Phaedra

Phaedra is one of the most important, artistic, and exciting works in the history of electronic music, a brilliant and compelling summation of Tangerine Dream's early avant-space direction balanced with the synthesizer/sequencer technology just beginning to gain a foothold in nonacademic circles. The result is best heard on the 15-minute title track, unparalleled before or since for its depth of sound and vision. Given focus by the arpeggiated trance that drifts in and out of the mix, the track progresses through several passages including a few surprisingly melodic keyboard lines and an assortment of eerie Moog and Mellotron effects, gaseous explosions, and windy sirens. Despite the impending chaos, the track sounds more like a carefully composed classical work than an unrestrained piece of noise. While the title track takes the cake, there are three other excellent tracks on Phaedra. "Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares" is a solo Edgar Froese song that uses some surprisingly emotive and affecting synthesizer washes, and "Movements of a Visionary" is a more experimental piece, using treated voices and whispers to drive its hypnotic arpeggios. Perhaps even more powerful as a musical landmark now than when it was first recorded, Phaedra has proven the test of time.

beep boop music

Makes me want to do yoga to it or get stoned and watch a lava lamp for hours

Hot garbaggio

Spotify only had side two, and after listening - that was enough. Ok spacerock mood music. Good for a hospice or similar spot. ⭐️⭐️

I feel anxious listening to this

apologies but this just stressed me outtttt

5.0 - Incredible. I feel like I'm strapped to a gurney, being transported to the mental ward of a massive spaceship.

Can't dance to this, can you? Disturbing soundscape that pressages a fair amount of dark ambient. I bet this was cool back in the 1970s with a good set of headphones and a certain degree of, ah, refreshment

Very ethereal, not what I was expecting, made the last hour of work enjoyable. And it just went into another full Tangerine Dream Album without me noticing.

When the first track started, I was reading some of the background information on Wikipedia. I saw the reviews and thought, no way. As a classical music lover, this both is and isn't my type of music. However, by the second track, I was hooked. And man, that second track was ethereal and gorgeous and captivating. I would not only work to this, but literally just sit in silence to this. Pleasantly surprised.

Young adults in Germany during the late 1960’s and early 70’s were in an incredibly tough spot: They were either born in the shadow of atrocity or at the end of its reign. Their country was split in two and many of the people in positions of power - parents, teachers, judges, etc - had either been silently complicit or willing participants in the horrors wrought by Nazism only two decades earlier. They were looking to escape their past, to create a new identity for themselves, for their country; an identity that didn’t borrow from the new world super powers, something unique to who they were as Germans in a post-World War II world. An identity that would say to the world, “we are not who our parents were.” Something that was new, something radical. When the place you were born is responsible for one of the most despicable acts in human history and the entire world knows it, where do you go to escape? Space. At least, that’s where the Germans went. Kosmische music (“cosmic music”) was the ultimate artistic expression of that desire for a new cultural identity. Using electronic instruments (sometimes in combination with traditional rock instrumentation, sometimes not), bands like Tangerine Dream, Can, Cluster, NEU!, Faust, Kraftwerk and others created a sound like nothing else in the world at the time: It was experimental and uncompromising, pushing the boundaries of what music was and could be. They experimented with noise, repetition, unconventional and extreme sounds to create an otherworldly ambience. It’s safe to say that they probably didn’t know how much they would change the world. They were only looking to forge a new identity for themselves, but they ended up providing a blueprint for the future of music. Phaedra, like many of the Kosmische records of the era, can be measured by the sheer amount of influence it had on the music that would follow it, which continues to this day, but that is not the whole story. This is music that, 50 years on, does not sound dated. In fact, it still sounds ahead of its time somehow, like it’s being beamed to us from the future. The German experimental music scene of the 1970’s is one worth delving into, not only because of its profound influence on modern music, but also as study of artistic expression: It’s not outside the realm of possibility that we will find ourselves in a similar situation to the German youth of the sixties and seventies one day. …and maybe that is why this music sounds as though it comes from a not-too-distant future. (Postscript: There is an excellent BBC documentary, “Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany”, that covers the German experimental music scene in great detail, which ended up being a source of inspiration while writing this review, along with my long time love of German experimental rock. You can find ”Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany” on YouTube.)

My life became a loading screen that was stuck for around 40 minutes.

I'm pretty amazed that this was produced only six weeks after getting a new modular Moog setup. I'd still be trying to get a fucking sine tone out, let alone have mastered the sequencer. Classic precursor to Berlin School electronica, capturing an incredible sense of cloudy space. (With phasing!)

