Customer Reviews

Rubycon

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Rubycon" is surely Tangerine Dream's finest hour. I see this album as the culmination of their early ultra-ambient work. It took the disparate ideas displayed on the previous album, "Phaedra" and coalesced them into a hugely satisfying whole.

The album is worth the money for the first ten minutes alone; this is experimental synthesis at it's best, layers of beautifully sculpted sound mixed with those awesome repeating bass sequences... it just doesn't get any better than this.

I feel the later albums lost the plot with the introduction of recognisable melodies. The mix of weird / tune was only fully realised on the "Poland" album (in my humble opinion). The track "Horizon" bringing back those early seventies strangeness and mixing it with eighties sequencing.

If you like "Rubycon", Froese's early solo works "Aqua" and "Epsilon In Malaysian Pale" are in a similar vein, but TD only rarely recaptured this kind of form.

"Rubycon" is TD's 5th album release,coming right off the huge international success of their previous release,the now-classic,"Phaedra".In many ways,"Rubycon" is similar to "Phaedra",both in style and in the use of instruments,such as mellotron,etc.,but there are also many differences as well,with one of the most obvious being the lesser amount of only two tracks instead of the usual four,but even with the fewer tracks,"Rubycon" is still able to dazzle you with its lush mellotron soundscapes and stimulating musical directions.The first piece,the appropriately titled "Rubycon",can be considered the light side of the album,with its gently pulsating mellotron in the background and the other synths taking you away,sucking you into a whole other dimension of sound that you will never want to leave from.The beauty of this early ambient piece surrounds and consumes you,leaving you in a natural,music-induced high.Once again,I find that words cannot fully describe the emotions that I feel while listening to this electronic soundscape of no return.Simply breathtaking.This brings me to the final piece,"Rubycon Part 2",which is the dark side of the album.From the very first seconds of listening to this piece,you will instantly know that this track will be different than the first.The first few minutes consist of what I believe to be some of TD's most darkest sounds ever in their entire history,with electronically generated chorus-sounding male voices that remind me of some gothic horror film,truly an eerie few moments of dark ambient bliss.Eventually,the artificial chorus gives way to some equally eerie sounding synths,continuing in this pattern for a good portion of the rest of the track.Simply astonishing,considering this was recorded in 1975!The final few minutes of the piece sees the eerie atmosphere slowly dissipating,and for the rest of the piece,the darkness gradually fades and the sun starts to peak out of the black clouds for the first time since the beginning of the album,with the piece ending with a beautiful,brighter melody of calm,and then,sadly,the album comes to a close,leaving you with the mindset that it could have gone on for all eternity and you wouldn't have minded.This album's theme is most accurately described as a journey to the darkest corners of the universe and back.A powerful early ambient masterpiece by Tangerine Dream.Very Highly Recommended!

I adore this album. The two tracks presented are almost mirror images of each other. Part one opens with gentle, sporadic organ sounds but then suddenly opens out into a heavenly wash of sweeping synthesizer chords, with what sounds like a seagull crying overhead. This eventually fades into Part one's central "sequencer" section. Motivic, repetitive, and pulsing. Building repeatedly to small climaxes. This kind of music first appeared on side 1 of 1974's Phaedra. It's as though TD realized that side 1 of Phaedra was infinitely better than side 2, and tried to correct this by making a more rounded album in Rubycon. Part one ends with a haunting, eerie motionless section, setting the scene for part 2.

Part two begins with some of the most generically frightening music TD ever produced. Wailing synths rise and fall in pitch, giving the feeling of being inside a haunted house at a fair. Soon the synth sound is replaced by human voices in a demonic choral section that takes you out of the funfair and somewhere far darker! This music puts shivers up your spine if you're listening after dark with the lights out. Then comes part two's central "sequencer" section. Much darker than that in part one, but also much more syncopated. This is the "dark side" to part one's "light side". Just when all seems hopeless however part two fades into one of the most beautiful endings to any of their albums, a gentle dreamlike wash of sound and harmony reminiscent of the beginning of part one (although musically very different).

