Eno, Brian

Artist: Brian Eno + David Byrne
P: 1981
Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts appears downright visionary. With its "found" vocals, cut-and-paste arrangements, funked-up rhythms and embrace of influences from all around the globe, the duo's controversial work anticipated the creative cross-pollination and technological innovation of contemporary dance music, world music, hip hop and alternative rock. You can hear echoes of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts in the anthems Moby built around vintage vocal samples, in the outrageously exotic beats of Missy Elliot and Timbaland, in the Middle Eastern accented chill-out tracks of Thievery Corporation or Bjork's otherworldly soundscapes.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1980 / 2009
By 1980, Brian Eno had found his own voice and had his technique firmly in grasp. Having spent the better part of the '70s developing looping mechanisms and then laying the groundwork for ambient music with historic recordings such as "No Pussyfooting" (a collaboration with Robert Fripp), "Discreet Music", and "Music For Airports" and fusing these ideas with David Bowie's paranoid idiom (on Bowie's Berlin trilogy, amongst the most powerful music Bowie has ever done), Eno was at the height of his powers. It is into this regard that "The Plateaux of Mirror" was recorded. A collaboration with minimalist composer and pianist Harold Budd, this record is quite different from the rest.
What Budd provides is a stronger sense of evocative composition than Eno does-- this frees Eno to focus on technical details and technique. The result: a melancholy sort of record filled with moody interludes and tracks. Its far more theme-driven and less loop-driven than Eno's previous or contemporary work. This lends itself well to listeners who aren't really overly enamored with the idea of loop-based music. The work is particularly superb on the melancholy "First Light", the dark "Not Yet Remembered", and the noisy and mysterious "Wind in Lonely Places".
If there's a fault with this record, its that it has a bit of a sameness to it that prevents it from really shining, but its some beautiful music, and a great entry point into the catalogs of either Eno or the lesser known (but often equally brilliant) Budd.

Artist: Brian Eno + J. Peter Schwalm
P: 2001
Picking up where such seminal Eno recordings as Music for Airports and Another Green World left off, the inveterate innovator-producer's first recording in four years is a surreal tableau of loping beats and eerie sounds enveloped in dark yet serene atmospherics. With German percussionist Schwalm contributing softly swinging drumming, Eno is free to dabble in sounds ranging from Middle Eastern string quartets to crying machines and Vocoders to happy, babbling babies. One of Life's many highlights is Laurie Anderson's cameo on "Like Pictures Part #2," as she enunciates her words above the song's spooky, soothing ambiance. "Bloom" contrasts happy baby chatter against distorted heartbeats and sinister samples; "Night Traffic" paints an empty urban center at dusk with shifting shapes and '70s jazz percussion and piano. Throughout Drawn from Life, Eno and Schwalm cast a spell of spectral dislocation and foreboding. It's like what dying prostrate in the snow must be like slow, sleepy, beautiful, and chilling.