It's hard to have much to say about some of this early electronic work, but I certainly enjoy it. Tangerine Dream shares some similarities with Kraftwerk in terms of their use of synthesizers and sequencers, but this feels much more spacey and ambient than anything from Kraftwerk. It's progressive, but there's always something interesting happening. There's a lot of music that came after this album that was clearly influenced by it 4/5

Probably my favorite Tangerine Dream album. The introduction of the sequencers gives their sound more rhythm to sink your teeth into while still retaining a good amount of ambient atmosphere throughout. Absolutely love headphone rides like this in the dark. Blows my mind that this was top 20 in UK and top 200 in US at the time. Would love to jam in this more abstract way. Shifting in and out of movements. You can see why their sound lent itself to soundtrack work, very cinematic.

that was fantastic - and well ahead of its time. dreamy and ethereal - i loved it

The first time a space rock felt more space than rock, and I loved it.

Not particularly surprised by the low score on this one. Many people would just call this avant-garde noise and move on. Maybe not entirely incorrect, I guess... But as someone who adores electronic music and is trying to get into ambient music, this is a beautiful album. I love how the soundscapes morph and transform through the pieces, I love how the synthesizers paint an environment that is simultaneously futuristic and natural. I don't care that the title track is 18 minutes long, it changes form so much through the course of the song, and I think it could probably be likened to a classical piece in some respects, with how it has quiet parts that crescendo and fade away. The remaining three songs are each shorter than the title track, the longest being nearly ten minutes and the shortest not much longer than two minutes. They are all just as sweeping, ambient and interesting as the title track, but I must say that I particularly loved Movements Of A Visionary for its arpegiated synth working with other synths and organs to paint one of the colder, darker pictures of the album, but it's cold and dark in very much the same way that space is. There's an especially weightless feeling to that track, and it makes it perhaps the most incredible ambient track I've ever heard. In some ways I can see how the synthesizers and oscillators of the day were more their own bespoke instruments rather than the sleek, computer-controlled, DAW-driven electronic tracks that form much of the popular music scene now. It was interesting to read and hear how the music would change and detune through the performance of Phaedra due to equipment warming up. It's genuinely interesting to me, reading about these kinds of hurdles and imperfections that artists had to deal with as the pioneers and trailblazers of new genres, styles and techniques. It really paid off though, because even fifty years on, this sounds just as wonderful and space-age as it must have done upon release. The more I read about Tangerine Dream, the more interesting it seems to get. While it's not particularly noteworthy that it's a band that has outlived its founder, it's interesting to see how many people have been part of the band since its inception in 1967. There's some "Ship of Theseus" discussions to be had about what makes a band a band, but it's great to see how it still exists, and I hope that Tangerine Dream can continue to live on in this way long into the future. They seem like the type of band to do that. Also it was interesting to see that Tangerine Dream helped compose the score for Grand Theft Auto V, but honestly it doesn't really surprise me. The OST was a masterpiece (Not even including the licensed tracks) and I firmly believe it is one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time. It's pretty interesting to see that this was recorded in a village barely 10 miles away from me. What happened, Oxfordshire? There used to be so many studios... It's an interesting link to a city I saw while I was still too young to understand and appreciate it. Someday I'll go back to Berlin to immerse myself properly into this scene. Gorgeous, gorgeous album. I'll definitely be looking more into Tangerine Dream's impressive discography after this one. Favourite: Movements Of A Visionary

Not sure I understand why this is THE Tangerine Dream album. I can't find anything resembling melody, I prefer Cyclone and Stratosphere 2.5 🌟

A haiku: Whoo-hoo, the Germans! Laid the land for this music I’m … a little bored

I hate Trance music I hate anjunabeats. i CANT STAND THIS EVEN IF IT IS ELECTRONIC COULD NOT FINISH AND DID NOT CARE

I feel like I really need to be in the right headspace to listen to this one. I know of Tangerine Dream work that I actually don’t mind, but this didn’t hit for me. Also not sure if we listened to the right album, as the one that came up was only the 2 tracks, but I definitely like the eery elements of these tracks.

I really like this music. I‘d love listening to it while on a trip 😉.

Cosmic Rock. Pretty trippy electronic music. I could listen to this on repeat forever.

Still a fantastic album, I do not care too much about the albums before Phaedra (probably a mistake) but everything they made between 74-83 is great (just like the Edgar Froese solo albums from that period). Needs to be played loud and on a good hi-fi system.

