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Tier 3 · vertical & regional
The Tangent
Group · United Kingdom · formed 2002
British progressive rock group
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Also known as タンジェント (バンド)
Timeline
26 events▣ Album 15+ Member joins 5− Member leaves 4◆ Formed 1★ Debut release 1
2000s
· Member joins
Jonas Reingold joins the band
source: musicbrainz
· Debut release
Debut release: The Music That Died Alone
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
· Member leaves
Roine Stolt leaves the band
source: musicbrainz
· Member leaves
Zoltan Csörsz leaves the band
source: musicbrainz
· Member joins
Jaime Salazar joins the band
source: musicbrainz
· Member joins
Krister Jonsson joins the band
source: musicbrainz
· Member leaves
Sam Baine leaves the band
source: musicbrainz
2010s
· Member leaves
Jaime Salazar leaves the band
source: musicbrainz
· Member joins
Tony Latham joins the band
source: musicbrainz
· Member joins
Luke Machin joins the band
source: musicbrainz
2020s
Biography
English biography558 words · 9 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1377992589
Biography
The Tangent is a British progressive rock group formed in 2002, led by keyboardist and singer Andy Tillison.
Formation
The band was formed in 2002 by Parallel or 90 Degrees keyboardists Andy Tillison and Sam Baine and multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning; The Flower Kings' guitarist Roine Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, and drummer Zoltan Csörsz; plus saxophonist David Jackson of Van der Graaf Generator. The band was scheduled only to be a "one-off" side project but has produced 13 studio albums and a number of live albums since.
The Tangent has had numerous changes in personnel resulting in Tillison being the only member to have been on all the recordings.
Live performances
Since 2003 the band in its various forms has played concerts and festivals in the US, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and France. Members of the band also occasionally appear as special guests on stage with other artists. On 13 February 2012 guitarist Luke Machin joined Pain of Salvation on stage at The Garage in London, England, playing on the song Kingdom of Loss. Andy Tillison also performs in a duo with Matt Stevens of The Fierce and the Dead.
Cover art
The band had much of their cover art done by artist Ed Unitsky, who worked closely with the band when designing their album artwork. Ed has completed five album covers for The Tangent.
The outer cover artwork for the band’s 2020 ‘Auto Reconnaissance’ album was again provided by Unitsky while the inner sleeve art was created by newcomer Sara Mirabbasi.
Cover artwork for the album Not as Good as the Book
Not as Good as the BookSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11A Crisis in Mid‐Life7:132Lost in London (25 Years Later)7:333The Ethernet10:134Celebrity Purée3:435Not as Good as the Book8:546A Sale of Two Souls7:167Bat out of Basildon5:54Disc 21Four Egos, One War21:152The Full Gamut22:43 (2008) was created by French artist Antoine Ettori, for Down and Out in Paris and London (2009) by mbl graphics.
Current members
Studio band from the latest release, Auto Reconnaissance in 2020:
Andy Tillison (keyboards, lead vocals)
Theo Travis (saxophone, flute, duduk)
Luke Machin (guitar, vocals)
John Jowitt (bass guitar)
Steve Roberts (drums)
Former members
Roine Stolt (guitars, vocals)
Jakko Jakszyk (guitars, vocals)
Göran Edman (vocals)
Krister Jonsson (guitars)
David Zackrisson (guitars)
David Million (guitar)
Dan Watts (guitar)
Sam Baine (keyboards, piano, vocals)
Rikard Sjöblom (keyboards, vocals)
Lindsay Frost (keyboards)
Lalle Larsson (keyboards)
Marie-Eve de Gaultier (keyboards, vocals)
Robert Hansen (bass guitar)
Jonathan Barrett (bass guitar, vocals)
Dan Mash (bass guitar, vocals)
Simon Albone (bass guitar)
Dave Albone (drums)
Zoltan Csörsz (drums)
Jaime Salazar (drums)
Magnus Östgren (drums)
Paul Burgess (drums)
Michael Gilbourne (drums)
Nick Rickwood (drums)
Tony "Funkytoe" Latham (drums)
