By this point, I think it’s fair to say that everyone who listens to the “Stranger Things” soundtrack understands that it pays a great deal of homage and reverence to the electronic synth masters of the 80’s. Obviously, the show wears its influences of John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, and Stephen King, but a composer whose influences are deeply woven into the series that might slip past some people is German electronic group Tangerine Dream.
For those unfamiliar with the group, they have released over 100 albums (no, I’m not kidding) and have been a part of composing 45 separate titles, although not all are feature length films. Some movies that may jump out to horror fans include Firestarter, Near Dark, and The Keep, as well as a personal childhood favorite fantasy film, Legend.
People have been writing for weeks now about the inspiration of Tangerine Dream on Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein for their score to the Netflix mystery series, which isn’t a false equivalence. To be certain, there are more than enough ways to compare Stein and Dixon’s work to Tangerine Dream but I’m more believing that they are taking the lessons of the German group and applying it to their own musical approaches and flavors.
Anyways, the reason I’m talking about all of this is because after all this time and comparisons, the German group have released their own take on the music of “Stranger Things” and it’s absolutely magnificent. You can listen to the tracks below.
