Editorial Review:

Amazon.com essential recording:
Tangerine Dream's 1975 album picks up where 1974's Phaedra left off--with sequenced teases of palpitating synth under ambient washes of cosmic sound and traces of melody. If Phaedra was the marsh of dank electronic washes and eerie sounds in the night, Rubycon is that marsh just before dawn, awakening in a dusky light of bubbling metallic sequences and murky movements of lush synth. There's plenty of dreamy sections here, continuing on for several long delicious moments while creating a cosmic space that hovers between the unconscious and awakening. "Rubycon, Part II" builds an electronic wind tunnel of sound before breaking like a sunbeam through a cathedral and soaring into softly urgent skies of nuanced melody. The piece moves as an ocean wave, washing gently into a shore of tinkling cosmic rocks that reverberate and find hints of subtle, aching harmony before finally evaporating into the album's end. A brilliant ambient work. --Karen Karleski

Album Description:
UK Super Audio CD reissue of 1975 album for Virgin.

Rating: - It doesn't get much better than this.
Froese's "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale" (the original, not the crummy remake) and Tangerine Dream's "Rubycon" are and will forever be the high water mark for electronic. If I could only have two albums from now until death, these would be the ones.

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Rating: - The Source for Sorcerer
Something to note about Rubycon is that it was this work that triggered Robert Friedkin to ask TD to do the soundtrack of "Sorcerer". There are several reuses of some Rubycon themes in the movie music. Which took an otherwise ok movie and made it much more visceral.

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Rating: - Liquid eerieness
While most people I've heard say that 'Phaedra' is superior to 'Rubycon', I disagree. Like a lot of old prog/ambient/etc. records, I still have a hard time completely 100% getting into them for some reason, which still escapes me. There must be some psychological explanation for it. But alas! This review is about Rubycon, not why my brain stinks at obeying my will.

Part 1 starts ominously, hits an orgasmic ominousness, and then soars into the blue sky as you reach Consciousness, floating ... Read More

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Rating: - A pure gem!
Tangerine Dream at its best. I discovered TD with Stratosfear and Rubycon. With these two albums I became a huge fan for life of electronic space experimental rock music. Stratosfear is more rock than Rubycon. Rubycon is a journey into space. The evolution of the melody is subtle and it slowly captivates your sense. Next thing you know, you are in the middle of an asteroid field with a strong rhythmic foundation. Listening to Rubycon while driving on the highway is the most relaxing musical experience ... Read More

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Rating: - Classical Musical of the 20th Century?
This album must be listened to in the dark. Pitch black. Seriously. You don't want to be distracted, because this music can do stuff to you. It has to me. It is, to me, the audio equivalent of an 0rg@$m. The cover on it is another description of the music. Sublime.

While this album is only 30 years old (unlike classical music which is obviously older), I seriously feel that, like classical music, this stuff can give off so many emotions like classical music, it's expressive without a ... Read More