Phaedra

Mum! I got a new synth! Listen to all the noises it can make!

Now for my first album since I asked to get things from all genres ( an electronic thing) interesting… The album starts off with it’s title track a 17 minute long creepy arse instrumental ( well they’re all instrumental but still) and out of the other long winded instrumental tracks that I’ve herd ( Djed by tortoise and Tarkus by Emerson lake and palmer) this is done so much better; this thing is a thrilling exhilarating piece that while there’s little chance I will want to listen to it again I can truly see the audience for this stuff! Then starting off side two we have mysterious senseless at the strand of nightmares and yeah if you removed the ambient synths at the forefront of the track this would sound like nightmare music in every way possible but luckily we don’t have to experience that.Occasionally the audio just drops on this song which is a cool gimmick but it’s not as good as the first song. Then is movement’s of a visionary this is literally scary space music, I definitely don’t think it’s as satisfying as the other tracks on the album but eh still better than the other all instrumental albums on here. The album closes on sequent c, nothing really special here to be honest just 2 minutes of heavenly and ambient synths. I don’t love it but I think it’s very ahead of it’s time as an album. Of this thing was in the 80’s I would’ve definitely gave it a low rating as the 80’s is like the synth decade so it wouldn’t have been that unique . But as it’s a 70’s album this is a unique semi classic of an album yeah it only gets a 4 because electronic music isn’t my kinda genre but for electronic fans I would hope to think this is a must!

Ai saatana! Paskuuden kuninkuusluokkaan aivan heittämällä ilman kahta ajatusta. Voi juma....

Ei pysty

I first listened to this on a plane, thinking it to be perfect ambiance for a long flight but the amount of noise planes make really dampened the experience. It's way better to listen to this at night in silence, hearing the whooshes and nutty arpeggios. It's a really relaxing listen, though I like their more melodic material. This is going in my sleep playlist.

Best Song: Not applicable. Worst Song: Not applicable. Overall: This is ethereal space music. I'm not sure whether it is good ethereal space music, but that is what it is. It feels like music that would be best listened to while absolutely blitzkrieged in a planetarium, but when just sitting at work, staring at spreadsheets, it comes off as a little tedious. Context is key for this one.

This is irritating me profoundly. One or two tracks fine; but a whole album of wishy washy flute tunes is abysmal to experience. Spa music.

very ethereal, hints of what would become trance and DnB throughtout

Part of me thinks I'll finally quit doing this daily exercise after I score 100 albums with a 5. If I even get to 100. But I still have a lot of Beatles albums to rate, the two Van Halen and Michael Jackson albums I know are getting 5's. I'm currently at 70, and the Fabs, Jacko and VH should push me to 80. That leaves me with 20 surprises, which is what still brings me to this site every day. This is a long way to say that Tangerine Dream does not present a case for being one of those twentysomething surprises.

Sadly, I can't choose zero.

This album may have established the genres of house and trap. It doesn't do much for me.

Kinda uninspired....

Truly marvellous groundbreaking electronic music

nope

I enjoyed this album. Just music but it calmed my adhd because it was not nearly as repetitive as others. Sounded like sci fi

16th May 2022 Listened in the office before going to cox’s to play poker. Surprisingly really enjoyed this, squishy bit of synth. Now I know where stranger things got their ideas.

This. All day.

Whoa. This was a fun trip. Need to be in the right mood for sure, though. Great background music but I don't think it's very much of an "active" listen.

Eh. Ambient music has it's place but it's not for me.

Didn’t strike the right balance of engaging and ambient. May not have been in the right headspace though

these were some lovely soundscapes

Beautiful and exciting soundscapes. Works best where there is rythm underneath, so longer the movements in the compositions without it, makes it a bit boring here and there though

Täähän on ihan naurettavan kovaa ambienttia. Tai siis sikäli kun nyt ambient voi olla ”kovaa”! Nautin. Tosi hyvää ja unista. En osaa nimetä mitä kaipaisin lisää, mutten silti anna täysiä pongoja. 4/5

Mageeta menoa, voimakas tunnelma. Kuin elektronisempi versio Pink Floydista. Ehkä vähän levotonta välillä, ois voinut olla vielä vahvempi minimalistisempana.

Todella kosminen tunnelma. Tekis mieli mennä nurtsille makaa tuijottaa taivaan syvyyksiin tätä kuunnellessa, niissä oloissa varmaan 5/5. Nyt oon valitettavasti toimistossa ja arvostan täältä. 4/5

Yeah, props for using Moog stuff innovatively, but I’ve never been into ambient music, much less proto-ambient 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

Bank robbing music

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

Ambient Noise... but bad...

Some interesting points, and at times pretty unsettling, but a lot of boring noodling about without really going anywhere. Felt more of a chore than something to enjoy.

Rating: 7/10

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.

Quite dull.

Two of the songs weren't available on Spotify but I liked the rest

Ugh - was never interested in these guys. If this is their best work, then good luck to their legions of fans. I need beat and a melody in order to elevate music above being wallpaper

Nonsense

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

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

Ambient

Very solid space ambient album. Really like it.