This. All day.

Truly marvellous groundbreaking electronic music

Proto electronica! Whew the men in the comments on YouTube def paint a picture of the impact of this album. 4.5 stars for innovation/creativity/protean influence, rounding up because it’s not 60-70s rock!!

Hypnotisant au possible, j’adore et je vais m’enfiler leur discographie.

This is pretty wonderful. I searched for a copy on vinyl when I got this, but couldn't find one. The hunt will continue.

Layers and layers of mesmerizing sounds from legendary pioneers. Very much of its time, when everything about electronic music still needed to be discovered. And yet also nothing like what came after in that overall genre or umbrella style. Plus, one can still potentially trip or chill out to this today, just as hippies did in 1974. Tangerine Dream's early output is a little like good wine. It ages well. In a way, the retro-sci-fi mood *Phaedra* can trigger in you is even more impactful today, because it is now infused with the sort of "future nostalgia" very rare acts have been able to reach since (I'm talking about Boards Of Canada here, *not* about Dua Lipa, obviously 😉). The two other gems Tangerine Dream released after this one (*Rubycon* and *Stratosfear*) were admittedly lmore melodic and less "abstract", comparatively speaking. But none had *Phaedra*'s sheer conceptual power and unique atmosphere. Hence its direct inclusion in my own list. Number of albums left to review: 689 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 152 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 71 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 87

meh

The link in Apple Music took me to Phaedra Revisited which was re-recorded by Tangerine Dream in 2005. Be sure to seek out the original 1974 release - it's much better!

When I first started listening to this album, I didn’t notice that it came out in 1974. I was blown away when I saw that this album wasn’t from the 90s and later. My god is this album ahead of its time. The sequencer driven spacey progressive ambient music has been incredibly influential. Elements of this music can be heard in just about every genre now, from rock to hip hop. The music is just so expansive, yet it is all encompassing and fills the space well.

One of my favorite albums to chill to.

This is a proper bit of me me this

Although there are other TD albums I prefer to this one, Phaedra is still awesome. I’ll happily have this on in the background while at work or chilling at home.

Soooooo fuckin good, good to study or vibe to

Perfect soundscape album. It took me ages to discover it but when I did was the perfect time. It is really hard to describe the effect this album had on me. After it was suggest led by a friend, I found myself playing it on repeat, lost in a world of sound. Best of all it shut out all the noise from the world and I was able to win back some focus I had lost.

It suprises me how many people dislike this or find it boring. Horses for courses I guess. I like this genre and find it very relaxing and meditative but then I'm not a young gad fly flitting about on shiny new things.

On Phaedra Tangerine Dream call on all the wonders of the cosmos and the myths of old to create a truly breathtaking piece of electronic music history.

I know Tangerine Dream thanks to the movie Legend. Their score is beautifully woven into the film, and it's the only version of the movie I'll watch (there's another version that has a generic orchestra & it's just no good). I loved listening to Phaedra. It's eerie and lovely at the same time. Along with Kraftwerk, Sparks, Eno, and Giorgio Moroder, TD were fundamental in influencing all electronic & synth music that followed. This reminded me a bit of Eno's Music for Airports with its soundscapes. I'll admit that it wasn't an easy listen, but music shouldn't always be an easy experience. Beautifully done & I'll definitely revisit. 4.5 stars.

wow

just enjoying beep-boop music with passion This album and an MRI scan on the same day … what?

April 18th, 2024 HL: “Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares”, title track, “Sequent C” A challenging listen does not mean bad. In this case, ‘challenging’ means ‘too repetitive for a close listen, too spooky to be in the background’. Yet I’ve now listened to Phaedra twice, and I have their followup Rubycon queued up, so I think I love this. If you wish the “weird part” in a Pink Floyd album (Atom Heart Mother, Meddle, DSOTM) was its own fully-realized album, then you might too Upon finishing Rubycon, there are very similar vibes but I actually preferred Phaedra’s more sinister overtones. Rubycon was a chiller experience though (or am I just getting more used to Tangerine Dream?) (Note to self: The Who Sell Out was listened to April 17, I’ve been unemployed so long I just forgot how days work)

Electronica's baby steps, so to speak. Froese, Franke, and Baumann created a unique experience for this time, the early '70s. No wonder this was their commercial breakthrough.

Nuts, incredible work

Exploring the sonic boundaries of electronica while always staying listenable. Essential. Yes, I said "sonic boundaries."

