| Rubycon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 March 1975 | |||
| Recorded | January 1975,The Manor, Shipton-on-Cherwell | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 34:53 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Tangerine Dream | |||
| Tangerine Dream chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio sample | ||||
Rubycon: Part 1" | ||||
Rubycon is the sixth studio album by Germanelectronic music groupTangerine Dream. It was released in 1975 on theVirgin label.[1] It is widely regarded as one of their best albums.Rubycon further develops theBerlin Schoolsequencer-based sound they ushered in with the title track fromPhaedra.
Although not quite matching the sales figures forPhaedra,Rubycon reached number 10 in a 14-week run, their highest-charting album in the UK.[2]
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 andMellotron choirs, as primitivesequencer 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]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Head Heritage | positive[4] |
In contemporary reviews,Chris Salewicz of theNME wrote that the album was "a touch more electronically sophisticated thanPhaedra [...] perhaps, and the technological massed choir that floods out of the speakers a couple of minutes into Part Two indicates a considerable degree of carefully wired panache." Salewicz summarized the group as being "so thoroughly frustrating because there's nothing you come across which you find you can actively dislike. On the other hand there really does appear to be little there for the moment which warrants more than a luke-warm vague affection that, broken down, would seem close to some nebulous sympathy."[5]
Tom Moon includesRubycon in his 2008 book1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die, saying: "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."[6]
In his 1997 bookDigital Gothic: A Critical Discography of Tangerine Dream, music journalist Paul Stump praises the album, noting:“Rubycon is simply a refinement ofits 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…”[7]
After the album was released,Christopher Franke'sMoog synthesizer was damaged in transit during a tour of Australia and when Franke powered it up, for the first time after the journey, he was nearly killed by an electrical shock.[8]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rubycon, Part I" | 17:18 |
| 2. | "Rubycon, Part II" | 17:35 |
A new CD version was issued in 2019 re-mastered from the original master tapes. It contained the bonus track "Rubycon (extended introduction)" mixed bySteven Wilson. This track was previously unreleased.
Source:Rubycon,Virgin Records, L-35399 & V-2025, liner notes
| Chart (1976) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] | 95 |
| UK Albums Chart | 10 |
A single titledExtracts From "Rubycon" was released in March 1975.[10]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Extracts From "Rubycon"" | 3:07 |
| 2. | "Extracts From "Rubycon"" | 3:09 |
Both tracks of this single were included as part of the compilationThe Virgin Years 1974–1978 in 2011.
According to Franke: 'All the modules had been built into one big case, to save time setting up on stage. The large case was shipped upside-down, and after 48 hours on the plane, the heavy transformers came loose and fell through the circuitry. When I first plugged it into the mains in Australia, I got a heavy electric shock. It wouldn't make any sound, and two days were spent repairing it and flying stuff in from Germany. That was a nightmare – I nearly lost my life on that one'.
