tape".......2006-01-28

I remember this music from the late '80s. I got into bicycling, and bicycle racing because of the CBS coverage of the Tour. I had this, or some sub-set of these songs on a tape that got me through many winter workouts on the rollers.

Even Better than his First "Tour De France" album.......2004-05-31

"Tour De France - The Early Years" is a follow-up album that is a "pre-quel" to "Tour De France". Back in the early 80s, CBS Sports broke ground by broadcasting highlights of the Tour De France bicycle race. John Tesh was the anchor of what would be about 30 to 40 minutes of weekly highlights of the bicycle race from 1983 - 1986. For many Americans and cycling fans, the voice of John Tesh doing the Tour was something to remember. Tesh was a master storyteller and had a real art for describing the race. What supplemented the great storytelling of the race was some spectacular music. "Tour De France" did a great job at capturing the passion of the Tour De France through music written by Tesh. "Tour De France - The Early Years" is another CD that does an incredible job at capturing the race and is even better than the original CD. All of the music is top notch and really captures the passion of this race beautifully. If you watched the battles from 1983 through 1986, you will know the names of Laurent Fignon, Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, Stephen Roche, Urs Zimmerman, and Pascal Simon.

Although this contains "earlier" music from the Tour De France coverage (I'm assuming 1983/1984 timeframe - the CD doesn't tell you the timeframe), the music contained on this CD goes much deeper and begins to show that John Tesh is a much deeper composer and musician than his first effort led us on to believe. This album goes beyond the great synthesizers and has a nice helping of saxaphone, clarinet, violin, guitars, and even vocals. On the first album, we got a sampling of some saxaphone on "Jazzis", but this album is much more "mature" in its expanded instrumentation.

The songs that represent some of the expanded instrumentation in this album are "Roubaix", "Dijon Strut", and "Road Made for Animals". "Roubaix" is actually a city in Northeast France in which they run another race called the "Paris-Roubaix" race. This race is famous for its cobblestones. Tesh's song is a softer melody, but this is where we first see the integration of the Saxaphone on the album. "Dijon Strut" has a high fusion of Jazz almost giving it a Steely Dan feel to it. It will grow on you as you hear the song. "Road Made for Animals" is the most famous track on the album and is also one of the better tracks. I remember this song from the CBS coverage and they would use it quite frequently on the television coverage. This song features some violin toward the end which really gives it a boost. On Tesh's live album, the version is even better and the fiddle is even better.

The first song is "Headclobbers" and it just might be the most underrated Tesh piece of music I have ever heard. The first 1 1/2 minutes build up to the main part of the song. If you could imagine the Pyranees and being racing in the fog up the mountain - that is "Headclobbers". "Headclobbers is simply put - Sports music at its finest".
A couple of interesting songs: "On American Shores" sounds a lot like the Olympic music that Tesh would produce for NBC in the 90s. Meanwhile "Noovo Groovo Montage" is a short clip of what appears to be sound bytes by Tesh and his broadcasting partner, cycling broadcast legend - Phil Liggett. (There is a credit for someone named Colin Mahoney for the montage, but I'm assuming that is editing). There is also a song called "Noovo Groovo" which is one of the weaker tracks.

Tracks 8 and 9 are also very deep tracks that really tap into the emotion of the Tour De France. Track 8, "The Endless Road" is a powerful track that integrates some simple background vocals "aaah aaah aaah". Although that is all the vocals are, they add a new dimension to a powerful track. Track 9 "Brain Dead Weasel" which has a "finale" type feel - powerful crashing symbols, strong keyboards, and some great segues between different melodies. I remember this as well being used in the coverage and it tended to be used toward the end of the race.

And if that isn't enough a Live Version of "A Thousand Summers" - the most popular track from the first album is included as well. This song sounds better live! The percussion is incredible toward the end.

Just like for "Tour De France", Tesh took no shortcuts and made a DDD recording. When CD's first came out in the 80s, they were recorded three ways: 1) AAD - Analog Recording, Analog Mix, Digital Transfer; 2) ADD - "Analog Recording, Digital Mix, Digital Transfer", 3) DDD - Digital Recording, Digital Mix, Digital Transfer. Tesh on this album doesn't let us down going DDD all the way.

Like the first album, this album might just fall short in one area - liner notes. Although the credits are in there, I would have liked to find out a little more background on some of the songs on this album. Perhaps this is because Tesh was working on his own label.

