Rubycon (album)

Rubycon is the sixth major release and sixth studio album by German electronic music group Tangerine Dream. It was released in 1975.[1] It is widely regarded as one of their best albums. Rubycon further develops the Berlin School sequencer-based sound they ushered in with the title track from Phaedra.

Rubycon
Studio album by
Tangerine Dream
Released21 March 1975
RecordedJanuary 1975, The Manor, Shipton-on-Cherwell
Genre
Length34:53
LabelVirgin
ProducerTangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream chronology
Phaedra
(1974)		 Rubycon
(1975)		 Ricochet
(1975)
Audio sample
Rubycon: Part 1"
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Although not quite matching the sales figures for Phaedra, Rubycon reached number 10 in a 14-week run, their highest-charting album in the UK.[2]

Music

The album consists of two long tracks, each just over 17 minutes long. "Rubycon, Part One", the A-side of the LP, "ebbs and flows through tense washes of echo and Mellotron choirs, as primitive sequencer lines bubble to the surface”.[3] The B-side, "Rubycon, Part Two", "opens in a wonderfully haunted way" before "the synthesizer arpeggios return to drive things along".[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Head Heritagepositive[4]

Tom Moon includes Rubycon in his 2008 book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, sayng: "This voyaging vision of sound, ever-unfolding and not quite ever arriving, has been imitated endlessly since 1975. But somehow its admirers haven’t quite captured the openness and faraway grandeur of Tangerine Dream."[5]

In his 1997 book Digital Gothic: A Critical Discography of Tangerine Dream, music journalist Paul Stump praises the album, noting: “Rubycon is simply a refinement of its predecessor—but to an acme of excellence, and demonstrates a mastery of primitive technology breathtaking in its audacity, tenacity and sheer artistic vision. It is probably the best album the band have made…” [6]

Tour

After the album was released, Christopher Franke's Moog synthesizer was damaged in transit during a tour and Franke himself was nearly killed by an electrical shock.[7]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Rubycon, Part One"17:18
2."Rubycon, Part Two"17:35

Personnel

Production credits

  • Monique Froese – photography
  • Mick Glossop – engineer
  • Roland Paulick – technical assistance

Single

A single titled Extracts From "Rubycon" was released in March 1975.[8]

No.TitleLength
1."Extracts From "Rubycon""3:07
2."Extracts From "Rubycon""3:09

Both tracks of this single were included as part of the compilation The Virgin Years 1974–1978 in 2011.

gollark: It's lyin.
gollark: You can decode that with the program I have an image of somewhere.
gollark: This says "you are stupid".
gollark: It produces this image which has many diagonal lines in it for some reason.
gollark: Ah, no, this is a totallynotavirus *minifier*.

References
  1. Berling, Michael (29 September 2016). "Rubycon". Voices in the Net.
  2. "Tangerine Dream". Official Charts.
  3. Swan, Glenn. Rubycon at AllMusic
  4. "Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage | Unsung | Reviews | Tangerine Dream – Rubycon". February 2010.
  5. Moon, Tom (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener’s Life List. New York: Workman Publishing Company. p. 762. ISBN 076113963X.
  6. Stump, Paul (1997). Digital Gothic: A Critical Discography of Tangerine Dream. Trowbridge: SAF Publishing Ltd. p. 67. ISBN 0946719187.
  7. Prendergast, Mark (1994). "Tangerine Dream: Changing Use of Technology, Part 1: 1967-1977". Sound On Sound.
  8. Berling, Michael (29 September 2016). "Extracts From "Rubycon"". Voices in the Net.
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