So there it is. Tangerine Dream's most perfect album? In my opinion it quite possibly is. It is the only time that they have ever created an album that plays like a symphony, in that both movements are well structured and work well separately. Yet when heard together they form a wonderful journey into the heart of darkness. And back.

I've worn out my original UK import LP of this album in the 1970s (yeah, I'm o-l-d). I then bought a US pressing, was disappointed by the quality (or lack thereof) of the copy, and found another import copy to wear out. I then bought the UK CD in the 80s because the US hadn't released it yet. Then I got the re-mastered version. I recently bought the SACD(which has a CD layer so it can be played on conventional CD players, too). This album has always been, and will always be, a major component to the soundtrack of my life.

It is similar to Tangerine Dream's previous album, 'Phaedra', in that it is music that melts. But they take it a step further this time. I think it might have had to do with the advancements in the technological prowess of their equipment at the time, but on this album they were able to sustain the mood set by their synths for longer periods of time, thus the two sidelong pieces. But it is in the aural painting with such a wide palette of colors and textures, and at the same time mimicking the mania that might occur from sustained meditation on a frightening theme that sets it miles apart from their previous work, and all work to follow. Not only their work, but also every other attempt at extended tone-poem pieces that has been composed by an electronic artist.

The beginning and of each piece are either nightmarish introductions or narcotic-like releases from the sequencer onslaught of the center of the pieces (and centerpieces). The mellotrons mimicking human voices on the start of 'Part II' is almost a direct quote from Ligeti's 'Requiem', and whether they knew this at the time or not, Tangerine Dream might have been touched by the same divine musical muse. The climax of each piece is evocative of an auditory house of mirrors, or an acoustic maze - even on repeated listenings, the sense of not knowing where the piece might take you is intense. I'd rather not use the analogy of an acid-trip beginning, climaxing, and ending, but I have a strange (and rather strong) feeling that this is what The Dream might have intended.

Many have stated that they like to use this album as background music, or music to fall asleep to. I agree, it can be used like that. But Tangerine Dream at this time in their career played this material live at almost deafening volumes, and I highly recommend that you try it with the volume on 11 once or twice.

One may question whether or not this album is 'music'. Well, if you are open minded, you will agree that music is any organization of sounds that is either pleasing to the ear, or elicits an emotional response when played. Yet this is sound that is synaesthetic. It is music that you will see with your ears.

25 years since I first heard it, Tangerine Dream's "Rubycon" still has the power to send shivers down my spine! Their second album for Virgin records, and consisting of just a single 35-minute work (split in the middle for the old vinyl side-change, of course) this is perhaps the most symphonic of Tangerine Dream's works. It is certainly, even now, the most beautiful and the most elegantly structured, as well as the most mystical, with its soaring, contemplative mellotron choirs, lush tam-tam rolls and hypnotic pulse-laden textures. It is also the least overtly 'pop' in style and steadfastly refuses classification even now. Haunting and delicate synthesiser motifs blend with the sounds of prepared pianos and custom modified organs and other electronics, all of which ensure a uniqueness to the sound world which no-one has ever come close to emulating. A superb mastery of minimalist rhythmic patterns, together with a perfect sense of timing in the development of their material and knowing just when to introduce new elements combine to make this a truly great masterpiece that is set to live forever.

This newly remastered edition is a joy to hear, too. Although some parts of the quiet opening passage remain a little murky, many of the technical problems of the original have been more or less eliminated (or at least substantially reduced) and the louder passages have come up an absolute treat. The flanging of the recorded beach-breakers in the middle of Part II comes through beautifully, too-much clearer than on older releases. The rather raggy ending of the original has been tidied up too and I think Virgin are fully justified in labelling this release as the definitive edition!