But I feel this album is even better than the first and I also feel it opened the door to John Tesh as musician and composer. On "Tour De France" he did a great job at showcasing the music he created. On "Tour De France - The Early Years", he takes the next step and showcases not only his music, but his talents.

Well Blow Me Down!!!!!!.......2004-01-24

I got this CD intending to send it to my 78 yo mother thinking John Tesh stuff would be easy listening. Well I listened to it before sending it. WOW! This CD ROCKS!!! Typical Yanni style but imagine Tangerine Dream, Jeff Beck and Joe Satriani on a collaboration.....I think it would be like this. Track 4 has some awesome sax. If your body doesn't move when listening....hmmmmm you must be dead. Track 5 is alive with synth and bass. Track 7 is jazzy fusion that kicks hard. Track 8 is dreamy, makes the imagination run wild. No bad tracks on this CD. Other stuff I like, Ultra Chilled, Hed Kandi, Led Zeppelin, Moby, Coldplay, Cure, Cars, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Queen, you name it.

Some of John's best work!.......1999-02-18

All of the selections on this CD are great! Especially "Headclobbers", "On American Shores", and "Road Made For Animals". The music is pure energy! Buy it, you won't be disappointed!

Average customer rating:

Tour de France Musicale [Hybrid SACD]

Manufacturer: Pentatone
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

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Release Date: 2005-06-21

Poulenc - Aubade · Les biches · Les animaux modèles / Pascal Rogé · Charles Dutoit

Average customer rating:

Colorful and nostalgic

Poulenc - Aubade · Les biches · Les animaux modèles / Pascal Rogé · Charles Dutoit
Francis Poulenc , Charles Dutoit , Pascal Rogé , and Orchestre National de France
Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ballets | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B00000I08F
Release Date: 1999-02-09

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Les Biches, FP 36 - Suite: 1. Rondeau (Largo - Allegro)
Les Biches, FP 36 - Suite: 2. Adagietto
Les Biches, FP 36 - Suite: 3. Rag-Mazurka (Moderato - Allegro Molto)
Les Biches, FP 36 - Suite: 4. Andantino
Les Biches, FP 36 - Suite: 5. Final (Presto)
Les Animaux Modeles, FP 111 - Suite: 1. Le Petit Jour - Dawn (Tres Calme)
Les Animaux Modeles, FP 111 - Suite: 2. Le Lion Amoureux - The Amorous Lion (Passionnement Anime)
Les Animaux Modeles, FP 111 - Suite: 3. L'Homme Entre Deux Ages Et Ses Deux Maitresses - A Middle-Aged Man And His Two Mistresses (Presstissimo)
Les Animaux Modeles, FP 111 - Suite: 4. La Mort Et Le Bucheron - Death And The Woodcutter (Tres Lent)
Les Animaux Modeles, FP 111 - Suite: 5. Les Deux Coqs - Two Roosters (Tres Modere)
Les Animaux Modeles, FP 111 - Suite: 6. Le Repas De Midi - Midday Meal (Tres doux, Calme Et Heureux)
Matelote Provencale, FP 153: No.5 From 'La Guirlande De Campra'
Pastourelle, FP 45: No. 8 From 'L'Eventail De Jeanne'
Valse, FP 17: No.5 From 'Album Des Six'
Discours Du General: Nos.3 & 4 From 'Les Maries De La Tour Eiffel'
La Baigneuse de Trouville,FP 23: Nos.3 & 4 From 'Les Maries De La Tour Eiffel'
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 1. Toccata (Lento Et Pesante; Molto Animato)
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 2. Recitatif: Les Compagnes De Diane (Larghetto)
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 3. Rondeau: Diane Et Compagnes (Allegro) - 4. Entree De Diane (Piu Mosso) - 5. Sortie De Diane (Ceder Un Peu)
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 6. Presto: Toilette De Diane (Presto)
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 7. Recotatif: Introduction La Variation De Diane (Larghetto)
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 8. Andante: Variation De Diane (Andante Con Moto)
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: 9. Allegro Feroce: Desepoir De Diane
Auvade, FP 51 - Concerto Choregraphique Pour Piano Et Dix-Huit Instruments: Conclusion: Adieux Et Depart De Diane
Deux Preludes Posthumes Et Une Gnossienne, FP 104: 1. Fete Donnee Par Des Chevaliers Normands En L'honneur D' Une Jeune Demoiselle
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Deux Preludes Posthumes Et Une Gnossienne, FP 104: 3. 3rd Gnossienne