Gavin Harrison (drums)
Morgan Ågren (drums)
David Jackson (saxophone, flute)
Guy Manning (acoustic guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards, vocals)
Julie King (vocals)
David Longdon (vocals)
Jonas Reingold (bass guitar, vocals)
Studio albums
The Music That Died Alone (2003)
The World That We Drive Through (2004)
A Place in the Queue (2006)
Not as Good as the Book (2008)
Down and Out in Paris and London (2009)
COMM (2011)
Le Sacre du Travail (2013)
L'Etagère du Travail (2013) limited edition: material recorded for but not released on Le Sacre du Travail
A Spark in the Aether (2015)
The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery (2017)
Proxy (2018)
Auto Reconnaissance (2020)
Songs from the Hard Shoulder (2022)
To Follow Polaris (as The Tangent for One) (2024)
Was (2026)
Live albums
Pyramids and Stars (2005)
Going Off on One (2007)
Going Off on Two (2010)
London or Paris, Berlin or Southend On Sea (2012)
Hotel Cantaffordit (with Karmakanic as Tangekanic) (2018)
Compilation albums
A Place on the Shelf - a special enthusiast's collection (2009)
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 33 | 91.2th |
| Studio albums | 15 | 94.6th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 26 | 95.9th |
| Recording span (years) | 23 | 51.9th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (33 release groups · 15 studio albums)
Albums · 15
2003 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 16 tracks · 48:08
1In Darkest Dreams: Prelude – Time for You2:282In Darkest Dreams: Night Terrors3:283In Darkest Dreams: The Midnight Watershed3:054In Darkest Dreams: In Dark Dreams4:045In Darkest Dreams: The Half‐Light Watershed1:186In Darkest Dreams: On Returning0:507In Darkest Dreams: A Sax in the Dark1:158In Darkest Dreams: Night Terrors (reprise)3:399The Canterbury Sequence: Cantermemorabilia3:2110The Canterbury Sequence: Chaos at the Greasy Spoon3:0311The Canterbury Sequence: Captain Manning’s Mandolin1:4112Up‐Hill From Here7:1113The Music That Died Alone: A Serenade1:3814The Music That Died Alone: Playing On…4:4515The Music That Died Alone: Pre‐History2:3816The Music That Died Alone: Reprise3:44The World That We Drive Through
2004 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:13:39
1The Winning Game11:102Skipping the Distance8:553Photosynthesis7:404The World We Drive Through12:585A Gap in the Night18:286Exponenzgesetz14:282006 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:18:58
1In Earnest20:032Lost in London8:083DIY Surgery2:164GPS Culture10:075Follow Your Leaders9:216The Sun in My Eyes3:447A Place in the Queue25:192008 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:34:44
Disc 11A Crisis in Mid‐Life7:132Lost in London (25 Years Later)7:333The Ethernet10:134Celebrity Purée3:435Not as Good as the Book8:546A Sale of Two Souls7:167Bat out of Basildon5:54Disc 21Four Egos, One War21:152The Full Gamut22:43Down and Out in Paris and London
2009 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 5 tracks · 57:50
1Where Are They Now?19:132Paroxetine – 20mg7:413Down and Out: i) Perdu dans Paris11:424Down and Out: ii) The Company Car6:205The Canterbury Sequence, Volume 2: Ethanol Hat Nail12:542011 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:07:51
1The Wiki Man20:142The Mind’s Eye8:143Shoot Them Down6:454Tech Support Guy5:515Titanic Calls Carpathia16:366The Spirit of the Net4:457Fantasy Bootleg: Watcher of the Skies5:262013 · Demo
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 1:17:13
1Monsanto (Roundup Ready Government)7:492Lost in Ledston6:393The Iron Crows14:094Build a New House With the Lego6:255Supper’s Off8:176Dansant dans Paris6:587Steve Wright in the Afternoon6:078A Voyage Through the Rush Hour2:289The Ethernet9:1110The Canterbury Sequence9:102013 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 8 tracks · 1:13:11
11st Movement: Coming Up on the Hour (Overture)5:5522nd Movement: Morning Journey & The Arrival22:5433rd Movement: Afternoon Malaise19:2044th Movement: A Voyage Through Rush Hour3:0755th Movement: Evening TV12:066Muffled Epiphany4:057Hat (live at Mexborough School 1979)1:168Evening TV (radio edit)4:28A Spark in the Aether: The Music That Died Alone – Volume Two
