Customer Reviews

Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was 16 when I first heard this lp (1986). A friend and I were to do an astronomy project together in high school, talking about Novas, supernovas, the moon, the sun, the whole works. We easily got footage together for the project, and we quickly went to work splicing and dicing to get exactly what we wanted for our 15 minute presentation- but we both wanted music to use for it. I wanted to use Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," in its own right a great piece of music. But my buddy's friend had the solution- a Brian Eno lp that fit perfectly. I was no stranger to Eno, having already bought "Music for Airports" a few years earlier. So, he threw his lp on, and man, it was eerie- and perfect. We got an "A" on that report, and I had inherited an lp unlike any other.

This lp personifies all things spacy and ambient, yet sophisicated and exact in science, yet also moving and emotional. Not many lps of any grnre can mesh it so much in so few tracks, but Eno, Eno and Lanois did just that.

The tracks are barely pieces (save "An Ending(Ascent)", a piece who's beauty still makes me cry to this day, and we used for the Moon landing shots we had in our project. I'm sure Eno would have aproved), which adds to the amazing beauty and textures they create. Simply astounding.

I could babble on for years talking about this lp, but the music speaks better than I ever could for it. I still play it several times a week at night, and it still moves me to tears- almost 15 years later. That's the sign of great music. This lp is that good.

After hearing Eno's name bandied about for a few years, I finally went to my local record store (yes, there were actually records back then!) and purchased this recording without a clue as to what marvels were contained therein. It was the first Eno LP I ever purchased, and the first Eno CD I ever purchased, I had to have it.

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.

Also interesting are the "Soundtracks" Silver Morning and "Deep Blue Day" which, if played at 45 RPM (back in the olden days) show that these are essentially slowed down "country-western" songs. A brilliant use of the studio, synths and treatments.

I was fortunate enough to meet Eno very briefly at a talk he gave in my city. I was wise enough to have brought along my CD cover for "Apollo" which he graciously signed. It's now a double treasure for me.

He has many more great recordings (Ambient 1, Neroli, Ambient 2:Plateux of Mirror (w/ Harold Budd),the list is endless. This is a must have!

This is the epitome of ambient music. I originally bought this back in the early 80s and it's aged well. My personal favorites are 'Silver Morning', the slightly menacing 'A Secret Place' and of course, 'An Ending(Ascent)' which has got to be one of the most sad yet beautiful songs I've ever heard. But the entire album is excellent, and all the songs flow together to create a beautiful atmosphere.

For a long time now I have refused to write a review of Apollo. After all, how could anything from these unskilled hands do justice to something of such beauty and delicacy? This recording is possibly my most treasured CD, certainly its case is the most worn. If (heaven forbid) I could keep only one CD from my collection would this be it? Yes, I think so. Brian Eno has a talent, no a gift for his craft that I can only dream about. And dreams are what this music is made of. Like some wondrous drug Apollo courses through your veins. It makes your body tingle and muscles relax. It envelopes you in a wondrous comfortable shroud and gently picks you up then guides you through the atmosphere, ascending through wondrous delights. I've heard it said elsewhere that Brian Eno is 'The One' (Eno spelt backwards). Maybe, maybe not, but his music is amongst the most exalting. Like an ethereal hand it gently reaches right into the depths and permeates your soul like no other can. It is true ambient music, with added intelligence. It is not namby-pamby newage music. This music doesn't just skim off the surface, it gets right in there and picks you up. It's like the force - it surrounds us, penetrates us and binds us together. You do not need to have seen the rare Apollo documentary to appreciate this piece of sublime joy, but for the best effect listen to it after 10 p.m. This is music to think by. I have completed my favourite sketches, my most creative writing and my most successful study to this (and other cherished Eno albums e.g., Thursday Afternoon, The Plateaux of Mirror, Ambient 4). One of my most cherished moments is sitting outside far away from city lights, looking at the stars while listening to Apollo (everyone should try this at least once). Few things come close to such moments of peace and total delight. This album is a key to other places - nothing can take you so far out of yourself or from our tiny world. Should this album be legal?

What Ray Bradbury has done with pen, ink, and paper to put every breath of romanticism, intrigue, and philosophical imagination into space exploration, Brian Eno has done with music.