Artist: Brian Eno + John Cale
P: 1990
Wrong Way Up is a stunning album, from the awesome opener Lay My Love (Eno vocal) with its pulsating rhythm and enigmatic, poetic lyric through the soaring One Word (shared vocal and breath-taking harmonies) to the elegant and atmospheric Cordoba, a ballad reminiscent of Cale’s Paris 1919 album.
Crime In The Desert has an almost West Coast feel with decorous harmonies and delectable doo-doo-doo's while The River (Eno vocal) sounds like classy country music, almost like Jim Reeves! Every track is great: In The Backroom and Empty Frame confirm the artists' lyrical genius while Been There Done That and the catchy but profound Spinning Away are distinguished by Cale's trademark viola. Overall, the sound revolves around imaginative synth textures well within the pop spectrum. Appealing melodies, evocative lyrics and passionate vocals ensure an intoxicating sonic blend. Wrong Way Up is more varied than Songs For Drella (Reed and Cale), more accessible than My Life In the Bush Of Ghosts (Eno and David Byrne) and on a par with the excellent Last Day On Earth, Cale's album with Bob Neuwirth.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1978
Eno's theory of the "discreet music" he called ambient was far from the modern chill-out room: the idea was that it should function at very low volumes, unobtrusively coloring the atmosphere of a room. Evolving by tiny gradations, the long pieces of Music For Airports (the first in a series of albums that followed the statement of purpose Discreet Music) defy close attention, but then they're not meant to be listened to consciously; they're meant to serve as a counterpoint to the frantic arcs of travel, or rather to be imagined in that setting.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1982 / 2004
Here the remasterd version.
First released in 1982, On Land is Eno's most mature, perfect ambient work. Combining low, rumbling synths with eerie banging and clanking and the occasional wild-animal chirp or grumble, this recording places the listener alone, in the midst of a massive piece of sonic landscaping. And Eno has left no detail to chance. In fact, the work is so complete that when Eno suggests a windswept plain, the listener gets a chill. When trumpeter Jon Hassell bays with a softly disturbing imitation of a wounded beast, the first instinct is to scan the horizon for its glinting eyes. So subtle, intuitive, and well paced is this recording that as it slips quietly from the speakers and into every corner of the listening room, it transforms the space into a gently pulsing sound environment that seems strangely out of time and away from everything. It's a place you'll be drawn to time and time again. An ageless masterwork.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1982 / 2004
Remastered in digi-pack.
Released in 1982, On Land is Eno's most mature, perfect ambient work. Combining low, rumbling synths with eerie banging and clanking and the occasional wild-animal chirp or grumble, this recording places the listener alone, in the midst of a massive piece of sonic landscaping. And Eno has left no detail to chance. In fact, the work is so complete that when Eno suggests a windswept plain, the listener gets a chill. When trumpeter Jon Hassell bays with a softly disturbing imitation of a wounded beast, the first instinct is to scan the horizon for its glinting eyes. So subtle, intuitive, and well paced is this recording that as it slips quietly from the speakers and into every corner of the listening room, it transforms the space into a gently pulsing sound environment that seems strangely out of time and away from everything. It's a place you'll be drawn to time and time again. An ageless masterwork.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 2005
Another Day on Earth is an ambient song cycle that is full of yearning and a mood that Brian Eno has called "brave and resigned." Even in song, Eno is a master of ambience, creating detailed soundworlds and lyrics that don't so much make sense as create a feeling. It's taken him 15 years to create a new vocal album, and the songs span that time, with the welcome reprise of "Under," a devastatingly beautiful hymn of loss and redemption that dates back to 1991's aborted, unreleased My Squelchy Life album. It's turned up before on the Cool World soundtrack and Eno Box II: Vocals. Joining "Under" as one of Eno's most sublime songs is "And Then So Clear," a paean of wasted longing and hope with its cycling rhythm, ethereal guitars, and pitch-shifted vocal harmonies. You can hear Eno's love of gospel music on "This" and "Bottomliners," and can almost picture them in a particularly pensive Baptist church with his double-tracked vocals emulating a solemn choir. But it's not all minor-key reflection. Eno also unleashes a couple of fractured tunes, like "Bonebomb," which is from a project in which he mutated the meter of poets reciting their works. Another Day on Earth is a more personal album from the ambient avatar, a recording of rare and meticulous maturity.

Here the last copy!

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1974 / 2004
Remastered reissue of this 1974 release.
Eno first emerged as a member of Roxy Music, where the synthesizer player electronically "treated" the band's other instruments, the first indicator that the recording process was itself Eno's chosen instrument. His subsequent career has been one of the most provocative in pop, for not only did he devote himself to such obscure pursuits as "ambient music," but he produced vital albums by David Bowie, Talking Heads, and U2. Eno made a handful of relatively conventional pop albums in the 1970s, and Another Green World ranks with Before and After Science as his most enduring solo work. Another Green World finds Eno mixing distorted guitars (courtesy of Robert Fripp) with a variety of keyboards and exotic rhythms to create a meditative wash of sound that is nonetheless awash with colorful touches. Particularly appealing is the bubbling "St. Elmo's Fire," with a stunning guitar part by Fripp, and "I'll Come Running," in which Eno shows that even a dedicated experimentalist can have a soft heart. From the strange-but-true file, Phil Collins contributes drums and percussion to three tracks. --John Milward

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1983 / 2019
A remastered and expanded edition of the album will be released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing reinterpret the soundtrack to For All Mankind. The 2CD Limited Edition also includes a 24-page hardcover book. Brian Eno's ambient record and THE most underrated album of this style. This music was originally made to accompany NASA films and films also run in your head when you hear this music: endless expanses, weightless gliding..new worlds. The album is divided into 2 halves, the 1st half is 95% electronic, the 2nd is indescribable, in 3/4 time, with a steel guitar... it's just out of this world and triggers such feelings. For almost 30 years....timeless. The pioneer of ambient music.If you ever wondered what ambient music is all about, you could do worse than listen to the soundtrack by Brian Eno that accompanied the stunning visuals of NASA's Apollo missions to the moon. Created with an intoxicating mixture of acoustic and electronic, the music makes the now-classic space travel images more magical and memorable, introducing a dreamlike element to scenes of cold reality. "An Ending (Ascent)" is about as close to an actual tune as you'll get, but, as with every track, a shining example of what ambient music reveals about itself--slowly and carefully.

