ALBUM REVIEW: “50 Years Of Phaedra: At The Barbican” By Tangerine Dream

The CD as a music format, first appeared in 1982, and shortly afterwards my dad bought our first CD player. As a young 14/15 year old I saved my pocket money for weeks to buy my own, first CD to play on it, and that first purchase? It was “Stratosfear” by Tangerine Dream first released in 1976. Why ? because the artwork spoke to me lol. But playing that CD for the first time, was life changing for me, and started a love of ambient music that remains to this day.

Tangerine Dream are a German electronic music band first founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup has to be in the mid-1970s trio of Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann. None of the original members remain today and the band consists of Thorsten Quaeschning (synthesizers, electronics & musical director), Hoshiko Yamane (violin, electronics) and Paul Frick (synthesizers & piano).

“Phaedra” was originally released in 1974, a landmark release both for the band and the history and development of ambient electronic music. Some fifty years later, in October 2024, the current line-up of Tangerine Dream returned to London’s Barbican Centre for a special night honouring that work by reimagining it for a new era.

That performance is now being released as “50 Years Of Phaedra: At The Barbican” this Friday, 30thJanuary 2026 to preserve that performance for all time. On three vinyl discs the who performance comes in at over two and a half hours, the first part being the

‘Phaedra Suite’, the second part, adding significant extra pieces to the collection.

Why was “Phaedra” such an icon and important piece in the history of electronic music ? Well, it was one of the first pieces to use sequencing. Sequencing is the technique where a musical phrase is repeated consecutively at a higher or lower pitch, and the electronic process of ordering and triggering musical notes/events using a software or hardware sequencer.

Now, quantization in music is the process of aligning musical notes to a precise, invisible rhythmic structure. It corrects timing errors, making performances rhythmically tighter and more precise. It moves notes that are slightly ahead of or behind the beat to the nearest beat or sub-division (like an eighth or sixteenth note), ensuring perfect synchronicity, though partial quantization can preserve a more human feel. Simples !

And, however groundbreaking “Phaedra” was, the early sequencing was not perfect, and as a result the notes were not truly quantised, their timing drifting unpredictably through the Moog synths analogue circuitry.

That subtle instability became part of its charm – a human pulse, an almost human error within the heart of the unflappable precise machine.

Now of course some 50 years later sequencing and quantising notes is nye on perfect, and that is what made the anniversary performance so special. The original is still there, recognisable and familiar to so many, but the precision added by accurate quantization brings a new feel and ambience to the music.

And I guess that’s what’s at the heart of this release, and there’s a kind of inherent contradiction happening. By making the musical timing so precise, and mechanical, almost heartless, ironically, aren’t you removing the human warmth of the original ? Far from it, I feel that the new version from the current Tangerine Dream line up is a living, breathing re-interpretation of a landmark work and gives new depth to the piece, and the world is a better place for having both versions available to hear.

As you would expect tracks like Sequent C 2024, with it’s ambient ethereal droning tone, and Movements Of A Visionary 2024 which is packed with clarity and detail, a track that evolves and changes as it grows, the sequenced sounds drift over you like waves on a beach, swirling and almost hypnotic.

With Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares, Tangerine Dream take us on a journey through a dreamscape, which just pulls you in, immersing you in its sonic depths. There’s an almost haunting egde to it which you rarely get with this kind of ambient electronic music.

The heart of the piece is perhaps the Hippolytos Session. Hippolytus was the stepson of Phaedra in Greek mythology, whom she developed a forbidden love for, leading to the inevitable consequences for all involved. Broken into seven parts, it’s a sweeping, complex layered piece packed with emotion. Each segment has it’s own feel, with Pt.1 being more dreamy and ambient, while Pt.6 surges forth with its mesmerising flow.

Next is Phaedra 2024 with it’s glorious mellotron tones that ride majestically over the sequenced sections.

The second half of the performance dives into Tangerine dreams wider back catalogue, and their most recent album, 2022’s “Raum” features heavily with You Are Always On Time, Continuum, Portico (which is packed with intricate, interlaced synths) as well as the title track itself Raum. For me, they make a bridge between the old and new, and tie the new line up to their history. There’s a comfortable feel to them, something new and yet nostalgic, honouring the past and yet driving forwards into new realms.

“50 Years Of Phaedra: At The Barbican” is a tour de force. The new Tangerine Dream lineup honour the past, with their interpretation of this classic, and bring something new, a fully quantized version of the original, and the difference is noticeable.

For me, it brought back so many great memories of first hearing the likes of The Big Sleep in Search of Hades, and 3 AM at the Border of the Marsh from Okefenokee on that first CD I ever bought “Stratosfear”. The emotions were the same – excitement and exhilaration.

Tangerine Dream re-visit and honour a classic, with a sense of curiosity in making those changes to the timing, but it is not simply a trip down memory lane, but a statement, that innovation is continuous, invigorating and exciting.

What is already a classic, is redefined as a masterpiece, one for the ages – and worthy of a resounding gold 10 from LiveWire Music. If you’ve not experienced tangerine Dream before…. There’s no better staring point.