In December of 1990, Christopher founded a second recording studio in LA in addition to his original one in Germany. By January, 1991 Chris recorded his first solo album, "Pacific Coast Highway" which was released in May of 1991 in Europe on Virgin Records. In the USA it came out via Private Music the following October. His music on this recording was unlike any of his prior electronic compositions and some say that if his name had not been printed on the cover no one would have believed it was from Christopher Franke. This recording did not feature the spacy fast-paced sequencer rhythms familiar to all Tangerine Dream fans. Instead, "Pacific Coast Highway" consists of gentle, introspective music in the American contemporary style. Says Chris, "Pacific Coast Highway" is warm, honest music for me. These are soft, romantic, relaxing themes which I've felt very often in Spain (where he recovered his creative spirit after 18 years of continuous work on TD). It is the music I wanted to make. I'm completely satisfied with it." User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.