Review Summary: Their breakthrough album. It’s Tangerine Dream at their best.
“Phaedra” is the fifth studio album of Tangerine Dream that was released in 1974. The line up on the album is Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann.
Tangerine Dream is unquestionably one of the most influential groups of all time. Their music made an immeasurable impact on ambient, new age, techno, trance, and progressive rock, as well as modern film score composition. Founded as a psychedelic rock group in 1967 by Edgar Froese, the group was initially associated with the Krautrock scene through their earlier abstract albums, 1970’s “Electronic Meditation”, 1971’s “Alpha Centauri”, 1972’s “Zeit” and 1973’s “Atem”. Those albums belong to what is usually called “The Pink Years”. They pioneered the use of sequencers and synthesizers and were only from 1974 that their most classic albums appeared like their greatest masterpieces, 1974’s, “Phaedra” and 1975’s “Rubycon” and “Ricochet”, which proved to be commercially successful. They became also prolific film composers. Subsequent albums in the 80’s incorporated more digital instrumentation, as well as shorter, more pop oriented compositions than their earlier epics. During the 90’s, with some albums they were closer to the forms of dance music that Tangerine Dream has heavily influenced. During the 21st century, the band gradually drifted back toward the sequencer driven sound they had pioneered during the 70’s. Tangerine Dream is still active today.
“Phaedra” is one of the most important works in the history of the electronic music. It’s a brilliant summation of Tangerine Dream’s early direction balanced with the synthesizer/sequencer technology just beginning to gain a foothold in non academic circles. “Phaedra” showed not only that the band’s set of equipment obviously had grown a lot bigger since the early days, but also that their musical expression had evolved and progressed without losing any of the depth and mysticism of their best works in their first phase. The most curious thing in their sound was the inclusion of complex sequenced electronic rhythm patterns that slowly evolved and changed the shape of the atmospheric sounds of Moogs, Mellotrons, flute and many electronic types of equipment massively used into their unique music.
“Phaedra” has only four tracks, but all I wrote before came into full bloom on the 17 minute title track that would set a whole new standard for the Tangerine Dream’s sound. The minimalism of their first albums was pretty much gone, as the sequenced rhythms provided Tangerine Dream with a great rich new sound stuffed to the hoop with mystical and amazing atmospheres. 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. The climax of the track comes surprisingly enough after the sequencer has stopped, and makes room for a sinister and incredibly moody part filled with Mellotron, gongs and haunting electronic sounds, constructing some of the best fantastic atmospheres created by the human being. And to add to the feel of beyond and mystery, distant faint sounds of children playing can be heard seconds after the track ends. This is really an amazing track that would become a standard track in the next future of their music.
While the title track takes the cake, there are three other excellent tracks on “Phaedra”. The second side opens with the nearly 10 minute’s track “Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares” that reportedly was a pure solo number by Froese. It consists almost entirely of some grandiose waves of Mellotrons, but also with spacey electronic sounds. The opening of “Movements Of A Visionary” seems to improve the voice experiments from their previous album “Atem”. The rest of the track consists of a warm and comforting organ improvising around the sequenced rhythms that in that moment was one of the band’s trademarks. It’s a more experimental piece, using treated voices and whispers to drive its hypnotic arpeggios. The brief “Sequent C’” ends the album in a moody way, with ethereal and floating beauty.
Conclusion: “Phaedra” is often regarded as a groundbreaking album that was shaped by an experimental sound, with structured sound sequences that present themselves to the listener in an atmosphere space like manner. “Phaedra” leads in monotone electronics at the beginning directly into the wide world of the universe and knows how to create a monotone trance in cosmically designed sound surfaces. In the further course, the cool unapproachability of the electronics unites with organic looking Mellotron inserts, which is accompanied by more rhythmic sound elements. The way into unexplored galaxies is, thus, effectively relaxed. Perhaps even more powerful as a musical landmark now than when it was recorded. “Phaedra” has proven the test of time. The 70’s was a time of music taste and intelligence, really.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
