Optical Race

Optical Race is the thirty-fifth major release and eighteenth studio album by Tangerine Dream. Optical Race is the inaugural album of the Melrose Years era, as it is the first appearance of the band on the Private Music label, founded by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann. It was their first album without Christopher Franke since 1971's Alpha Centauri 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.

Optical Race
1988 LP album cover
Studio album by Tangerine Dream
Released	August 1988
Recorded	April–May, 1988, in Berlin and Vienna
Genre	Electronic music
Length	52:39
Label	Private Music
Producer	Paul Haslinger, Edgar Froese
Tangerine Dream chronology
Livemiles (1988) Optical Race (1988) Miracle Mile (1989)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

"Atlas Eyes" is in ⁵
₄ 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) in 1988.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Marakesh"	8:17
2.	"Atlas Eyes"	4:04
3.	"Mothers of Rain"	5:13
4.	"Twin Soul Tribe"	4:28
5.	"Optical Race"	3:13
6.	"Cat Scan"	5:35
7.	"Sun Gate"	4:44
8.	"Turning Off the Wheel"	6:11
9.	"The Midnight Trail"	5:54
10.	"Ghazal (Love Song)"	5:00

Personnel

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