Great meditating music

boy i don't really know how to feel about this one. it was out of my comfort zone. it is really beautiful, haunting. it is out of my comfort zone. it is also a lot of electronic noise. it is out of my comfort zone. i found it very relaxing. it is out of my comfort zone. it's not music i would ever seek out. it is out of my comfort zone. i really liked it? it was out of my comfort zone. but i liked it?

Truly an innovative band. Love that old-school synth sound, they create some gorgeous landscapes on here, just takes you away and before you know it the whole thing is already over. Ambient stuff like this isn't everyone's thing for sure, but when you can start to enjoy music like this, it hits a spot nothing else does.

Ambient mellotron music? I’m a fan!

This was an AMAZING experience. At first I was having trouble with it, and then it just clicked. Absolutely fantastic. 5 stars.

Durante minha escuta ao álbum entrei num profundo estado de concentração e de meditação, tive vontade de não fazer mais nada a não ser olhar para nada enquanto espero os 17 minutos e 39 segundos da primeira música passar. Também senti calma e ansiedade em diferentes momentos do álbum, mas nunca fiquei entediado ou irritado. É uma experiência sonora. Talvez não seja o artista que mais vou ouvir, mas definitivamente toda vez que ouvir será uma experiência marcante no dia.

Really nice album. Nice atmospheric sound.

Nice ambient

5/5

Incredible. Exciting, important, cosmic, futuristic… Highly recommended.

I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. I love it! Spacey, surreal, alien, and experimental instrumentals. Sci-fi/Horror movie soundtrack kinda vibe. Spent most of my life passing on this thinking it was adult contemporary yoga-mom stuff.

A truly beautiful piece of work. I can't believe this is from 1974. The title track is the real obvious highlight here, but the 3 tracks after it all hold their own, if not as grand as "Phaedra". Love the interesting sounds and textures of this album

This is like the perfect intersecting point of music for people who love the golden age of science fiction, and fucking stoners. Either way, you put this on your headphones and before you know it you'll be in another dimension, haha. Honestly, fuckin cool album. I like a bit of modern synthwave etc and you can see the start of that here I guess. It's not the sort of thing I could listen to day in day out, or even for more than an hour in one go really, but thankfully it only goes for 38min anyway. Or more to the point, it's not something I'd actively listen to - but I'd be more than happy for it to play in the background while I was working, gaming, etc. 4/5.

Not typically my type of music (70s German electronic!) but found myself more interested than I thought I'd be. Synthesisers at that time de-tuned themselves quickly as you played, and so they wrote this into the first song (Phaedra). The second was completed by the frontman (Edgar Froese) on his own one night with his wife recording and no other members. FFs: Soundtrack to Bandersnatch (Black Mirror); Froese and Bowie lived together for a spell and influenced each other.

VERY cool soundscapes, great for working. Will check this band out more. Only got the last 2 (out of 4) tracks on Spotify, but I was impressed.

Pretty cool early electronic music. Very ambient.

Quintessential kosmiche of Krautrock. Had heard this album before but it's been a few years. From the original 4 track version there is not a single dud, haven't listened to the deluxe yet. Remix sounds very modern, but I'd be curious of how the original sounds. Still a touchpoint for anyone doing soundscapes/ambient/space music.

Musik som får en att vilja vandra ändlöst i en skog, sikta mot stjärnorna men inte riktigt universum. Mycket bra ambient från Tyskland!

I like ambient music also how was this made in the 70s

Música electrónica ambiental. Por lo visto alguna canción sale en Stranger Things.

Was much more interesting than I had expected. Must have sounded completely different from everything else in 1974.

Cool discovery. I knew the name but not much else. Pioneering like Kraftwerk. Same year as Autobahn. Mad lineup, more like a movement than a band. Music featured on Grand Theft Auto and Stranger Things. I actually really liked the music too. 8.5/10

Enjoyed this, who vibe i didn't know existed, got some Vangelis vibes from it too! Dunno if a total 4 as it did get a touch fatiguing towards the end..

I only know Tangerine Dream from their film scores, which rule. This album was really good.

really cool, atmospheric experience. a solid 4/5

I was surprised to read that this is the only Tangerine Dream album on this list because I think their later work is better, eg Stratosfear, Cyclone and Force Majeure but I guess it’s because this album was highly influential and important in the annals of Krautrock and electronic music with the early use of sequencers. Also it’s interesting that along with Mike Oldfield, TD was one of the first bands that Richard Branson signed to his fledgling Virgin Records label.

Crazy to know it’s from 1973. Pretty enjoyable ambient-type sounds from very early in its origins.