Boring

Look: I love electronica and ambient music and vintage synths (hell, that's what my degree is in), but I'm not sure this is even the best TD album.

Only two tracks on Spotify but very good ambient

just instrumental

It's nice. Hard to listen to now as a first timer...

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.

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.

The entire album is ambient music. Unlike with Tubular Bells, I was not familiar with any of the music. It waa alright, but I don't think I will listen to it again.

Great focus music

Fine background noise. Probably won’t revisit.

Geweldige muziek voor in een wonderbaarlijke wereld van de Efteling. Niet zo fijn om dit een heel album te luisteren. Verder niet slecht gedaan.

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.

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.

I’m sure this is a seminal album in the genre and pioneered new techniques, but if you don’t enjoy soundscapes you won’t enjoy this.

Música electrónica ambiental. Ni fu ni fa.

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

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.

Enjoyed this album…. Calming

What a week, two albums that I can't find on apple music. All of their discography is there except this one.

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 like Can and Kraftwerk and thought this would be a cross between the 2. It's really ambient though and I barely noticed it being on. Disappointing.

Hot garbaggio

é com certeza uma experiência

I'm still not particularly a fan of electronic albums with no semblance of melodies. It really isn't contemporary music in any form and I'm afraid that's not for me.

Cool but the songs don't go anywhere

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

I guess this album could be described as peaceful, especially "Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares". But think this album would be significantly more interesting if you were high, I'm unlikely to listen to it again.

Oh goodie, another one for the rubbish bin! I can't stand this experimental electronic crap.

Spotify cut the first half of the album so not sure if I got the full experience, what I heard was more than enough though.

Wow another gem

I don't mind instrumental music, and I don't mind angular, noisy stuff, but the first movement of this really set my expectations low. Rest of it is pleasant-enough background music. Just didn't do much for me. Favorite track: "Mysterious Semblance At the Strand of Nightmares"

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

More ambient ''music'. It just sounds like somebody mucking about in the BBC Radiophonic workshop. Very nice as background, maybe as a filmscore, but not to be actively listened to.

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

Too weird for me.

I mean, great. Someone had to do it I guess. But of the ding dong beep boops to work or study this isn’t the one I’d choose first

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"

Soporific and gentle, good background music, worth another listen

apologies but this just stressed me outtttt

Not as weird as I expected, but not exactly gonna listen again. Fav new track: Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares (🙄)

Trippy atmospheric prog rock. This is the kind of stuff I'm going to listen to now when I write

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!

amazing that they came up with Uncut Gems soundtrack like 45 years before the movie! a strange ethereal echo-y soundscape held back by a somewhat weak 2nd track. 4.5/5

Nope

First question on starting to listen to this... Did it become before or after Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon? Apparently after. I would definitely prefer to listen to DSotM, which this album strongly reminds me of in parts. It's not something I could find myself actively listening to, but is pleasant enough to work away as background music.

stunning album

boring

Load up the bong

I feel anxious listening to this

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

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.

1/5 not at all

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

First listen. I know a lot of people are fans. I'm not getting it yet. Nice music, but nothing special.

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

After The Lexicon of Love (which has been on constant for more than the day that was allowed), this just feels really boring. I always struggle with music that doesn't go anywhere. It wasn't on iTunes and only the remixed/extended 2 hrs 35 mins version is on Spotify. The first song is more than 17.5 mins. Wikipedia tells me the original album is just the four songs. I'm sure it's important in the development of electronica and ambient music....but 12 mins in to that first song and nothing much has happened. Noodling for stoners

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!)

Nope

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.

Very cosmic

made me anxious

Electrónica. Curiosa.

not my thing

Felt like I tuned into a satellite for an Hour. Pretty cool

bunu bir daha dinlemek yerine kendimi camdan asagi atmayi tercih ederim

Begendim, ozellikle 2 numara baya guzel

Too much for me

Reminds me of tubular bells, it sure is unusual for the 70s. Kinda fun to listen to if I'm in the right mood for it, but a bit niche

Not feeling this at all, think it needs a certain headspace and I ain't there. 1/5

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.

This was the first electronic music album that I'll evaluate with more than 1 star. The first song has a dreamy sensation that is likable, but it's still that kind of European electronic song that's absolutely not my kind of thing.

ok

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

Fad. Furchtbar langweilige sphärische Klänge

I did not like this.

This was a turd. No matter how experimental of groundbreaking, it is shit.

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

sum kinda bullshid

I searched through my old high school yearbooks but couldn't track down my drug dealer from back in the day. Pity. This album would have been great on acid.

Over many years many electronic artists have cited Tangerine Dream as an influence. On this LP I prefer the more ambient tracks to the process driven ones, but I guess the process/looping is what all the excitement was about. Definitely ahead of their times in 1974.

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.

Erm, unique

yea, this was pretty bad

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 🌟

how I never listened to this? v nice

Historically interesting prog-electronica from the 70s when it must have been super uncool. Can't imagine these German guys where rocking at hotel parties with hookers and blow. Still cool to learn about the process and how they made it. Sounds better than much of the electronic music today, but still basically ambient and not quickly fades into the background.

