These are some harsh reviews for such an incredible album. Tangerine Dream were at the cutting edge of electronic music and the German rock scene that would strive to reject tradition wherever possible. They looked to avant-garde and academic circles to see what else was possible. But calling this academic-inspired electronic music doesn't do it justice. It's the post-war uncertainty and bleakness that comes through, and probably more so than from the likes of Kraftwerk or Can. Tangerine Dream were facing the future with a sense of fear but unwilling to look back. You hear it in the very rich ambient soundscapes of this album. Unlike Eno's ambient that could be listened to or ignored, "Phaedra" sounds like it wants to invade your dreams. The Moog synthesizer is on full display here, and pushed to the absolute limits of the technology available at rhe time. Tangerine Dream would spend three hours a day getting the sound just right, followed by 12 hours of recording, pushing themselves to the limit as well. The synthesizers would overheat and the change in pitch would cause the music to warble in real time. Today, you could easily pre-set a synthesizer to cut back a lot of work. However, the limitations are what makes the album uniquely human and eerie. This is the stuff of very strange dreams and alien landscapes. It's beautiful and really holds up well today.