Tangerine Dream - Phaedra & Hippolytus (1973)

The big news for fans of Tangerine Dream is the release of the 18 disc box set of all of their Virgin albums issued between 1973 and 1979. Not only does it include remastered and remixed versions of classic albums like 'Phaedra', 'Rubycon', and 'Ricochet', but it also treats us to the full 70-minute recording of the 1974 lost album 'Oedipus Tyrannus', excerpts of which I posted here back in January. As if that wasn't enough we also get three live albums, from The Rainbow and Victoria Palace in 1974, and The Royal Albert Hall from 1975, all recorded in superb sound quality, and featuring the band at the absolute peak of their powers. Lastly, and most unbelievably of all, there are over one and a half hours of out-takes from the 'Phaedra' sessions at The Manor Studios in 1973. It's almost too much to take in, but I gravitated straight to the 'Phaedra' out-takes, and bearing in mind how TD improvise a lot of their music, these aren't just alternate versions of the finished tracks, but totally different works in progress for the eventual album. I thought they were just too good to leave tucked away as bonus tracks so I decided to take a few of them and make a companion album, and as 'Phaedra' was named after the Greco-Roman tragedy, I've kept that theme and titled this one after the main participants, renaming two tracks to make it a concept album about them. For the actual music I've kept the 20-minute 'Phaedra Out-Take version 2A', used a renamed 'Organ Piece' as a bridge, and then joined 'Phaedra Out-Take 2B' to 'Phaedra Out-Take 1' for the final piece, making a 42-minute alternative album. I'm still working my way through all the live stuff, and will then check out the rest of the out-takes, but I've already ear-marked a couple of them for another alternate album, probably called 'Second Day'. I tried to go for a suitably cosmic feel for the cover, which I think has come out pretty well, and if you are a fan of the band then I would highly recommend this box set, as it's worth it just for all the previously unreleased material on there, let alone the great Steven Wilson remixes of the albums themselves.

Track listing

01 Phaedra
02 Theseus
03 Hippolytus