by Donald A. GuariscoThis album was composed by German cult favorite Peter Thomas and contains the score for Erinnerungen an Die Zukunft, a documentary based upon a best-seller by Erich Von Daniken that proposed the theory that mankind's ancestors were aliens who landed on this planet centuries ago. The resulting soundtrack album is not easy for the listener to assimilate, primarily because it consists of two side-long medleys patched together from several unrelated musical cues. The medleys aren't arranged in a smooth, flowing fashion, and the album probably would have made an easier listen if it had been broken down into a better programmed set of individual tracks. Programming quibbles aside, Erinnerungen an Die Zukunft is still pretty impressive. Thomas rose to the challenge that the film's unusual subject matter presented by penning a compelling musical score that combined classical-style orchestral passages and lounge jazz with elements of musique concrète. More often than not, Thomas will pair these seemingly divergent musical elements together in the same cue to create an unusual yet unified whole: A good example is Gotter Von Fremden Sternen: Vom Vor-Vogensternzum Uber-Ubermogen, which layers delicate classical-style string passages over a insistent pop-jazz beat provided by the rhythm section. Other cues from this score work in exotica-style underpinnings: For instance, Die Pyramide Von Cholula mixes tribal beats with European-style mandolins to create a globetrotting moment in the vein of Les Baxter. All in all, Erinnerungen an Die Zukunft is an adventurous and well-crafted soundtrack that will appeal to the lounge fans patient enough to deal with its programming problems.