At less than 35 minutes overall, this CD remains as scandalously stingy as it ever was, but its beauty soon forces you to forgive it this failing. Own it! Treasure it! Short it may be, but it is oh, so sweet!

This is certainly one of the best electronic albums I have ever heard. It's chilling and creepy and horrifying and delightful, with tinges of melancholy and sadness. The two 17-minute long pieces take you for a journey to the outer (or inner?) space where you just let yourself be carried away by the current of the pulsating electronic beat. The sounds come and go like shapelss animals parading just before your eyes (ears?).
The first part begins slowly with a relaxing flowing sounds to throw your mind into a soundtunnel, first gently, the beat emerges from the oblivion, but it soon picks up momentum and you are taken aback by the wall of sounds that dazzles you and leaves you in awe, as the music ceases to end the first movement.
The second part starts off like a horryfying nightmare, then again the pulsating bass enetrs to once more take you on a crazy ride on the oceans of imagination. Soundtunnel of mind, sounds and shapes that pass you by as you flow, freed from all earthly cares. Then the music gets more melancholic: with Peter Bauman's lonely flute leading us out of the dream, delicately restoring our senses.
We are awake and realize we want to return, and we return, this is how my (tangerine) dream began... It still goes on... I'm inviting you to this magnificent world where music interplays with imagination. Come and enjoy, you'll like it.

Practical note: if you can, buy the 1995's Virgin Definitive Edition or any that has been remastered. The sound should be much better, so your listening enjoyment will not be spoiled. Cheers:)

I cannot even begin to guess how many times I have played this album since its release 25 years ago. It is astonishing how easily Rubycon has stood the test of time. Part I remains one of my all-time fave TD pieces, starting off slowly and then developing into a storm of multiple layers of synths and threatening sequencers, ultimately gently fading away. It is difficult to reconcile the classic TD sound on Rubycon with the "TD-lite" sound on the TD releases in the 90s. I make it a point to stay open-minded about how bands develop over time, but when I hear some of the things TD dares to release nowadays, I can only shake my head and think how truly ground-breaking they once were. Rubycon shows how and why.

This was the FIRST CD that I ever bought, when cd's first came out,(yes I am an old geezer). This album is IT. There is no finer music ever produced by a group using synths. If you buy only one TD CD, make this the one.

Tangerine Dream followed their masterpiece Phaedra (see my review) with Rubycon, an album that is just as beautiful. The two works share numerous traits: an emphasis on vast and free soundscapes rather than on tightly constructed songs, the inclusion of perpetually morphing sequenced basses, and a calm, flute-driven conclusion. Rubycon does introduce several new constituents in the Tangerine Dream canon. 'Part 2' in particular shows the influence of some of Gyorgy Ligeti's music (used by Kubrick in 2001): it begins with dense, swirling mellotron and synth parts which echo Ligeti's sound clusters, and they gradually melt into a mystical chant of modulating voices. (Incidentally, the titles of two Ligeti pieces, 'Atmospheres' and 'Apparitions', would be very adequate subtitles to 'Part 1' and 'Part 2', respectively.) It is impossible not to think of 2001 while listening to Rubycon, because this music irrestibly evokes the mysterious and ineffable. Both 17-minute sections are remarkably coherent and sustained works, filled with detailed interlocking episodes. A sublime album.

If you've never heard any early electronic-ambient TD, buy this CD. This sequenced cosmic masterpiece is the only recording I've ever owned in LP, cassette,and CD formats--wearing out each one (except the CD) with successive listenings. Although somewhat short at 35 minutes, Rubycon is nonetheless guaranteed to send your senses soaring to other worlds. Mere words cannot give adequate justice to its moody intensity, startling one moment and relaxing the next. A friend of mine once claimed he "saw God" listening to Rubycon on his Walkman as he camped in the Utah desert. Multiple listenings to this layered sequencer symphony and you might agree. TD's best, by far.