Easy listening all instrumental…I’m assuming they are pioneers in the type of sound…

Fuck yeah

weird foreign concept albums stay weird

Chill, trance like kind of

Irgendein Melodiegeplänkel dass einen wie einlullt. Sehr speziell und nicht meins.

Decent enough background music.

Wasn't terrible to listen to, but really isn't music either? Just 40 minutes of nice noises. At one point there was a quick bit of upbeat music that had me excited for a change of pace but turns out that it was a YouTube ad... Best part of the experience.

pleasant background music, with enough oddness to be interesting as well.

Not into it

Um álbum demasiado longo e com cada música muito repetitiva, parece a trilha sonora de um filme, senti sempre uma tensão que fazia lembrar me o ambiente do The Thing. No geral para quem gosta do genero deve ser bom, mas para mim é um 2 de 10. Nota:2/10

I guess I'd describe this as ambient space-electronica. Not bad for in the background and I can see this working well in film or as background music in sci-fi video games. It wasn't interesting or gripping enough for any kind of active listening however.

so ambient. felt like i was in a sci fi film.

Sounded like a jungle noises sleep machine. Had to turn it off.

really cool, atmospheric experience. a solid 4/5

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

It's difficult to comment on something that sent me to sleep on the first track. This album is very relaxing, even when you don't really want to relax. Forced relaxation is quite annoying.

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..

Was only able to listen to two of the four songs, so can't fully judge. The other two were probably excellent.

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

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

This album reminds of a soundtrack to some wanky piece of modern/physical theatre that I had to go watch during theatre studies a level. Not as bad as Divine Comedy though.

Had something about it. But a bit of a slog

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.

Yeah very nice but ultimately forgettable

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

great for falling asleep

Jesli jest jakis gatunek poza wyspiarskim rokowaniem jaki autor tego zestawienia stara sie forsowac, to jest to z pewnoscia kosmiczna muzyka, czyli z niemeckiego kosmische, bo jest to kolejny album ambientowy w stylu autobahna kraftwerkowego, tylko jeszcze bardziej ambientowo stworzony, bo tangerine dream, choc niezbyt niemiecko brzmi jest banda berlinska tworzaca w latach 70, zalozycielem jest pan edgar froese, ktory jest stalym czlonkiem ekipy, wokol ktorego zbiera sie banda, ktora nadal funkcjonuje i wydaje kolejne albumy, ktorych ma dziesiatki na swoim koncie, jeden nawet zatytulowany poland, ktory jest zapisem koncertu danego w polsce w 83, jako jedna z pierwszych band zachodnich w komunistcznej polszy, bo przeciez muzyka bez slow, to nie ma sie co obawiac o niewlasciwe tresci, ale co do samego albumu, to phaedra, trak otwierajacy zajmuje cala pierwsza strone, na drugiej znajduja sie 3 krotsze traki i tak zagospodarowane jest 37 minut plyty, slucha sie tego jak dobrej muzyki filmowej, cos takiego mogloby byc soundrakiem do dnia codziennego, zwlaszcza w bardziej monotonnych czynnosciach, jak zarabiania na chleb, glownym srodkiem tworczym sa tutaj syntezatory, operowane przez edgara chrisa i petera, do tego dochodza instrumenty, organy basik, no i flet, ktory zwlaszcza sie wyroznia na drugiej stronie, w nie wiem juz dokladnie ktorym traku, nie jest to plyta ktora na plejliste bym wrzucil, a raczej album ktory laduje w biblioteczce ost filmowej muzyki, bo sluchalny jest glownie jako calosc

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

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

Meh

weird

Pleasant mildly interesting ambient electronic music. 6/10

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

I found this to be a pleasant listen, despite the excessive run time. Took me a few sittings to get through it. Nothing mind blowing for me.

Innovative for the time

Bruh

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

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.

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.

Pretty cool early electronic music. Very ambient.

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.

What. A short instrumental synth album.

Not really my jam.

A brave effort into the uncharted territory of synthesizer music in 1974. Some of it was great background music while working, some parts were downright abrasive. I love the sound of Moog synthesizers, especially the oscillator sequencer, so it was an interesting listen. The album went on my 'long distance electronic' playlist.

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.

Almost put me to sleep while driving =(

Electronic Music/Ambient Music. Different. Bit trippy.

Not near the peaks reached by their work on the Risky Business soundtrack but still solid.

Et ambient album med lange numre stemnibgsnumre. Jeg lyder som baggrundsmusikken til et spil. Svært at vurdere, men i hvert fald ikke min stil.

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

It’s a good one.

Interesting, but not quite my cup of tea

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.

This avant garde ambient album is innovative and influential, and should be celebrated for that. It's also mostly unlistenable. It belongs on the Stranger Things soundtrack, but I don't want to hear it otherwise. I did learn the word "krautrock" today, so that's something. Best track: Sequent C

i mean we all already know why this album is deeply sentimental to me

Juste trop space et minimaliste pour moi. Je comprends qu'en 1975 les synths c'étaient malade, mais là c'est trop.

self indulgent pish

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.

beep boop music