Ambient 1: Music for Airports

Brian Eno | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Editions Eg Records
• ASIN: B000003S2K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (105 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,117 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #27 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Ambient

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

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. --Douglas Wolk

Product Description

Out-of-print in the US. UK reissue of this 1978 album from the esteemed British composer, producer and musician, who has been credited with single-handedly creating Ambient music and helping to inspire multitudes of Punk, Glam, New Romantic, New Wave and Post-Punk outfits since the mid '70s. Virgin. 2009. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a classic ambient work, September 22, 2000

By 

Sean M. Kelly (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Audio CD)

I was 14 in 1984, and I remember laughing when I first saw the title to this lp- what is a Music for Airport, anyhow? (such a silly 14 year old thought) But I was intrigued by the concept, I saw one of my idols, Robert Wyatt, as a credit on the lp, and the lp was used, so for a mere .50, I ventured into the world of Brian Eno for the second time (I loved his Roxy Music works).

From the opening piano strokes of Wyatt, I was hooked. I couldn't listen to the lp enough. I listened to it at high volume,and at low volumes. At night; during the day; during rain; windy conditions; perfect calm. It didn't matter. The music transcended all conditions. I was amazed. I was (and still am) a huge Erik Satie fan, and Eno was the modern day Satie. The concepts were beautifully simple and effective, yet wreaked of sophisication. My friends at school were listening to Ratt and other 80s hair bands, and I was into Eno. They didn't get it. It was fine. Eno was mine.

Today, almost 16 years later, "Music for Airports" is one of the cornerstones of my musical identity. I have listened to it 1000's of times (as with all instrumental Eno lps), and still am amazed by the absolute simplicity of it. While Eno played with ambient soundscapes before ("Discreet Music," Fripp and Eno's 2 recordings), none better encapsulated at the time what he was driving towards better than this lp (in my view, "Ambient 4: On Land" best encapsulates ambient music).

This lp is a gem of the highest calibre, and is a must in any reputable music collection. A must have.

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT, December 6, 2004

By 

J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Audio CD)

I feel rather silly jumping on the Eno bandwagon decades after his best and most influential works were released. But here I am. Burned out on everything else, uninspired by anything new, I find myself going back to Eno again and again. This cd is really great. Simple, easy to listen to ( but certainly not "Muzak" )and very relaxing without being boring. Nice to listen to at night before bed, cool in the background when its raining out. And yes, I did actually put this on headphones as I waited for a flight out of Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts Eno in the level of the best artists and producers alive., March 28, 2006

By 

Manny Hernandez "@askmanny" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Audio CD)

Brian Eno's seminal masterpiece is quite simply beyond being among the best ambient albums of all time. It is among the best albums ever, period. Recorded in a time of musical turmoil (think punk) and after his glam stint alongside Roxy Music and helping bring in "enossification" and some other of his recording techniques into the life of numerous bands in the UK in the mid-to-late seventies, "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" became a timeless piece without much effort.

Eno captured the essence of the instruments he recorded, looping them and interweaving them to accomplish an exquisite minimalist sound in all four songs. From the first track (over 17 minutes in duration), which features pianos and synthesizer, the album captures you. In the second track, the haunting sampled voices that walk the aisles of a multitude of sound layers bring a dimension to the music that was unheard of until then. Track 1/2 combines the instruments from the first two tracks (voices and piano) in a new fashion, due to the phasing of the tape loops, which makes them "explore" new musical spaces as they evolve through the track's 12+ minutes of duration. The last track only reconfirms the exquisite character of the album, bringing it all back home.

The fact that this album was recorded in 1978 is very impressive, since it became a landmark of the ambient movement to follow in future decades. But the fact that it was recorded at all and it reaches such levels of (almost) painful beauty would suffice to place Eno in the level of the best artists and producers alive. Other musicians influenced by Eno that are highly recommendable would be Mark Isham (OST for "Crash") and Cliff Martinez (OST for "Traffic").