I really don't know what to make of this. Is it a must-have release celebrating 25 years of groundbreaking music from a German band which took its name from John Lennon's song Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds? Or is it a triple CD packed full of interminable electronic bleeps and whooshes, both inaccessible and incomprehensible (the longest track stretches to a mind-warping 27 minutes) which is enough to drive you to the edge of despair? The answer is 'Yes' on both counts. Founder Edgar Froese's crusade to transfer the visual arts to music via the pioneering use of synthesisers and later computer sequencers has generated 34 different line-ups over the years, but the fans keep coming back for more. OK, some sequences have a lyrical, haunting quality. Others produce interesting sound effects which swirl around your head. Tangerine Dream fans will love the mix of early and later tracks interspersed with live tracks on disc two. Me? The best sound was silence after I had switched it off.

Updated: 09:50 Thursday, August 01, 2002