Customer Reviews

Desert Island Selection

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

 

 

I feel bad about the reviewers who downrated this CD because they were expecting ambient ENO. I've never been a big fan of his ambient works, preferring his vocal / rock works. That said, I think this is a good collection, but is too short; like having a great appetizer, but no dinner to follow. So, it's a good collection, but if you enjoy this style of ENO as I do, you should buy all the CDs.

If you're starting to poke around this strange figure "Brian Eno" that you've heard about but haven't made a purchase yet, BUY THIS. This cd contains incredible songs which will stay with you forever, and will make you buy his 4 early vocal albums they're from: Here come the warm jets, Taking tiger mountain by strategy, Another green world, and Before and after science.

This compilation of 70's recordings by Brian Eno leans too heavily on his slowest music, ignoring his noisy, Velvet-Underground-inspired rockers that are so deliriously brilliant. Still, Eno's slow songs come with plenty of their own pleasures, especially the almost-country "Here He Comes" and the breezy "St. Elmo's Fire," which could have been a hit single. "Everything Merges with the Night" may not move quickly, but it has genuine power, and it shows that high-pitched guitar sustain need not be confined to the soundtracks of sleazy movies.

The bottom line: This is some of the best pop music anyone has ever made, in the 70's or any other decade. Even a mediocre compilation of it is a great experience.

There's no middle ground with Brian Eno. Personally, I find the 5 albums that this collection excerpts to be moving and timeless. There's a reason why anything Eno touches (Talking Heads, U2, Coldplay, James, etc.) turns to gold. The word "genius" is bandied about too often. Eno is a rare genius.
One minor quibble: Two of my favorite Eno songs aren't on this collection: Baby's On Fire, and The Fat Lady of L. For those who are looking for something less lulling or funnier, listen to these.

...and that problem is that one person's Eno "Desert Island Selection" isn't going to be another's! Brian Eno is just too multi-faceted to pin down to a single CD, really, and even as an introduction this fails, as there's certain whole albums that do a better job than a compilation ever could. Originally intended as a companion CD for the "More Dark than Shark" lyrics/art book collaboration with painter Russell Mills.

I dislike "best of" collections for this very reason..what is one's best, anyhow?

Perhaps some artists you can get away with making such a cd for, but Eno isn't one to do this to...if you prefer Eno's more uptempo vocal material, then this cd isn't for you...if you like Eno's 80's material, you are out of luck.

For me personally I have no problems with the tracks chosen for this 70's collection, but that's why the 2 "Eno Box" sets were made years back- so that everyone could get what they wanted.

Its a good primer, I suppose, but buy the lps instead.

If you've heard of Eno and are thinking of getting one of his albums, be forewarned: this is not the ambient glory that I had expected. Sure I should have done some better research, but I made the mistake. You shouldn't. The songs are mostly quite awful, as Eno's vocals practically ruin every song... sorry to be so negative, but I was severely disapointed...