2015 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:07:08
1A Spark in the Aether4:202Codpieces & Capes12:343Clearing the Attic9:354Aftereugene5:475The Celluloid Road21:376A Spark in the Aether (Part Two)8:167San Francisco (radio edit)4:59The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery
2017 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:19:54
1Two Rope Swings6:312Doctor Livingstone (I Presume)11:593Slow Rust22:324The Sad Story of Lead and Astatine16:005A Few Steps Down the Wrong Road17:316Basildonxit5:212018 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 6 tracks · 1:07:37
1Proxy16:082The Melting Andalusian Skies8:513A Case of Misplaced Optimism6:134The Adulthood Lie16:055Supper’s Off9:546Excerpts From Exo-Oceans10:262020 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:18:27
1Life on Hold5:312Jinxed in Jersey15:573Under Your Spell5:454The Tower of Babel4:365Lie Back and Think of England28:166The Midas Touch5:557Proxima12:272022 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 5 tracks · 1:15:50
1The Changes17:062The GPS Vultures17:013The Lady Tied to the Lamp Post20:524Wasted Soul4:405In the Dead of Night / Tangential Aura / Reprise16:112024 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 1:15:37
1The North Sky11:092A ‘Like’ in the Darkness8:203The Fine Line8:014The Anachronism21:025The Single (From a Re‐Opened Time Capsule)5:526The North Sky (video/radio edit)3:417Tea at Bettys17:322026 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:40:44
Disc 11Was22:082Follow the River4:553Was Not20:48Disc 21L’Aperetif6:232Steak de chevreuil et Le Fermier4:273Danse8:194La Route cotiere9:355Multi partisanisme15:446Laisses moi chanter8:25
Album · 6
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Pyramids and StarsSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 7 tracks · 1:17:151The World We Drive Through14:46 2The Canterbury Sequence9:15 3The Winning Game12:15 4Band Introductions1:29 5The Music That Died Alone13:10 6In Darkest Dreams20:40 7Lucky Man5:40 | Live | 2005 | |
| 2007 | Going Off on OneSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 23 tracks · 4:01:45Disc 1 1GPS Culture11:00 2The Winning Game11:35 3In Earnest22:06 4Forsaken Cathedrals6:05 5The Music That Died Alone10:51 6Lost in London8:39 7In Darkest Dreams, Part One16:18 8After Rubycon4:15 9In Darkest Dreams, Part Two7:57 Disc 21GPS Culture10:24 2The Winning Game11:34 3In Earnest22:09 4Forsaken Cathedrals6:01 5The Music That Died Alone10:53 6Lost in London8:46 Disc 31In Darkest Dreams, Part One16:16 2After Rubycon4:30 3In Darkest Dreams, Part Two6:32 4The World We Drive Through13:26 5Skipping the Distance8:44 6Fun With the Audience3:20 721st Century Schizoid Man11:25 8America8:59 | Live | 22 June 2007 | |
| 2009 | A Place on the ShelfSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 5 tracks · 57:501Le Massacre du printemps, Part 111:42 2Everyman's Forgotten Monday5:10 3I Wanna Be a Chick4:32 4Live on Air21:42 5Le Massacre du printemps, Part 214:44 | Compilation | July 2009 | |
| 2011 | Going Off on TwoSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 17 tracks · 1:09:44Disc 1 1Where Are They Now? 2The Mind’s Eye 3Perdu dans Paris 4Paroxetine 5A Sale of Two Souls 6GPS Culture 7The Music That Died Alone 8In Darkest Dreams, Part 1 9After Phaedra 10In Darkest Dreams, Part 2 Disc 21Where Are They Now?20:39 2The Mind’s Eye8:16 3Perdu dans Paris10:48 4Paroxetine 20mg7:16 5A Sale of Two Souls7:52 6GPS Culture / The Music That Died Alone7:01 7In Darkest Dreams7:52 | Live | 26 April 2011 | |
| 2011 | London or Paris, Berlin or Southend on SeaSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 8 tracks · 1:34:221The World That We Drive Through12:34 2A Crisis in Mid Life7:44 3Perdu dans Paris10:58 4A Sale of Two Souls7:11 5Hide & Seek4:23 6Titanic Calls Carpathia18:53 7Where Are They Now23:47 8GPS Culture8:52 | Live | 23 December 2011 | |