Eno has achieved nearly every effect of his abilities from subtle cosmological synth rhythms to full-blown bluesy, almost country-like emotional guitar riffs making the idea of space travel all that much more covetable... to me, at least :)

He expresses the simple presence--what it is like to simply just exist on the surface of another planet--with slow, peaceful grids of repetitive hypnotizing textures through most of the album. "Signals" takes your head into the slow ethers of radio bleeps through the blackness of space, and "Stars" and the two "Under Stars" tracks seem like sitting in a lawn chair with a glass of space punch on the moon. And of course, "Ending (Ascent)", to me, perfectly orchestrates the certain subconsciously disturbing risks of shooting off the moon for the return to earth--peaceful and quiet whether Armstrong and his crew made it off the surface, or if, hypothetically, that malfunction went all the way to let them be the first to rest in eternal peace in the quiet dust. Of course, that's my individual interpretation. You'll have to hear it for yourself. It's probably more enjoyable without trying to interpret everything and just sit back with it on. I'd review more but there's a 1,000 word limit.

Just as Laguardia Airport in New York had one time looped Ambient 1: Music for Airports on their loudspeakers, every observatory and space museum should do with Apollo.

Serene. Floating. Drifting. Eno masterfully gives the impression of weightlessly floating among stars, or staring down at the surfaces of strange and unusual planets, all without words. In fact, words would only get in the way here. Many pieces don't even have a distinct melody, or if they do it's so slow and graceful you don't care about following along. You just want to drift and get lost. Am I getting a little carried away? Maybe.. but then, that's the whole point of the album. Eno's ambient work is intended to take you somewere.. to give an impression of a certain mood or place, even if the place only exists in your mind.

Apollo does it so well that it's almost a shock to hear the actual sound of a guitar when "Silver Morning" begins. Even when it does, it's as if the guitarist is playing in his sleep, drifting right along with you. Everything about this album is spacy, calming, and almost achingly beautiful. This is music to read to, work to, sleep to, meditate to, put on in the background during a quiet time with someone special.

If you're curious about the ambient side of Eno, this is one of the best (if not the best) to start with. You may never want to give it up.

Recorded during Brian Eno's apparent spacey phase -- he also provided the soundtrack for David Lynch's 'Dune' movie -- this is, I feel, his finest. Less quirky than 'Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy' and less glitzy than Roxy Music's 'For Your Pleasure', this album formed the soundtrack for Al Reinert's 'For All Mankind'.

It is a fantastic documentary because it was one of the first to provide to the general public the brilliantly clear footage of the view from space. Until then, the public had seen only the blurred live action beamed down at the time of each Apollo mission. Eno's soundtrack wonderfully accentuates the film. You have to see it.

At one point, an astronaut recalls how he would look out the porthole of the spacecraft while listening to country and western music. This provides the cue for the twanging guitar of Eno's co-producer Daniel Lanois to generate the C&W themes that occur about two-thirds of the way through this soundtrack album.

Most synthesizer players have at some point in their careers created their sonic interpretation of space. I feel Eno's is the best, perhaps because he doesn't use drums or arpeggiated rhythms. Eno creates a few thin layers of synthesized wash, underpinned by a trembling, faltering organ sound. Each tune evolves, giving little or no clue as to when it will end. It is brilliant, highly visual music, best enjoyed in solitude in the late evening.

Apollo is not the best of Eno's Background/Forground ambient experiments IMHO. But it's a very very nice recording and is recommended to those who desire soothing but not corney music.

Apollo is more of a relaxing forground recording. If you are looking for Forground/Background I'd say Thursday Morning is more interesting. Thursday Morning is very unobtrusive but very interesting and spatial on closer examination.

Apollo is more straigh forward, relaxing, pretty music. I want my copy to rip onto a mp3 player for backpacking. Specifically for those moments before sleep when gazing at the stars of the Milky Way overhead. A Perfect sound track for drifting out into the cosmos.

Does anyone know if the remastered version is superior?

I have a number of Eno's ambient works, and while there are several outstanding tracks on this, I don't think it's his best ambient. However, if you like Eno's ambient works, you'll want to get this one. It's the soundtrack for the movie "For All Mankind" - visual feast of the moonlanding. In addition, one of the tracks has been used in a couple of recent movies so you may recognize it.

For a reference, I think Eno's best ambient includes "The Shutov Assembly" and, with Harold Budd, "Plateau of Mirror."

This was a stab in the dark for me. I'd never heard any Brian Eno, but was intrigued by what I had heard about him. And with Apollo, I struck gold. This is SUCH a magical collection - music which takes you beyond the constraints of your existance and leaves you in a place of awe and wonder. Truely timeless, sublime, music that stills a restless soul. "Always Returning" is, for me, the highlight - a wonderfully fragile track that reflects the beautiful fragility of life.