One of Tangerine Dream's most popular, and by extension most influential, albums. In this kosmische masterpiece, we explore the innovative use of synthesizers and sequencers that would be further developed in krautrock to follow, later picked up by New Wave and soon the many electronic genres of the 80s and 90s. It is atmospheric giving the audience a feeling of wide open ambience and space that few others have been able to achieve. There is room to breathe in this album, a huge contrast to most other albums at the time which typically feel rushed from track to track. You have a track that takes up an entire side, but also a track that only lasts 2.5 minutes, and the others somewhere in between. These tracks take however much time they want, and due to how seamless they lie to each other, one is able to appreciate both the individual tracks alone and also the coherency of the album as a whole.

Begendim, ozellikle 2 numara baya guzel

I think I prefer their film work, this left me a liiiittle cold but it’s still competent. More of a 3.5

Great early electronic album with spaced out vibes to it. At times relaxing, and at others mildly creepy. Favorites: Phaedra, Movements Of A Visionary

Pretty good ambient electronic music. Very specific situations where I would enjoy this, but its perfect in those specific instances. Feels like a 3 musically, but I'll give a 4 for usefulness in focus-up music.

stunning album

The band's name was familiar to me already but for the life of me, I can't remember why. Maybe a friend liked them, not sure. Anyway, I don't recall having heard their music or even knowing what kind of music they make, so this is all very new to me. And I'm really glad I am now introduced to this band. Fascinating stuff, especially when I consider when they recorded this album. What sounds to our ears in the 2020s like music anyone with a MIDI instrument and a DAW could make in a matter of minutes, they produced with early 70s tech. This is, to state the obvious, no small feat. I will definitely listen to more of their work and read up on how they did it. So cool!

Feels like the grandfather to house music. Great to have on in the background; not sure that I would ever be like, "time to sit down and do nothing so that I can focus entirely on Tangerine Dream"

Wow another gem

This is a striking album of gorgeously composed songs. The arrangements move from sparse to lush, peaceful to spacey, with sometimes eerie and menacing sounds, drawn together with some expert sequencing. Whatever you're doing, stop and just listen to this one without interruption. Fave Song: Phaedra

Hell yeah. This is exactly the kind of oddball stuff I like to find through a list like this. Never heard of this band, apparently they've been making music since the dawn of time and still are. The album is fantastic. Ambient, cinematic electronic music, as if from a lost Dune or Blade Runner movie. Love the four-track structure too, with some tracks coming in over 10-20 minutes. Give me less uninteresting copy-paste rock projects and more like this. This captivated me. Favorite tracks: Phaedra, Mysterious Semblance, Movements of a Visionary. Album art: Nothing too special, but it's a cool and mysterious shot to look at. 4.5/5

I'm trying to re-imagine a sci-fi / aquatic setting wherein the queen has a thing for her stepson, and when he rejects her, she tells the king his son tried to rape her. The king believes his wife and banishes his son, who soon gets trampled by (sea)horses and dies. If you're sober, you need to bring something of your own to this album to give it claws. Just lie back on the sofa and close your eyes. Listen in complete silence, and it'll be like an underwater journey with lights flashing in the deep.

Really enjoyed this. Sublime, dreamy and trippy electronica that sometimes made me feel I was watching some sort of sci fi film. Must try more of their music

Blissed out and atmospheric genius. T.D. is really something special, it almost reminds of side B of Bowie's "Low" in its impeccable synth compositions.

Can you really expect a PNE supporter to like Blackpool? I was surprised how enjoyable this was. That sequencer sound is very good to listen to.

Great focus music

Fascinating album, especially when reading how this early electronic music was put together. There are several great passages, but at times I missed a bit of tension and structure. Maybe I need to listen to it more often, but Jarre's Oxygene, which came out only a few years later, was much more compelling/memorable.

Very solid space ambient album. Really like it.

It’s nice, to be a little star-drop floating along the cosmic currents.

What you would think sounds like an Enya-esque inspired album, then realize this album came out in 1974! For the technology limitations compared between then and now, this album can easily be released today, and while not my normal choice for mood music, I'm interested. 3.5/5.

Rating: 7/10

Really liked this album. A blend of ethereal sounds, electronic tunes, and noise.

Bank robbing music

Listened Before? N HEY! I know these guys! They did the soundtrack for Legend back in the 80s. This is good stuff, especially as far as electronic music goes. I loved it. Added to Library? N Songs added to Playlist: Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares