Reviews (page 4 of 7)
Dug it mostly but it kind of droned on in places
This is definitely an unusual album,. Not my usual thing, but interesting for sure. Very sci-fi in a good way. I probably won't listen to it again, but it was an interesting experience.
Instrumental and abstract but in a way that piqued curiosity and felt accesible
Enjoyed this more than I thought, likely because I listened as I was winding down my day. I like a lot of their soundtrack work and I could see fitting in more music like this into some of my routines (and I probably wouldn't have considered this specific group for such a purpose if not for this listening project).
Okay, so on my kitchen radio or in my car, during my morning routine, this was not hitting right -- too formless and vague. Later in the afternoon on my TV with my sound bar, it was a different experience. I found more of it grabbing my attention (away from work) and making me feel at least something. It makes sense they do film and video games scores; these aren't quite sit-by-the-speaker songs.
Very atmospheric. Has that warble I absolutely adore. The Moog bass is very noice.
New age space jazz. But better than that description would lead on to think.
A bit of a dreamy sound track. Didn't mind having it on.
Soundtrack to a 70s sci fi movie. I like 70s sci fi movies.
Comme les interludes cheloues de Pink Floyd mais sans les vraies musique (chiant)
Blood Incantation!
Definitely worth a listen. Would be a great background music track while I’m working or studying. But now I do neither I can’t imagine I’ll seek it out again.
Cijenim što su nešto ovako napravili tako davno ali nije ništa posebno za slušati.
I put an aquarium YouTube video up for our cats while this album played figuring it was the perfect soundtrack. Somehow all it did was make the cats less interested in the fish.
I don't know how to rate this one. 2.5 stars...I guess?
it's dated, but still very fresh.
5 minutes in, getting stranger things vibes. Electronic/atmospheric. Nice BGM while doing work.
Smoke session music
Har hørt litt mindre på Tangerine Dream enn eg burde, så sette pris på at da komme i generatoren
Good for D&D! I don’t know how exactly to score this one.
I wouldn't be surprised if Phaedra is what inspired the boss theme for Giygas in Earthbound. Very ambient and mysterious sounds from the first track that paint quite the picture/feeling of space. Parts of it feel hollow and somewhat haunting. The second track does provide more of an ethereal experience. They did kind of go crazy with the sound that resembles a metal sheet being shaken. The start of track three sounded like an alien beatboxing in my ear, which I didn't really appreciate. Personally, I didn't have much of a take away from the fourth track; it felt a little out of place being a 2min song amongst other 7-17min songs. All and all I like it pretty well! I'd bet this album and a blunt goes hard I'd give it a 'Earthbound PTSD'/10
This is one of those pioneer albums that you have to respect but not really love listening to. It’s very impressive to have unlocked the electronica vibes in the 60’s. It kind of reminded me of Tron, but if it was a slice of life-type movie instead of racing. Apparently this band released over 100 albums, so I could see them as the Mother Yeast of all electronic music. I usually prefer to eat the bread that is descended from it, though. 2.5-3
I think I have to give this bonus points for sounding like this in 1974. Not something I'm putting on for pleasure but it's actually a really interesting vibe. I'm pretty sure that with the combination of the right drugs and the right high end headphones, this could maybe unlock some forbidden knowledge. Recently I took an edible that was significantly stronger than I realized and I was convinced I had figured out time travel and maybe I did actually figure out time travel, I have no way to prove or disprove it. This stirred similar feelings.
Dubbed for a movie
Dad- NA Mom- 5 Mike- NA Lori- 5 Michael- NA Miles- NA Cole- NA Avg- 5
it’s insane that this was created when it was created but I probably will never listen to it again so it’s not getting a higher number than 3 from me
Not my cup of tea but that was pretty cool.
2.9 When exactly would you put this on to listen to?(besides smoking hash, I guess).
It sounds incredible still but it’s more a mood than an album
Nice enough soundscapes and would probably be great for working to as background but over all didn’t really engage me.
Their fifth album. Electronica. Avant garde and captivating. These guys were doing things ten or twenty years ahead of time. Not for everyone, but an important stepping stone in electronic music.
Could only find the title track on Apple Music, but I fuck with it big time. Kind of shit you’d hear in a planetarium or on the Space Odyssey soundtrack Bet dropping a tab and listening to this would go so hard
I think this would have been a lot better if I was wasted and at a laser light show or maybe a planetarium.
Sounds kinda like a full album of Pink Floyd's On the Run.
Best "kosmiche" album I've ever listened to. Will almost certainly be the only I ever listen to but it wasn't bad for this kind of thing.
3.5/5
Cannot believe this came out in 1974 but not what I’d call a pleasant listen for me
I understand how influential this one might have been, not my jam tho. 2.75/5
15.10.25 klo 10, hima, varvas, spotify titteliträkki ei lainkaan kuunneltava, muut hyvinkin
Ok for what others have described, not what I wanted when I listened to it
Fun electronic music in the vein of Jarre.
6/10
Ambient music is one of those genres I'm still figuring out how to rate properly. The ambience of these tracks is incredible, yet at the same time I can't really see when I'd actually listen to this.
Ok
okay but not really my thing
This is adjacent to stuff that I like a lot, but I found it too aimless to be compelling. I don't dislike it, but it doesn't have enough forward momentum.
Meh.
Pretty ethereal album.
Surrealistic and majestic. However, made me pretty sleepy, instead of compelling other interesting emotions like some other contemporary artists do.
70er deutsche elektronik
I like hearing historically significant albums on this list. Is this an album I’ll come back to? Probably not. Am I glad that I am now aware of it? Absolutely.
not bad but not for me
Space sounds
So this has to be one of the first electronic synthesizer bands in the world. Their first album came out only 3 years after the Moog synthesizer hit the markets. This is certainly early pioneer sounding synth wave, but it also isn't bad at all. It's very ambient and chill. Kind of chamber synth sound.
first listen to tang. always though they were a bit eno/fripp "no pussy footing" but some of this is ok. I like FSOL. so will investigate some more
Ratings: 5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background This is the type of album I'm on this list for. Do I love it? No. Is it interesting? Very much so. I'm not looking to listen to another dozen takes on the music I already like. I may not revisit this very often, but I feel the few hours I spent listening through this album a few times were quite worth it.
Not my favorite, but I get the appeal
Phaedra // 2.5/5
The 35th anniversary edition album cover of this is just about one of the worst album covers I’ve ever seen in my life. Not bad electronic album though all things considered. Very ambient, good ideas from the like what was this, the 70s??
It was interesting to listen to but again just one of those things I don't think I will ever listen too (or remember) again
Ambient, relaxing
Very Spacey and ethereal
Interesting enough
I know this is an important album for electronic music and a landmark in the use of synthesizers, but as something I’d want to put on and listen to, it just doesn’t hit that mark. It’s interesting and influential, but more of a historical milestone than an album I’d return to for pure enjoyment.
listened at the gym but then realised it would make good studying music -- i was right. but maybe i was wrong bc i genuinely found myself zoning out to listen to the music, it was so mesmerising. the sounds on here are so hypnotising and incredible. also very much impressed by the title track
Vibey - fell asleep before the end but that wasnt the albums fault
Vrij spacey, ambient, elektronische muziek. Ik kan me goed voorstellen dat dit redelijk baanbrekend was in die tijd. Het doet me ook wel denken aan de muzikale intermezzos die Pink Floyd op zijn albums zette, van die stukken zoals op the Wall die je dan het liefst skipt, want je wil David Gilmour op zijn gitaar horen spelen en niet Roger Waters op de toetsen. Een paar decennia later zouden ze hier een lekker (break)beatje onder gaan zetten en dan klinkt het iets minder zweverig denk ik. Het zou in deze vorm goed passen bij scifi-films uit die tijd, een Planet of the Apes of 2001: a Space Odyssey. Zet er dat beatje onder en de muziek klinkt gelijk 20 jaar recenter. Het is geen muziek die ik makkelijk luister en dus uit mezelf op zou zetten. Ik snap wel dat dit misschien een trendsetter is geweest voor veel andere muziek, dus het is wel tof om een keer te horen. Het is mij wel te veel Brian Eno (ik had die naam eigenlijk al veel te lang niet meer genoemd) om er echt veel plezier aan te beleven, en het voelt ondanks de 38 minuten als 1 uur en 38 minuten, dus ik ben bang dat het niet op meer dan een magere 3 uitkomt. En dan ben ik eigenlijk nog mild, want dit is niet mijn muziek.
No easily digestible catchy pop hooks, no clear delineation of where one element ends and another begins, no tangible melodies or rhythms. While it's historic significance in the realms of ambient electronic hooting shouldn't be understated, it's not one to stick on at a party. Or at least, most parties*. It will increase the likelihood of a man named Graham speaking to you about oscillators and/or trains. Think of it more as performance art. Less to be 'listened to' in a traditional sense, and more to 'experience'. A soundscape describing a journey. Bizarre unearthly sounds coalesce, morph and congeal, evolving over the duration of the album like some great lumbering prog-mollusk. If you can get past the pretension and let yourself be immersed in the gently undulating, primordial sound womb, there are some moments of real beauty. Particularly in the second half of the album where things get a bit more dynamic. *Take lots of drugs. Wear something with tassels. You'll have a lovely time.
Sending meeeee uuuuunnnnndddeeeerrrrrr
OK go off, spooky aliens
Ambient music that made me want to take drugs and look at space for a while
Listens: 3? Standout tracks: Phaedra (2018 remix) For a period of time, I got really into the idea of lucid dreaming. I used to try the WILD method, where you let your body physically fall asleep while you keep your mind awake. Not an easy feat, because you can't move around at all, and there's a strong sensation to do so. Anyways, to aid in this approach I downloaded a pack of Isochronic Tones, which are among the nebulous claims of spiritual healing, charkha balancing and such nonsense pseudoscience BS, are supposed to help get your mind into a particular sleep state, as well as the added bonus of helping block out other external stimuli. Some of those Isochronic tones basically sound like these tracks, except they was more monotonous and there was way more brown/pink/white noise, and lots of droning sounds. That's the first thing that comes to mind when I listen to this album. The second thing that comes to mind is this album or maybe just all of Tangerine Dreams' albums potentially being a precursor to some of the work guitarist John Frusciante did on his solo albums in the 2000s: A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence (Sphere) with Josh Klinghoffer, Shadows Collide With People (Negative 00 Ghost 27 and Failure33Object). If you like this music, you might really like those songs too. A third thought that occurred to me during an additional listen is possibly just how prolific, not necessarily any of these songs or this album, but this kind of music is in setting the mood in a movie or TV series. I am reminded of series like Netflix's Dark and other moody dramas, that employ a lot of the elements found in these songs. I enjoyed this album. I enjoyed it enough to listen to it, like, 3 times in a 24 hour period, that being said, it's way to fucking long. I wish I could have listened to the non-deluxe version that wasn't 2.5 hours long. If this album was 55, 70 or maybe even 90 minutes long, it would be even more enjoyable.
Sorprendido gratamente
Hadn’t listened to this album before, knew a few tracks. Enjoyed it.
Electronic atmospheric layered sounds
Cool soundscapes, decent
This was meandering and doodly, but I guess I found it a bit more interesting than similar stuff that can get a bit more monotonous. I'm happy to have finally heard this one.
2.5 rounded up probably my favorite of the electronic albums on this list thus far, but still a bit too homogenous for my taste. hard to pick a favorite when they all blend together like that highlights: phaedra (feb 13 2026)
This is something unusual and yet can be considered as m-u-s-i-c , and not just a random collection of sounds! I like it for 3.5
3.5 Tangerine Dream is awesome but this is probably not my favorite album of theirs.
Albums like this are an oddity on this list, because they feel less like a traditional album and more like a piece of music. It is also a good argument for why some albums work well as commercial listening and others like this probably benefit from a particular mood or setting, in this case after comically sized joint in an empty field at night where you can lay back and stargaze, or close your eyes and drift away. Pretty mad I heard this during my sober arc™ bc stone man Myles would have loved it. Considering the year this was made, its sound design and exploration is revolutionary. It is at times both beautiful and mesmerizing. Where it falls is that it often falls into boring passages between these blips of lush sounds. You need the between parts to tie it together but theres not enough in the between to keep your attention. I also listened to it on an extremely hot sunny morning while cleaning my flat so completely unoptimal listening experience. So idk, its got its moments, its pretty incredible for its age, and while I'm glad I heard it I don't think it belongs on this list.
Sounds like I’m getting abducted by aliens
Nüchtern eine 2/5 high warscheins eine 10/5. Reine "Instrumentals" für 30 Minuten wobei Affengeräusche und Raumschiffe auch vorkommen. Bis ich das album noch nicht high gehört habe 3/5
I'm a big krautrock nerd but not big enough to really enjoy Tangerine Dream. Other than the Thief soundtrack. That goes hard.
Favorite Track: Phaedra
Haven't listened to any of their music before. It was a really interesting, moody album. 3/5
Early German electronic music. Interesting but, being sequencer driven, a little boring.
Nice little discovery. Would have blown my mind at the time
Heck Ya early Electronic Krautrock
Opening song went hard but then didn’t hit those highs again. 3.5 stars
3.5
Innovative and beautiful in places, but I generally don’t go for ambient stuff. Going 3.5 as I admire it but probably won’t return.
This is kind of cool and kind of boring. It kind of reminds me of the stuff that Pink Floyd would do as interludes but for the most part they wouldn't go on for 17 minutes like that without going into either a song or a blues jam at some point. All in all given the right mood I could probably really get into this but it is definitely one of those where I'd have to be in the mood for this kind of like trippy hazy feel. Even at that I would probably more likely pull out something like "Echoes" over this. 7.25 ★★★½
Interesting, but would need to be in the right mood. 3.5 stars
Not expected. Low vibe peaceful hum.
Nice wee ambient album. Spotify only seemed to have two of the four tracks on the album?
Very surreal sounding. It has some strong Pink Floyd vibes, but I am not sure who came first.
I don’t think this album existed in its entirety on Spotify. But it was kinda cool for it’s time?
Sounds much more recent than it is. I don’t usually feel like I really get electronic music, but I enjoyed this. Meditative.
Not really my thing
one of the albums that has to be rated relative to the time that it came out. Mostly moog noodling, but they earned it and they were doing stuff no one else had thought of. Not sure it created anything too timeless, but solid for 73
Nautittavaksi tehty siinä täysin onnistumatta
Chill electronic music that isn’t really challenging or particularly memorable, but it’s easy to digest.
Bleepy, bloopy, & relaxing
Surprisingly good, chill, electro trance. Knew nothing about it going in, judging the book by its cover and length of songs was ready for a disaster. I rather liked it. Nothing special though. Well listen to again, good focus music. 6.5/10 70/1001
Interesting, but not really my scene.
Enjoyable background music. There's some history there and they influenced a lot of people that came after them.
Meditative synth experiments at the early wave of ambient music, it's an absolute trip but hardly a hoot. I wouldn't reach for it very frequently because it's an austere experience - but I very much enjoyed rediscovering it.
I know that "this isn't on my streaming service of choice" is a bit of a cop-out, but literally can't find or figure out which is the original release anywhere, and based on the descriptions, I doubt I'd enjoy this very much, so it's getting a very generous 3.
This was great background music for doing some housework.
Phaedra is good, unsettling. I liked the calming balance then brought in by Mysterious Semblance At the Strand Of Nightmares Movements Of A Visionary is good Sequent 'C' is positively meditative. The tune of the second half sounds like the fireside song in the Narnia film. 2nd Day was fairly dull. Flute Organ Piece was ok, but pretty dull too.
Interesting soundscapes. A little directionless, but there is intent. Another in a long, long list of historically important albums that don't hold up for me.
German ambient synth, cool stuff - JayDee sample on Sequent wow
One of those bands I kept meaning to listen to, have finally done it. It was ok.
Beep boop
Not as much fun as kraftwerk
Nog ff te spacend voor in de ochtend, ik ga erop terugkomen..
We are not in easy listening land. What's with the veer toward the electronic? While I find this oddly entrancing, again not my style. Background.
My brother was really into Tangerine Dream back in the 70s. I like the synth soundscapes but never got into their music. I don't hate it but it's just ambient background music that doesn't trigger any interest. There are a few production ideas that would be cool but they only adders to something more substantial.
I've always been underwhelmed by this. There are some nice moments here and there but I think others took their torch and lit brighter fires. Decent playing on here, though.
сложно без слов ну и в целом электроника
I probably wouldn't listen to this again but found it quite cool. It sounds really fresh and modern for an album released in 1974, like an experimental album Pitchfork would give 8.5/10. Quite moody and atmospheric electronica which I was absorbed with for sections Spotify link is missing some tracks, but the deluxe edition has all 4 tracks from the original album, for anyone reading this who might be confused by the short length
So I can see how this album would have been important and influential at the time. If you asked me what decade it came out I would have said the 1980s, not 70s, which speaks to how "ahead of its time" it might have been. That all being said, it just wasn't a great listen. Might be really good for like background noise while working.
Ég hefði aldrei búist við því að geta slakað á við raftónlist en það var mjög næs að liggja bara og hlusta á þessa plötu. Hún rann ljúfar í gegn en ég hefði haldið. Ég býst samt ekki við að hlusta aftur á hana.
This album was a blend of electronic music and nature. As I read and listened to the album, I learned that what this group did was definitely revolutionary in the late 70s. I can definitely see hear that. Definitely a cool album for sure. Great for ambient music.
I liked this, was good coding music. Only complaint is that it was pretty stressful sounding electronica at times. 3/5
Day 29 - Interesting sound - I had not listened to this one before #musicsky #albumsky 3/5
interesting. before their time
Unique and distinctive. TD is the pioneer of electronica. This pariticular album felt a bit non-descript to me but it fits certain moods.
If you ever wanted to enter the sewers with Mario for an hour, this is the album for you. It didn't resonate super emotionally for me, but I can appreciate how sick of a soundscape this is. Rating: 3.5
Eh, kinda mid.
I actually enjoyed the extended version. This is definitely "background" music, but it's crazy how fresh it sounds considering its age. This is closer to a classical music suite than a rock album, so it's hard to say what my favorite parts were.
This is a tough one to rate. It's actually a really pleasant listen, I can see why it was so popular. However I would never willfully put this on again, so I can't rate it that highly.
Kraftwerk, is that you? This reminded me a lot of the Kraftwerk albums on this list. And that isn't a bad thing. There's a lot to like in their work. The space-rock, prog-rock, synth-rock genre is wide and vast, and these two bands live in their own niches within it. This was alright. There's a lot here that reminds me of early Pink Floyd stuff, and even some Dark Side of the Moon era stuff too. I also appreciate the fact that they didn't overstay their welcome. Each track may be long, but the entire runtime is less than 40 minutes. Overall this was a fine album but nothing I'm going to remember moving forward. Ten albums from now I'll probably have forgotten about it. Rough. Three stars. Standout Track: Mysterious Semblance at the Stand of Nightmares
I get it’s probably groundbreaking in its time but it seemed like some background music for a low budget sci-fi flick from the 70s. For that reason alone I gave it 3 stars.
So short I don't know if it's good or bad
Difficult to rate it as it requires a certain mood and attention to enjoy. Very happy to have learned about it as an album and will put it on from time to time.
I kept wanting this to bust out into a metal/heavy psych riff ala Elder. That would have been sweet. Still, these were decent sounds to have in my earbuds while getting some work done.
Sleepy sci-fi music. Kinda cool, kinda weird. 1001 album worthy: Yes - 52/98
Interesting album. Complete ambience sound. Always building to something but never quite getting there, which i think is purposeful. This album feels wandering and searching, but never finding. It is not engaging, nor attention grabbing. Sometimes you think oh snap, ok they are about to do something interesting here... but then back to wandering. Good thing to put on in the background going to sleep, but, not really for the background of a party. Album is a bit underwhelming, but again, I think that is on purpose. If you want to sink your teeth into some M-U-S-I-C, this is not the album, know what i mean? I ended up listening a few times thru even tho 2.5 hours long.
5/10 - Very strange ambient album. A lot of the songs were just random sounds but all together not too bad. Plus I think Phaedra is a cool name for an album.
More mid ambient/electronica
Favorite track(s): phaedra, movements of a visionary Will I revisit?: middle priority/listened to this before Current rating: 7/10
Electronic music was something other worldly in the 70's so, with that in mind, this is an interesting record. Interesting sound design.
great background vibes.
I don't know how I feel. Was it brilliant? Was it terrible? was it both?
Why this album when Hyperborea is right there?
I feel like I am in an aquarium watching fish swim around. Or one of those 3D or Imax movies showing me giant pictures of space or the world. Most of it is pleasant but all of it is long, far too long. I see why people got to know them through soundtracks. These songs would fit perfectly into the next Fantasia to see how others conceptualize the music. For me to just sit and listen to, I will pass.
It's a low 3. I'm sure this was ground breaking for the time. I didn't dislike it but it was kind of boring.
This album feels more like an immersive soundscape, rather than intentionally composed "songs." Which presents the philosophical question, What IS a song? Anyway. It sounds like something they'd play at the Van Gogh (or other such artist) experience. It's pretty interesting to hear early experimentation into what was possible with electronic sounds though, and I appreciate their contributions to the genre! It was pleasant enough, but this isn't an album I'd probably return to, unless I was in one of those salt baths you can float in or something.
It’s pretty good! I think I would listen to this again when needing to concentrate!
Moody. Heavy. Good
Mixed feeling about this one, part of me likes the early ambient sound, and part of me dislikes the over-use of some effects esp. the flanger. I don't like that jet engine sound. Less can be more. It reminds me of my early PowerPoint days where I squeezed in all sort of effects in my presentations just because it was possible and (I wrongly thought) "cool". I'll give it a 3 for history's sake buy there is better electronic music from that era (Kraftwerk, Brian Eno).
Enjoyable weird ambient electronic album
Psychedelic prog rock instrumental. Its OK as background music.
Didn’t mind this
Didn’t mind this at all. Scooted by nicely
I mean, it's fine - I expected a little more from some of the originators of electronica, but this ambient twiddling is perfectly serviceable for background noise. A very middle of the road 3 stars to you, Good sirs
Makes up for the 2 and 3 hour listens
Beep beep boop boop Would be nice as background music in a museum or something Great band name
It’s decent mood music. It does sound the same throughout though.
3 stars. Slightly too experimental for our tastes. The second song was better than the first.
I am only familiar with Tangerine Dream insofar as their work on various film scores, and I can't say that this is much different to that. It's certainly not music in the conventional sense, but not to the degree that it's antimusic, and purely sound, it really falls into that middleground of sounding like a score. I didn't dislike it, but it's definitely something that needs to be listened to with accompaniment.
Too long and somewhat anxiety inducing
Balances tension and calm in dream-like melodies.
Kk
Orchestral electronic….its interesting. Electronic minus the party I guess. Not bad, just not for me.
This would have been cutting edge for its time, one supposes; otherwise, it's hard to explain its inclusion. Just not a lot of interest here or much to engage with. Gets sort of Vincent Price spooky at times. Highly dependent on listening environment – to wit, first-class international flight enhances the experience; stuck in traffic degrades it. The key question is, are these better than the songs on Risky Business OST? One's not too embarrassed to prefer the latter. 2.8 > 3
Phaedra Sequent C
i usually dont like this stuff but it was relaxing
Intriguing. I may go down the rabbit on this band.
Soundtrack to a fever dream.
Very much a soundtrack to 1980s Soviet cartoon about space, or perhaps a Stephen King movie. Fun. Not really for me though!
The beeps and boops are fine, easy enough listening for the workday. BUT!!! NO SONG NEEDS TO BE 17 MINUTES!!!
Cooli Vibes, het mi aber ned packt. Für mich eher hintergrund
Referência de ambient eletrônico.
Its pretty cool, its like the soundtrack to a really heady animated sci fi movie. Really long though
I think the most haunting and human electronic on this list so far. bleep bloop star debt: increased. (⌐💻_💻)
I listened to this album twice and didn't come away with anything specific to say about it. I liked it enough as ambient background music, nothing grabbed me more than that. 6/10
the last track did it for me aaaaaaaaaa strong 3.5
Very ambient. Surprised I liked this as much as I did.
Cool and interesting, could have it play in the background on the regular. Would love to see the movie this syncs up with.
þýskt rafpopp. eru meira dreymandi en kraftverkamennirnir og nær ambient. finnst þetta fínt. aðra. 3,5.
Before realizing that spotify only had the last 10 minutes of the album available for me, I had zoned out and listened to those two songs for about 40 minutes without realizing. Electronic music has that effect on me and I love it Listened to the full album and it was a bit moodier in full than it was in it's abridged version but I still enjoyed it somewhat
I think that if I hadn’t watched “Thief”, I wouldn’t get Tangerine Dream. Something about hearing their music playing while watching Michael Mann’s visuals of a car driving through a rainy, foreboding city at night and watching Jimmy Caan crack a safe just made what they were going for click for me and I’ve been a fan ever since. Not the right music for every situation, but in the right situation they are the perfect music.
Although this is not my style, I fell in love with the textures and moods from this album. I don’t know if I will come to it in a close future, to be honest. I completely recognize why it is part of the list.
More like a movie soundtrack
More like a soundtrack. Nice though.
Some nice ambient electronic soundscapes. It's hard to believe this sort of thing existed in the 70s. The Moog synth was really a game changer. I enjoyed the album as background music.
3.5/5
Space, time, the final frontier
Solid, var säkert banbrytande på sin tid
The first time I heard the titular track was in the Bandersnatch episode of Black Mirror. I thought it worked really well in the context it was used in. I think I must have listened to the track again after watching the episode, and enjoyed it - given the episode was still fresh in mind. On this re-listen (and a first listen to the other 3 tracks on the album), while I enjoy more than a few elements of it, I just don't find it overtly engaging, and if anything a bit meandery.
Hm this whole album only has 4 tracks and only 2 are available on Spotify. What is this, experimental, psychedelic? German Electronic...oh cool! these guys did the sound track to the 1986 movie Legend with Tom Cruise. I think I only ever watched that movie one time. I should rewatch it. This was cool but just 3 stars.
I don't know what to do with albums like this. I can't actively listen to this kind of music. If this was, say, a video game or movie soundtrack? Sure, I would probably think it was pretty good (assuming it, you know, complimented the rest of the work). As background music, it's absolutely fine. It's hard to rate this as "good," but I could see this record doing a great job of setting a mood.
This is pretty good! Kind of a space odyssey of pulsing nebulae. Cool. Blast off and zone out.
This album is a whole mood. Walking the dog around the dark neighborhood past creepy Halloween decorations is definitely one of two ways that you can enjoy the 17min opening track. The other is to be very high (I imagine).
This album starts out 🔥 with the title track Phaedra. It’s got energy and the vibes are off the charts. Then the album down shifts into something much less exciting, if not still intriguing. Truly disappointing based off the start.
Very chill. Good bedtime music.
Of its time, for sure
This was cool… the cover on the anniversary edition that I listened to on Apple Music was less cool…
I mean it's not bad but it also feels like a 80's techno DJ rehersal session and it does not contain any real exiting moments
It’s like meditation music
Somewhere between ambient and exploratory
Listened to it on YouTube because Spotify only had two of the four songs. It was okay. Ambient, electronic, strange. One of the songs reminded me of music from SMT. When you start getting sick of a sound that’s repeated, it ends up changing. Constantly changing.
I'm no expert on ambient music, but I know I dig this a decent amount. 3.5/5
Sounds like being in some artsy space in Berlin!
Spacey and ground-breaking. But a slog to get through it all. Good for background listening though.
Not much of a fan of this style of music but it’s not offensive. 2.5
Appreciate the importance but didn't do it for me.
Very good album.....
Excellent background music for working, otherwise a little boring.
80s Sci-fi video game music
Super slow ambient. Ok background music/sound, but I could never put this on for listening - too boring.
Super trippy and i could see enjoying this album in the right circumstance.
i thought this was a great soundscape. I was expecting something much more brutal and was pleasantly surprised.
I can appreciate that they were pioneers (and influenced Steven Wilson, one of my favorite artists), but it's honestly pure background music that doesn't go anywhere.
Rather like Pink Floyd fill in bits. The Rothko of modern music, so maybe great as a backdrop for a modernist art exhibition. Annoying after a while when it penetrates the consciousness.
Interstitial style, apparently from the origin. “I could make that” stuff that you really couldn’t.
I like new age. Obviously in this case especially, it is a spin-off or part derived from electonic/ techno/ synthwave, or in some ways pioneers those genres. It doesn't matter because this band is most certainly a pioneering band and what came first is mute. Now, with that said I find that while yes, I know they are originals and important, thier music is more of a good effort than timeless. Perhaps it is the specific genre itself and "how" one takes in new age: it is purely emotional, and there is some unbelievably good new age out there that effects the heart strongly. I felt that while this was perfectly enjoyable it is mildly mood setting it never really made me stop and consider my entire human existence.
It was really unnerving to listen to at some points, definitely anxiety inducing. It reminded me of a soundtrack to a horror film. It was electronic, but sounded classical as well. At points it reminded me of Holst's planets, like you were be sent off to space.
Atmospheric, moody, and at times hectic. It's good electronic music that could easily be incorporated into a 70's sci-fi movie. It's good if you're into it....me, not so much.
ambient music - I didn't have time to listen to all, just 2 tracks - long, dreamy, spacey instrumental tracks
I'm into this. I can imagine "Phaedra" gently crescendoing right after death- the soundscape between this world and the next. These five tracks, selected by a committee, to gently adjust you to your new reality. Soothing, ethereal, and slightly energizing. A tangerine eternal dream.
Similar to some other albums on this list - the influence is undeniable. Twenty years on this album would still be feel relevant. Unfortunately it does it's job a bit too well. What they did has been absorbed by so many artist and and influenced a variety of genres and done much better. Or at least more effectively. The title track is an obvious standout.
Decent ambient/atmospheric background music. Kinda museum exhibit core
This is the fifth album from a German electronic music group, released in 1974. I generally am not super into electronic music (probably an understatement), and I'm not exactly sure what to make of this, but I didn't hate it. It's not really something I would actively choose to listen to, but it's interesting. It really sounds more like the soundtrack to some sort of space movie or something, not something I'd generally listen to as a standalone piece. It's almost eerie sounding at times, a bit unsettling. It's sequencer-driven, but it's pretty layered, fairly bass-heavy. I don't know, normally I feel like I hate this kind of thing, and I certainly don't love it, but it's ok. Not bad, decent listen. Favorite song: Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares Other: Phaedra 7/29/24
This was definitely a Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares.
Cool
If a crash-course in music of the 1970’s should teach us anything fifty years later, it’s that the Germans knew how to trailblaze. Between Tangerine Dream, Neu!, Can, Cluster and Kraftwerk, the level of innovation coming from one country in the 1970’s is astounding in retrospect. What’s more, none of these bands seem to have dated in the slightest: they’re still heavyweights to any alternative music fan, treated with an undying reverence as many of their peers fade quietly into embarrassment. I first saw the cover of “Phaedra” on a CD case, tucked away in one of my drama teacher’s filing cabinets. Between him and my art teacher espousing the greatness of Can, I had plenty of good influence coming my way as a teenager. Yet ten years on, I’m only just giving this album the time it deserves. Listened to alone, devoid of context, “Phaedra” may not feel particularly groundbreaking: sure, the atmospherics are good, but mostly it’s just some fun noodles with sequencers and synths. But I have to respect it as something born out of 1974, when electronics would have been mostly restricted to the Radiophonic Workshop and Doctor Who. The four tracks on offer here- in particular, the title track- are more impressive than they are emotional, powerful mostly in the sense of their historical significance. I may not be listening again in a hurry, but I can’t deny it’s a thrill to hear these early tech wizards at work.
Rein instrumental. Düster, wabernd. Je nach Stimmung interessant bis abschreckend. 3/5
Early ambulient electronica. Dreamy soundscapes like a space sci fi movie score. I wouldn't give this the time of day if it was made more recently, but respect has to be given to the context of 'trail blazing' being a massive understatement for this in 1974. Rating: 3/5 Playlist track: Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares Date listened: 03/07/24
Landmark early electronica.
I can see how it was likely very innovative and influential at the time, but it has not aged well. Much prefer ambient music from Brian Eno instead.
Música electrónica ambiental. Ni fu ni fa.
Super elettronico, un filo troppo concettuale
Fine background music, but kinda boring.
Spherische Klänge aus den 70ern
Ambient electronic music. The title track felt like a mix of Mass Effect and Pink Floyd’s “Echoes”, and I really liked it. The others didn’t grab me as much. Good background/vibe music.
Could only listen to tracks 3 & 4 on spotify, but was ok just didn't blow me away or anything.
I can understand how this would’ve been a very interesting album back in the 1970s. It doesn’t personally do much for me, but it’s not bad.
fine
Thought this was really good, very dreamy. It did stretch it out over the course of a day though. Would have been hard to do in a oner
Pretty chilled out ambient music. It's pretty good and I will definitly listen to this again. Going to be great as background music for other activities.
A cool listening experience and the most strange album so far in this list
Väldigt före sin tid. Det lät iallafall som typ 90-tal. Det hände dock inte så mycket och visst kan den vara bra om man ska typ sova eller så men annars är det nog inte så kul och lyssna på. Jag blev ju då chokad för jag hade glömt att det var 70-tal så för det så får den pluspoäng.
This was a lot more ambient than I expected for 70’s electronic music.
Often times a bit too abstract and minimal for me, as if it's simply noises without creating any sort of atmosphere or soundscape, but at other points it does this quite well and makes for a very nice listen. Not my favorite ambient record I've ever heard but certainly decent and probably very influential since it's such an early release in the genre. 6/10
When Pink Floyd stopped writing 20-minute soundscapes, Tangerine Dream must have started. Title track gives good psych-era Pink Floyd vibes.
Phaedra is the fifth album by German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. It marked the beginning of their international success as the first album selling well enough for gold records and the album in which they began relying on their sequencer sound. This electronic, ambient album helped influenced Krautrock which began developing in Germany around the same time. Tangerine Dream made an important album of artistic, electronic sequencer music and it's their best known album. I loved this album and its collection of epics - songs which encompass a wide range of movements and feelings. This was a great album of progressive electronic music that I would recommend to most listeners.
If you love dark soundscapes, this album will be for you. If, like me, you prefer to not question your sanity repeatedly over the span of 2+ hours, give this album a pass. I won't argue that it's not quite brilliant. This was academic synth soundscape heading into mainstream. And it's incredibly well done. But it's (to me) just not enjoyable.
Not my kind of music, but I actually enjoyed the melodies for some songs.
Lovely experimental electronic music
Experimental and flowing but not super memorable
efectivamente ambiental y etéreo, interesante experiencia
Just starting with the lengthy opening track, I feel like I was warped into the soundtrack of an 80s sci-fi/horror flick. I swear I was hearing tracks like this in Stranger Things or something. Very mystifying and ominous music, but not something I think I would come back to.
I really don't know what to think of this album. It would be very easy for it to be the most pretentious wank-fest of a muso album, but it honestly doesn't feel like it - it feels like they couldn't give a shit if anyone listened to how fucking clever they are being, they are just super happy to have done it. I don't think I'll ever seek the album out as one to actively listen to, but I can absolutely see myself just passively zoning out in the woods with this on headphones.
I liked this album more than I thought I would. For some reason I associated this band with other German outfits like Can and Kraftwerk. As someone who likes some ambient, moody electronica for working, it surprised me by being more in this vein. I was struck at times by the feeling of being enveloped by the sound. Not for every situation, but good stuff.
This was ok overall, not something I would actively seek out, but decent enough as background noise.
Orange snooze.
Crazy that these tunes were made back in the 70s!
Found the original version of this album on "In Search of Hades: The Virgin Recordings 1973-79, including the detuning on the title track that made me interested when I read about it. I might have been a little more dismissive based on its very simple sound had I not read about how difficult it was to even make music like this in the 70s. Well done!
Really interesting and unique. It feels like watching a movie that doesn't actually exist. Very cool usage of the Electronic medium.
Origin of electronic music
Suddenly have the urge to buy some crystals and incense. Then pop a video cassette of Risky Business into the Betamax.
Good music to listen to on the tube
Made me sleepy Good to study to
Ollut kyllä tosi edelläkäyvää musiikkia jos tämä on oikeasti julkaistu 1974. Siistiä ambienttia. Nimensä mukaisesti aika tausta musiikkia että ei silleensä mitään erikoista. Futuristista.
Did I just listen to something? I guess I did. Tangerine Dream's "Phaedra" doesn't really feel like an album to me. It feels more like 40 minutes of ambience. But hey, it's some damn good ambience. The production of this thing is immaculate. The sound makes for some decent background noise at times. I feel like I would enjoy this album a lot more if I just laid in bed and zoned out for 40 minutes. Perhaps then I would "get it". For now, I guess the best thing I can say about this album is "it has a purpose that it succeeds at." It kind of makes me feel like I'm in space. Fortunately, that's more so in the "drifting away in nothing" way and not the "lack of oxygen boiling my blood" way. It doesn't do much for me, but perhaps it will at another point in my life. I'll give this thing the benefit of the doubt. Light 3/5.
Relaxing electronica. Understand the historical significance, but I'm not a big fan of 10 minute electronica. 3/5.
Actually pretty good for when you're working or exploring an alien spaceship. 3.5
Surprisingly enjoyable. Much more so than more modern electronic music I've heard.
Ambient. Spacey. Not bad.
