Customer Reviews

Another Day on Earth

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

How long has it been since he recorded with John Cale. 15 years, maybe? Eno's vocals are still haunting, his production remains forceful and organic. This is much better than a lot of the early reviews. The disc is inconsistent only in that he is throwing together a lot of different ambiant constructs. While a lot of folk are hoping for another Taking of Tiger Mountain, this really has a lot of Thursday Afternoon disassociation flowing through it. The fact that it's not for everybody only endears it more to his admirers. Don't kid yourself, this is one of the last giants doing what he does best.

First, I can understand Spike's issue with Eno's music. If you're not into ambient, this will kill you. But it's like Diana Krall for me - I just can't stand that soporofic bore, and I'M FROM CANADA!
Now, on to the disc at hand....
"This" is simply the best kick off song on a CD since "Come Together" opened ABBEY ROAD. It is thematically akin to what Eno did on his collaboration with John Cale, and would fit right in with "Spinning Away." It's beyond clever and absolutely perfect even to the way it deconstructs at the end. From there, clearly his most recent effort with Fripp, the haunting EQUATORIAL STARS, certainly has had an impact on the ambient moods he creates throughout this disc. It is in so many ways a reflection of how exhausted with the travail of living another day on earth can be, and yet there is something that just refuses to cave in, for all the existential weight.
"Bottomliners" will haunt you long after its conclusion, and seems almost to be the twin of "Bone Bomb", whose sudden ending is as profound a statement on death as you'll ever get. "Caught Between" resonates with an intensity of a life lived with eyes and sensibilities finely attuned. "Under" is more effectively presented than in its 1991 life.
Most reviews mention the hymn-like quality of the songs. They are indeed spiritual statements and certainly not pop songs. Given the comparative wealth of information among his credits - quite a rare thing - this must be, without giving away too much, as personal a statement of his life at this point as he's ever made. Fripp and Bowie, his daughters, key people in his career are given thanks. There is obviously something going on that he wanted to say. And in ways what he wanted to say is what remains left unsaid. He unsays it poetically. And there is just a heartbreaking beauty about the music he creates.
If you are like our buddy, Spike, or just have Dutch roots (what the h#ll were they thinking in rejecting the EU constitution - like they have a presence in the world!), you just are not going to like this CD. If you have enjoyed what Eno has brought to Bowie, Fripp, TH, U2 and Daniel Lanois, you'll find thid disc impossible to put down. As essential as ANOTHER GREEN WORLD, or MUSIC FOR FILMS, or even the Berlin trilogy, this is stunning and reflectively provocative.

I must say that I'm not a huge fan of Eno's earlier non-ambient albums like Before and After Science or Another Green World. I still think that his best work is Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks. And of course, the gorgeous ambient series...

But Another Day on Earth takes the best from both worlds. It has enough songs to satisfy his old pop/art-rock fans and enough space and atmosphere for ambient listeners (like me). The material is of highest quality and supreme maturity. Highly recommended.

Thank God for Brian Eno. He has wrung extraordinary music from some of the most talented but middle of the road bands ( U2 and Talking Heads fans will take me to task for that, but I really believe he brings out the best from those two bands in particular.) He WAS the MUSIC in Roxy Music, before he was ditched by the insecure and jealous Brian Ferry. He pioneered the use of ambient sound in pop music. And now he has managed nothing short of the comeback of the year with this album. Another Day on Earth reportedly was 15 years in the making, but the tracks flow effortlessly and you would never know that one song here ( the beautiful "Under" ) was featured over ten years ago on an otherwise abysmal soundtrack album called "Cool World". There are touches of his ambient work. There are instantly and ridiculously catchy pop songs. There are stunning rhythmic instrumental dirges. Words that immediately come to mind while listening to this album: haunting, soothing, inspiring, unforgetable. Hands down this is his finest, most consistant vocal album since the landmark Another Green World. In a perfect world everyone would know who Brian Eno is, and everyone would have the priviledge to experience his music. This is sophisticated ( but not pretentious ) adult pop music. Old fans will be pleasantly surprised. New fans and the curious will be rewarded.

If you are stuck in the past or only want to give this album a quick listen before passing judgment, then it's not for you. But if you are open to new things and give this album some time I think you'll find a jewel.
I was skeptical on my first listening but as I listened more I found much beauty and depth that wasn't at first apparent. The old Eno is here; the poet of the obscure, the thinking musician, but with a new palette. Perhaps at first a jarring one to those of us raised on the 70s Eno. But if you open yourself up to it, you can find the same rewards as in the 70s masterpieces.
There are plenty of musicians who are happy to be pale imitations of their former glory. Luckily, Eno isn't one of them.

