4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Purchase this box set while you can., April 30, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Brian Eno, Vol. 1: Instrumental (Audio CD)
I just purchased this box set and I wish I had purchased it when it first came out. As an avid ENO fan I was aware that this had some material that you can not find elswhere, on any of Eno's other releases. That alone is worth the price of admission. Run out and buy this box set before you have to mortgage the house to get it. Essential Eno for the hardcore fan.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'd give it six stars if Amazon would let me, October 7, 2002
This review is from: Brian Eno, Vol. 1: Instrumental (Audio CD)
I have to agree with the other review posted here: This box is phenomenal. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on this instrumental box and also the accompanying 3-CD vocal box when they came out in the 1990s, and I'm glad I did. Most boxed sets throw in also-rans, recycles and rejects -- songs you're really not going to want to hear that much. With Eno, though, I'm not sure there are such things. Yes, there are some "rarities" here, I guess one would call them, but Eno's obscurities and unreleased tracks tend to be as sublime as the rest of his output.
The only trouble now is the price one must pay for this set to acquire it. Both boxes apparently were released in fairly limited editions. That, or most everyone who bought them is hanging on for dear life. I've been very surprised at what sellers have been asking as of this writing in fall 2002. One person listed here on Amazon has both boxes for sale for the combined price of [money]. Is it really worth that kind of expense to own these? I don't know, but here's an indication of how much I value them: I wouldn't part with my Eno boxes even for a solid grand. And it's not enough just to have the songs, so simply finding a friend and trying to burn these OP discs isn't enough -- these boxes were marvels of restraint, as CD box releases went, and thus the packaging is clean and uncluttered, yet there's enough info to pique your interest.
The instrumental box got most of the attention when they were released, but the vocal Eno should not be overlooked. On albums such as "Before and After Science," he created small pop-music masterpieces -- ear-candy melodies met up with thoughtful lyrics and some really beautiful but not over-the-top production.
Eno's more recent work hasn't exactly thrilled me, but for a couple of decades there, he really was the man, beginning with some of the early '70s stuff, moving through collaborations with the likes of Robert Fripp, and doing the "Music for Airports" and other Ambient records. If you can't bring yourself to pay for these boxed sets, dig into the Eno catalog and listen to the many albums still in print. You won't regret a single minute of it.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Cream of The Crop, February 16, 2002
This review is from: Brian Eno, Vol. 1: Instrumental (Audio CD)
This box set has it all, my friends. It's a wonderful overview of Eno's instrumental work from the mid-seventies through the mid-nineties. Featuring collaborations with artists as diverse as David Bowie,Jon Hassell,Harold Budd,and Robert Fripp,it's an essential album for collectors and an excellent primer for Eno novices. The ambient genre is heard in all of it's permutations here- from funky-amb songs like "Energy Fools The Magician" to the beautifully strange vocalese (by Bowie) of "Warszawa" to the long,dreamy trance tracks such as "Thursday Afternoon" and "Discreet Music" on Disc 3 that close the album. Love ambient but have a short attention span? The edited versions of "An Index of Metals","Ikebukuro", and "Neroli" are just what the doctor ordered! I must confess that I'm a huge fan of Eno's so my enthusiasm must be taken into consideration. He's one of my biggest influences as a musician/songwriter and was an inspiration for my latest album,"Guardians of the Underworld".
Acquire "Eno Box 1" and you will not be disappointed.
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