If you've ever wanted to experience weightlesness, buy this recording. It is truly atmospheric, elegant, and downright beautiful. There are also some rather frightening moments (I think)contined in "Matta" which is worthy of the best sci-fi soundtracks. The ultimate piece on this CD is "An Ending (Ascent)". It is simply one of the most breathtakingly beautiful "songs" I have ever heard. The first time I heard it, I knew I wanted to become a musician. It's simplicity and aching beauty is something I've tried to recreate in my music, but haven't quite topped this. I've listened to this piece I would estimate in the thousands of times, and it still takes my breath away.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1977 / 2009
Here the remasterd version.
Eno's true masterpeice is 'Before and After Science'. It utilizes everything that was great about Brian Eno, from his fast paced glam rock to his slow, meditative confessionals, and even leaves room for some ambient music(which Eno invented). Whereas 'Here Comes the...' was sometimes overflowing with too much "glam", and 'Another...' was slightly overdoing it with the ambience/instrumentals, 'Before and...' strikes just the right balance. The first side is mostly in the same vein as 'Here Comes...' with some fabulous songs like "Kings Lead Hat". Side 2 on the other hand is THE gratest side of music in rock history. It is basically a mix of what Eno experimented with on Side 2 of David Bowie's 'Low' and what he himself did on 'Another Green World'. Every song on Side 2 has shimmering beauty that I have never heard anywhere else. 'Here he Comes', 'Julie With...', 'By This River', & 'Spider and I' are all perfect songs, and 'Through Hollow Lands' is one of Eno's most beautiful instrumentals (along with Sombre Reptiles, Becalmed, & anything off 'Music for Airports).

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1975 / 2009
Here the remasterd version.
The first, title track, is over 30 minutes of sonic bliss that never ever gets boring and only gets better with repeated listenings. Fantastic discreet music to play while you're involved in creative activities. The remainder of the CD, at first, doesn't seem to match the mood...but after that initial observation the BEAUTY shines through...so the whole CD is great.
"Discreet Music" consists, per Eno's description in the liner notes, of "two simple and mutually compatible melodic lines of different duration stored on a digital recall system" that are occasionally altered "by means of a graphic equalizer". Put simply, two loops play, of differing lengths, for the period of about 30 minutes, rising and falling, swelling and coming and going, intertwining with each other. What is most amazing is how these two simple statements can be so unbelievably powerful, emotionally overwhelming, and purely engaging. It is really one of the finest pieces in all of Eno's catalog.
The Pachelbel canon variations are somewhat less interesting, though still quite enjoyable Again from the liner notes, "each variation takes a small section of the score (two to four bars) as its starting point, and permutates the players' parts such that they overlay each other in ways not suggested by the original score". The result is breathtaking, and adds a familiar resonance to it.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 2011
Brian Eno first came across the work of Rick Holland in the late 90 s during the Map-Making project; a series of collaborative works between students of the Royal College, the Guildhall School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the National Youth Orchestra and the English National Ballet, among others.
In 2003, Brian and Rick made their first music together (the resulting work does not appear on this album). In the intervening time since that initial session they have met infrequently to work on new compositions.
In early 2011, following the release of Small Craft on a Milk Sea (Brian s debut album for Warp Records), the pair resolved to finish the project. Drums Between the Bells is the result.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 2022
FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE, his first ever solo studio album since Reflection was released in January 2017, and for the first time in a long time he's also singing himself. Recorded and produced at his west London studio, the album's ten tracks are an evocative yet ultimately upbeat chant the precarious future of the earth and its inhabitants. »In short, we have to fall in love all over again«, says Eno, »but this time with nature and also with the work of man and our hope for the future.« Making gardens out of silence in an uncanny valley was originally in a sound installation by Brian Eno experience. It was shown at London's Serpentine gallery as part of Back to Earth, a multi-year interdisciplinary project on the climate emergency. The unabridged version of the piece of music appears exclusively on the CD FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1992
This CD is made of many different remixes of the song "Fractal Zoom" off of Eno's Nerve Net album, plus the inclusion of the song "The Roil, The Choke" which is a superb construction of electronic melancholia. Even though the disc is labeled as a "CD Single" it contains, if I recall correctly, 65-70 minutes of music.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 1973 / 1987
This record is a who's who of the then-burgeoning English art-rock scene, featuring Robert Wyatt, Robert Fripp, and every member of Roxy Music except its leader (thus answering the musical question, "What if Eno had helmed the third Roxy record instead of Ferry?"). Warm Jets sports a lightheartedness that was a refreshing antidote to the pomposity of Yes and ELP on the dark side of art-rock's spectrum, with nonsensical, sound-based couplets such as "Oh headless chicken / How can those teeth stand so much kicking?" This debut is a milestone not just for Eno, but for all rocking music. Listen to Fripp's furious guitars on "Baby's On Fire" and "Blank Frank." It's incredible, Velvet Underground-inspired rock in a scene that had forgotten what rocking meant.

Artist: Brian Eno
P: 2012
LUX is Brian Eno’s first solo album on Warp Records and his first solo album since 2005’s Another Day On Earth.  It finds him expanding upon the types of themes and sonic textures that were present on such classic albums as Music For Films, Music For Airports and Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. Eno sees it as a continuation of his 'Music for Thinking' project that includes Discreet Music (1975) and Neroli (1993).
LUX is one of Eno’s most ambitious works to date; it is a 75-minute composition in twelve sections that evolved from a work currently housed in the Great Gallery of the Palace of Venaria in Turin, Italy. The album is Eno's third for Warp, following two collaborative albums Small Craft on a Milk Sea (with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams) and Drums Between The Bells (with Rick Holland).