Phaedra (album)

Phaedra

1974 LP album cover, by Edgar Froese
Studio album by Tangerine Dream
Released 20 February 1974 (1974-02-20)
Recorded November 1973 (1973-11)
Studio The Manor, Shipton-on-Cherwell, England
Genre
Length 37:33
Label Virgin
Producer Edgar Froese
Tangerine Dream chronology
Atem
(1973)		 Phaedra
(1974)		 Rubycon
(1975)

Phaedra is the fifth studio album by German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. It was released on 20 February 1974 through Virgin Records and recorded during November 1973 at The Manor in Shipton-on-Cherwell, England. This is the first Tangerine Dream album to feature their now classic sequencer-driven sound, which launched the Berlin School genre.

The album marked the beginning of the group's international success and was their first album released on the Virgin label. It achieved six-figure sales in the UK, reaching number 15 in the charts in a 15-week run,[2] with virtually no airplay, only by strong word of mouth. It also earned the group a gold disc in seven countries,[3] and yet in their native Germany it sold barely 6,000 units.[4]

Background and recording

On hearing a set of recordings Edgar Froese and Christopher Franke had made earlier in the year at Skyline Studios in Berlin, Virgin Records' Richard Branson offered the group a five-year contract and was keen for them to record in UK. A huge modular Moog synthesizer was bought with the advance and the trio arrived at The Manor, in Shipton-on-Cherwell, Oxfordshire in the winter of 1973.[5]

The entire album was recorded in less than six weeks, with the first recording session taking place on 20 November 1973. Some of the music was recorded with the help of Froese's wife, Monique. Interviewed by Mark J. Prendergast, Froese recalled:

Phaedra was the first album in which many things had to be structured. The reason was that we were using the Moog sequencer (all driving bass notes) for the first time. Just tuning the instrument took several hours each day, because at the time there were no pre-sets or memory banks. We worked each day from 11 o'clock in the morning to 2 o'clock at night. By the 11th day we barely had 6 minutes of music on tape. Technically everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The tape machine broke down, there were repeated mixing console failures and the speakers were damaged because of the unusually low frequencies of the bass notes. After 12 days of this we were completely knackered. Fortunately, after a two-day break in the countryside a new start brought a breakthrough. 'Mysterious Semblance' was recorded on Dec 4th. Pete and Chris were asleep after a long day's recording session so I invited my wife, Monique, into the studio. I called in the studio engineer and recorded it in one take on a double-keyboarded Mellotron while Monique turned the knobs on a phasing device. This piece is on the record exactly as it was recorded that day. And this practice was to continue for the rest of the session.[5]

Content

The title track was originally based on an improvisation recorded in the studio, and unintentionally exhibits one of the limitations of the analog equipment used at the time. As the equipment warmed up, some of the oscillators began to detune (they were highly temperature-sensitive), which was responsible for some of the changes in the music towards the end of the piece.

Both the title track and "Movements of a Visionary" rely on Franke's use of the Moog analog sequencer as a substitute for bass guitar. "Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares" features Froese soloing on a Mellotron which is treated to slowly sweeping filter effects. "Sequent C'" is a short but memorable piece by Peter Baumann on flute, with tape echo.

The sleeve design and cover painting are by Froese.[6]

Style and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Sputnikmusic[1]

The All Music Guide to Electronica describes the album as a milestone for the band as "one of the most important, artistic, and exciting works in the history of electronic music".[8] Phaedra is commonly cited as one of Tangerine Dream's best albums[9][10] and is listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[11] In the Q and Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album also came in at 38 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".

Writing in his 2000 Ambient Century, Mark J. Prendergast describes the title track: "At over 17 minutes it conveyed feelings of the cosmos, of giant suns exploding, of huge ocean movements, of mythological lands, of eddies and drifts. Layer upon layer of futuristic sounds piled one on top of the other until the whole thing climaxes in some interstellar void."[5]

Track listing

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Phaedra"  Froese, Franke, Baumann17:39
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares"  Froese9:55
2."Movements of a Visionary"  Froese, Franke, Baumann7:56
3."Sequent C'"  Baumann2:13

Note: Some CD releases from 1995 and 2005 have slightly different lengths

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1974) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart 15[2]
US Billboard 200 196

Single

A single was released in 1974 with excerpts of two tracks.[12]

No.TitleLength
1."Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares"  4:30
2."Phaedra"  2:02

References

  1. 1 2 Incognito, Daniel. "Tangerine Dream: Phaedra". Sputnikmusic.
  2. 1 2 "Chart Stats - Tangerine Dream - Phaedra". Archived from the original on 3 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Irvin, Jim (2007). The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion (4th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate. p. 326. ISBN 1841959731.
  4. ↑ Stump, Paul (1999). Digital Gothic: A Critical Discography of Tangerine Dream. Firefly Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 0-946719-18-7.
  5. 1 2 3 Mark J. Prendergast (2013). "Tangerine Dream: Remembering the Dream". The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Moby. ambientcentury.co.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Phaedra". Connolly & Company.
  7. ↑ Bush, John. Phaedra - Tangerine Dream at AllMusic
  8. ↑ Bogdanov, Vladimir (2001). All Music Guide to Electronica (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 505. ISBN 0879306289.
  9. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Rob; Roland, Mark (2006). Gods of Rock. New York: Main Street. p. 107. ISBN 1402736738.
  10. ↑ Abramowitz, Ari (2004). The Pockit Rockit Music Finder. New York: Music Guru. p. 44. ISBN 0975978705.
  11. ↑ Dimery, Robert (2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. p. 323. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  12. ↑ Berling, Michael (29 September 2016). "Mysterious Semblance At The Strand Of Nightmares/Phaedra". Voices in the Net.
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