Customer Reviews

A Tribute To Brian Eno

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Since I was familiar with a few of the artists on this disc, I bought it against my better judgement. I should have listened to myself. This is a collection of really awful covers of Brian Eno songs. I can't express how disappointing this cd was. The cover of "3rd Uncle" was barely recognizable as the Eno song, which in itself isn't especially a bad thing, considering that Eno's music is about creativity and strangeness, but to completely rip it apart and sloppily throw it back together again as was done on this disc is just sad. The cover of "Somber Reptiles" is pretty bad too. Most of the other covers are just forgettable. Do yourself a favor and listen to the originals.

Nice try but it sort of loses it's way. I have been a Brian Eno fan since his days in Roxy Music and have most of his early works, I think Apollo is the last one I bought, up to now. It's interesting to hear how contemporary artists try to come to terms with the Masters work. I like 'Third Uncle' particlarly, and but not 'Baby's on Fire' - The Electric Hellfire Club have missed the point. Nice to think though that music which I listened to "way back then" is still relevent and is sill influencing.

As an Eno fan anything that comes up with his name on it, either as a composer/performer or as a "tributee" catches my attention. I am glad I bought this album as it shows that Brian Eno's music is very robust. It survives the interpretation by other musicians. Actually, most of the pieces on this album are great. I listen to this CD very often. If you are thinking about buying this, why not get Bang On A Can's "Music for Airports" (another tribute to Brian Eno) as well. Different style but just as great.

I really cannot agree with most reviews here. While tribute albums are often weak, I think this is one of the rare cases where it stands up quite well. Some of the updates may not be extremely original, but they are very competently done, and highly enjoyable to listen to (at least for me - example: Third Uncle). Yes, there are a couple of weak tracks (Warszawa comes to mind, and Baby's on Fire), but there are some really outstanding tracks as well - take Sky Saw... the vocal treatments are really quite brilliant! And the whole track is well organized, very tight. Another great track: The True Wheel, really well put together. Energy Fools the Magician - nice mood and sonic landscape. Actually, except for the 2 weak tracks, I think this is an excellent CD. And what is rare for a tribute album: it actually has great unity. Doesn't feel like disparate pieces thrown randomly together. I've listened to this CD many, many times, and find it forms a body of work with unique character. Quite an accomplishment for a tribute album by relatively unknown performers. I wish Amazon had a 1-10 star ranking - I'd give it 8 1/2 stars.

I didn't like the Bang on a Can CD much, but I found this CD to be really surprising - not like a clone so much as a mutant. Following the spirit of Eno instead of the word pays off.

I found that this tribute CD has some very nice instrumental pieces, all harking back to Brian Eno's heady innovation days of the mid to late 1970's. Myself, I have always prefered Eno's highly creative vocal pieces. Those are what I value in his work, not the atmospheric easy-to-ignore stuff. Unfortunately, the songs with vocals that are included on this CD, about 3 of them, are strictly bar band material - nice if your idea of fun is sitting in a dark noisy room with a long neck bottle and company that's more interesting than the music. For me, no thanks.

Fortunately, my interest in Eno's earlier vocal innovations also exposed me to some pretty nice instrumental tunes of his, like on his pioneering 1976 album "Another Green World". While the stuff on this CD is never going to come close to that original groundbreaking experience, I like the familiarity and the pleasantness of things like track 1, (Becalmed). From the standpoint of a pure music lover, the instrumentals are all pretty well done. There's even at least one good rocker of an instrumental in the bunch, (Here Come the Warm Jets).

So while this CD is really nothing to write home about, it's better than it could have been, and I'll probably continue to have it on in the car sometimes. I'll enjoy the instrumental parts and skip the atrocious vocals, and that will be just fine - 3 stars.

If you are an Eno fan and understand that cover versions of songs often differ from the original, you are very likely to enjoy this. Like the man himself, the musicians here playing tribute have had a lot of fun creating new textures of sound and using them to create atmospheres, ambiances and little songlings. Most of the tunes capture something of the spirit of the originals and some of them (e.g. Sky Saw by Brand X)even use them as foundations for rather more elaborate constructions. The Farflung number is particularly enjoyable and is very much in the spirit of Eno's first solo effort, here come the warm jets.

Even taken on its own musical merit, this lp doesn't hold its own versus what kids in the garage are doing these days. While I appreciate the concept of an Eno tribute lp, this lp does no one-Eno, the musicians,(including Helios Creed, Chrome, and Controled Bleeding, to name 3) the listeners- any sort of justice at all.

A prime example of an lp to avoid like the plague, this "tribute" is a tribute only to the wizards that got people to buy this.