| 2023 | Pyramids, Stars & Other Stories: The Tangent Live Recordings 2004–2017Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks · 2:23:21Disc 1 1The World We Drive Through (live in Germany, 2004)14:42 2The Canterbury Sequence (live in Germany, 2004)9:08 3The Winning Game (live in Germany, 2004)12:28 4In Darkest Dreams (live in Germany, 2004)20:35 5The Music That Died Alone (live in Germany, 2004)12:52 6Lucky Man (live in Germany, 2004)5:41 Disc 21A Spark in the Aether (live in USA, 2017)4:21 2A Sale of Two Souls (live in UK, 2012)6:17 3Perdu dans Paris (live in UK, 2012)10:55 4A Crisis in Mid Life (live in UK, 2012)7:37 5Doctor Livingstone (I Presume) (live in USA, 2017)11:58 6Titanic Calls Carpathia (live in UK, 2012)18:34 7Two Rope Swings (live in USA, 2017)8:13 | Compilation,Live | 27 January 2023 |
Single · 12
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Two Rope SwingsSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 6:311Two Rope Swings6:31 | 9 June 2017 | ||
| 2017 | Slow Rust (edit)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 3:031Slow Rust (edit)3:03 | 7 July 2017 | ||
| 2018 | A Case of Misplaced OptimismSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 6:131A Case of Misplaced Optimism6:13 | 5 October 2018 | ||
| 2018 | The Adulthood Lie (edit)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 5:531The Adulthood Lie (edit)5:53 | 2 November 2018 | ||
| 2020 | Life on HoldSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 5:311Life on Hold5:31 | 26 June 2020 | ||
| 2020 | The Tower of BabelSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 4:361The Tower of Babel4:36 | 31 July 2020 | ||
| 2022 | The Changes (edit)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 5:011The Changes (edit)5:01 | 8 April 2022 | ||
| 2022 | The Lady Tied to the Lamp Post (edit)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 5:081The Lady Tied to the Lamp Post (edit)5:08 | 13 May 2022 | ||
| 2022 | A Spark in the Aether (live in USA, 2017)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 4:211A Spark in the Aether (live in USA, 2017)4:21 | Live | 25 November 2022 | |
| 2023 | A Crisis in Mid Life (live in UK, 2012)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 7:371A Crisis in Mid Life (live in UK, 2012)7:37 | Live | 11 January 2023 | |
| 2024 | The North Sky (radio edit)Search SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 3:411The North Sky (radio edit)3:41 | 8 March 2024 | ||
| 2024 | The SingleSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 1 track · 5:521The Single5:52 | 10 April 2024 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put The Tangent head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 33 | 91.2th |
| Studio albums | 15 | 94.6th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 26 | 95.9th |
| Recording span (years) | 23 | 51.9th |
| Genres | 3 | 80.4th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonas Reingold | 2003 | present | |
| Jaime Salazar | April 2005 | August 2010 | |
| Krister Jonsson | April 2005 | present | |
| Tony Latham | August 2010 | present | |
| Luke Machin | 2011 | present | |
| Andy Tillison | — | present | lead vocals |
| Andy Tillison | — | present | keyboard |
| Guy Manning | — | present | |
| Roine Stolt | — | 2004 | |
| Roine Stolt | — | 2004 | |
| Sam Baine | — | 24 September 2006 | |
| Theo Travis | — | present | |
| Zoltan Csörsz | — | 2004 |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/092b9bb2-c774-4b95-8251-d5cd337a536ediscography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/092b9bb2-c774-4b95-8251-d5cd337a536ecore—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2061937genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2061937seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tangentbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tangent
Why this artist is in the database
- List of progressive rock artists
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q2061937 · MusicBrainz: 092b9bb2-c774-4b95-8251-d5cd337a536e
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