Mark Isham wrote some devastatingly emotional music for the film "Crash" (and others of course); Daniel Lanois checks in now and then with some etheral and stunning musical stories; German based ECM with Keith Jarrett, Oregon, Terje Rypdal, et.al, merge beautiful artwork with aurally exquisite sound; Bill Frisell, ah...what can I say about this man who describes your life with his fretwork! And then, well, AND THEN, Brian Eno creates a new work with the toss-off title "Another Day On Earth." Yeah, ok. But NO CONTEST my friends. One listen and this reaffirms why this complete, total, and absolute musical genius rules and sets the standard for others. As long as Brian chooses to create his music, there will only be followers. Thank you Mr. Eno.

I'm a Brian Eno fan since the Roxy Music days, but I've generally avoided his vocal albums which I've always thought tended to be marred by, well, by Brian Eno not being able to sing. So, this CD comes as a surprise to me. It has lyrics, vocals, Brian Eno singing...everything you'd expect, but it's firmly in the tradition of Brian's ambient works of recent years. Very, very nice work.

"Another Day on Earth", Brian Eno's first solo vocal album since 1977's "Before And After Science" (and the first record to heavily feature Eno's vocals since 1990's "Wrong Way Up" collaboration with John Cale), remarkably feels to pick up where it left off-- it FEELS like a logical progression from "Before and After Science", but with a more modern vibe. And like "Before and After Science", its largely informed by Eno's looping history and ambient mentality.

Maybe another way to say it is this-- if you don't like ambient music, and likely if you're not a fan of Eno, you're not going to like this. It isn't quite ambient+vocals, nor is it really pop+ambient, like "Before and After Science" and "Another Green World", it sort of feels like it has its own space carved. It sits musically in a delicate pop vein-- Eno's minimalist instincts come forth, there's no more than the instruments necessary, mostly backing tracks consist of two or three of a bass line, a guitar line, a hazy synth layer, and a drum loop. Without the constraints of satisfying the need for an entire band to play, Eno is able to keep things to the elements necessary only to convey the music. The result is that nothing on a record so heavily infused with technology feels overdone, the record is very lean and delicate.

The vocals are largely straightforward-- Eno seems to like harmonizing himself, the lead vocal often consists of double or triple layered harmonies. On occasion, he stands his voice out by itself, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to this, and occasionally he treats his vocal, though it tends to work remarkably well. Mind you, Eno's voice is what it is, and its not everyone's cup of tea, but again, if you're a fan, you'll be happy with this one.

Early favorites include "This"-- a mid-tempo looped piece with a great harmonized lead vocal, the extraordinarily delicate "A Long Way Down", where Eno harmonizes a sung and spoken line to great effect, "Caught Between", with a "Discreet Music" vibe to its backing track, a great Fripp-inspired guitar solo, and a lazy feel to it (don't know how else to describe it), acoustic guitar loop "How Many Worlds", and the melancholy-yet-not title track "Just Another Day". But it feels like one of those recorsd where that'll change next month and next year.

Really, its a great piece. Something stops me from thinking of it as one of those essential recordings, but its awfully close. Recommended.

This is the first CD I've bought in years that I listen to, start to finish, again and again and again. I bought it a little over a week ago and have listened to nothing else since. I put it on when I wake up and right away when I get home from work and I listen to it as I fall asleep.

I don't think I realized how much I missed Eno's voice in music. As this album is the first solo vocal album in decades it is also the first that is informed by the production work he has done for people like Laurie Anderson (the cut-up vocal technique of "Bone Bomb" is similar to what was done in the title track of "Bright Red"), The Talking Heads (the opener "this" has a very TH feel), U2 and Bowie. It makes me happy to hear these elements applied to something that is more completely Eno than his production work.

I certainly hope this isn't the last Eno vocal oriented album.

"Another Day on Earth" represents Brian Eno's most cohesive and listener friendly album in the last few years. Sounding simultaneously modern and ambient-retro, "Another Day on Earth' is departure from the dissonant sounds of "The Drop" and far more purposeful then the recent monatge of installaiton compilations and curiousities.

From the haunting qualities of tracks like 'Under' to the disturbing and slightly disjointed 'Bone Bomb', Eno delights listeners with experimentation and beauty. The album will evoke strong comparisons to the Passengers collaboration and some his work with David Bowie on the 'Outside' project.