Given it's reputation, it's funny how few people have actually heard 1974's "Phaedra". That said, for those who've heard it (and many who haven't), many folks feel it's one of the most influential releases of the 1970s. One thing's for certain - it's one of those album that you either admire, or hate with a passion. Very few people fall in the middle ground.

Produced by Edgar Froese and recorded at Richard Branson's Manor Studios, the album's composed of four instrumentals. Three of the four clock in at over eight minutes, with the seventeen minute title track taking up the entire first side of the LP. If you've heard Tangerine Dream then there isn't anything here that will come as a major surprise. Tracks such as 'Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares and 'Movements of a Visionary are full of thick, ambient synthesizer tones and textures that ebb and flow with occasional bursts of melody. Elsewhere, given the absence of synthesizers on the piece, Baumann's flute propelled 'Sequent C' is the one piece that feels a little out of place on the album. You certainly won't jump up and do the electric slide to anything on this set, but clearly that wasn't the point. Gawd only knows what these guys were thinking about, but to my ears it's an intriguing atmospheric and contemplative soundtrack - perfect for putting on when you're in the middle of doing some paperwork that you brought home from work, or you're balancing the checkbook. Some thirty years after it's release (I'm writing this in 2004), it's easy to see how this album's influence waves of folks (The Aphex Twins and even Moby quickly come to mind), in such musical genres as ambient sound, electronics and even the current fascination with trance. To my ears it's not exactly easy listening, though a couple of beers smooth it over and it certainly has a place in my collection.