I don't get it
I remember the name Tangerine Dream, I think a friend's brother had one of their albums (back in the mid 70's). But I don't know that I've ever listened to them. Wikipedia notes the album features Tangerine Dream's "now classic sequencer-driven sound", and this site tags this as electronica which is one of my worst rated genres (123 reviews in). This is very ambient, background-y, kind of random. Instrumental, and mostly keyboard / synthesizers. No drums. Shades of early Pink Floyd meets Kraftwerk. None of that is necessarily bad. But after the 17 minute title track, I'm still waiting for this to do SOMETHING. It's pleasant enough, but doesn't really have any discernable melodies, and seems to sort of meander around between motifs. Another quote on Wikipedia calls it "Layer upon layer of futuristic sounds piled one on top of the other until the whole thing climaxes in some interstellar void". That actually is a good summary. Except 50 years later, it is not so futuristic. Definitely background music, might seem really "deep" if you're stoned. But I'm not. This is rated 2.7/5 on the site, I think that's probably good. Since I can't give it 2.7, I'll have to round. I'll go 3/5 because it's at least a bit different, not like the generic 90's Brit-Pop that comes up too often. That's being really generous, but 2 just seems overly harsh. Side note: only 2 of 4 tracks are on Spotify, representing just over 25% of the album's playing time. I listened via Youtube, where I was able to pull up the entire album.
Wel aardig
They all sound the same.
Esoteric incense-smelling beepy boopy short 2 track album that would send you to a different dimension while stoned. Doesn't necessarily feel like a mere random jumble of sounds and instruments, but it certainly isn't conventional. A peculiar piece to add to my musical collection, which might come in handy in the time of future need.
Muy tranquilo. No es mi hit.
Not really my thing, but enjoyable enoigh to listen to
I'm sure when this was released this seemed like what they thought the future would sound like. Sequencer-driven, synth sounds has the makings of a sci-fi film soundtrack with upbeat, swirling, electronica sounds that had my head spinning, stunned and left me feeling drone-like. Fast forward almost 40 years and the future isn't what it was it cracked up to be. Music we listen to is either classic rock from 1974 or "modern music" with machine driven beats interrupted with drone-like "singers" whose voices are electronically altered and auto-tuned, maybe Tangerine Dream was onto something. Considering all that, I would much prefer Phaedra to what's popular on the radio now! Let's live in the past to live in the future present.
Weird spacey anxiety inducing album, but I also didn’t hate it?
I can haz synthezzizizzer? Sea gulls? Robot sea gulls? Flock of seagulls? (No that comes later). The eventual impact of electronic sounds is huge as can particularly be seen with Radiohead's Amnesiac which uses everything here and much more. There is a sense in this album and other early ones like it that people didn't really know what to do with things yet nor do they have a really good set of tools to start working with manipulated sound. This is interesting in the way that watercolor washes are and ambient sound in general is. It is interesting historically as well in terms of what musicians found they could start to do with things. But nothing particularly groundbreaking seems to be happening here yet. Huzzah for being on the cusp of something new. But meh for fully figuring out something awesome to do with it yourselves. Not a bad album but plenty of room for growth.
6.1/10 i mean ig
Some sounds.
Interesting early moog stuff. I definitely think that later bands did it much better, but obviously the influence from here was probably tangible in a lot of them. Still a cool chill ambient release.
Kan tycka det är ganska bra med elektronisk ambient ibland men hela album kan bli lite tradigt i längden.
I think its very nice and trippy. For an ambient album it is extremely entertaining. This is definitely early LCD soundsystem inspired tripped out soundscapes you could get stoned to and be totally entertained. Would listen to again.
Sounds very ahead of its time and like many things I’ve heard released after it. Solid points for that but wouldn’t go back and ever listen again. Rating: 2.9
Afskaplega róandi, gott fyrir einbeitingu.
Kinda dug this a little bit, this is more my speed electronic wise
Ambient, atmospheric and whilst resolutely in the background, it is not unpleasant and I think more interesting than the overrated Oxygene from a year or two later, however my 6 year old Jack was not so complimentary!
I understand why the album was included as it helped usher in electronic music as a genre. It’s an early entry, however, and simplistic compared to more modern albums.
Cool enough. Probably more impressive in '74 when it was released. 3.1.
Growing up with a brother who was a huge Tangerine Dream fan in the 80s, I heard a lot of their music growing up. I was a bit surprised, then, that I didn't really recognize any of this. I would probably add to that that I didn't feel that there was much that was memorable here, actually. I am guessing that this might be on the list more for its place in music history than as the "best" TD work, introducing a new genre of electronic music in 1974. I definitely appreciated it, but I didn't love it. And my brother reports that this one is not even in his top ten.
Not much here drawing me in. I doubt I would recognize any track specifically, if I heard it again. On the other hand, nothing that I heard hurt my feelings.
Mellotron-heavy songs that sound like a film score. This record must have influenced many artists I admire but this one doesn't do much for me. It gets too noodley for my taste and does not evoke much more than "futuristic robot space music" vibes. I'm giving this one a soft three because I do love electronic music.
Ultra ambiance 6/10
Beautifully hypnotic is how I would categorize this. I won't return to it but I'm glad to have listened to it.
This album spent far more time in the genre that would become known as “ambient” than I expected. I've enjoyed the works of TD and their influence for many years, but it dawned on me while listening that this might be the first album I've listened to from beginning to end—certainly one of the earliest. While I enjoy some of their other works more in the traditional electronic or “space ambient” genres, this is still a serviceable piece for background, relaxation, and reflection. I may return to it one day, something to add additional variations in my rotation of ambient and meditative music.