Customer Reviews

Drop

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This could very well be the perfect Eno recording.
It displays elements of everything from his
career, but more. Ambience, that won't
bore you; rhythmic pulsation
that doesn't try to be trendy techno
dance music; meandering melodic lines
that seem almost like improvisation.
In a way THE DROP seems like Eno-plays-jazz.
Certainly something he has never
done before, on this scale.
One of its many virtues is in how he
approached it. Instead of using a big
roster of guests, and all kinds of studio
trickery, here Eno sticks to one keyboard
and some electronic drum accompaniment.
It is amazing what the man can achieve with
such limited resources, only further proving
that it isn't the tools, but the ideas that
really make the music great. It is a big
improvement on the SPINNER CD that
preceded it; and neither as in-your-face
or trying to keep up with the
times, as NERVE NET so obviously was.
THE DROP thus is an absolutely recommended CD, from
a man that never stops surprising
his listeners. (The Japanese edition
is particularly recommended --
it features an extra three-track
mini-CD that is even better than
the material on the CD itself).

"The Drop" is Brian Eno's 1997 album that listeners and critics seem to fully comprehend or completely thumb their noses at. Granted, the album does lack the hefty amount of atmospheric air that made such releases as "Music For Airports", "Discreet Music" and "On Land" so innovative. However, "The Drop" does have a significant amount of material which after a few listens can be quite entertaining.
"The Drop" consists 17 tracks - all but one run for no longer than three minutes in length. Some tracks such as "Swanky", "M.C. Organ", "Blissed", "Rayonism" and "Dear World" are highly rhythmic in nature while others such as "Belgian Drop", "Out/Out", "Block Drop" and "Boomcubist" display a dry minimalist approach. There are also some chilling cinematic moments heard in "Hazard", "Boomcubist and "Back Clack". While there are these strong moments heard in the album, others such as "Slip Dip", "But If" and "Cornered" merely sound like underdeveloped ideas that begin and end before anything exciting begins to happen. Indeed, the entire album does feel like a disjointed soundtrack to an unreleased film. However, despite what seems like a lack of focus, there is somewhat of a cohesiveness throughout the entire disc and the pieces do oddly fit together in their own strange way.
The obvious joke with this CD is after listening to 16 short pieces, Eno pulls out the stops and closes the album with a nearly 33-minute piece, "Iced World". A shorter version of this piece was used as a hidden track for the Eno/Jah Wobble collaboration "Spinner" from 1995. Throughout its half-hour running time, there are minimalist-like chords, a simple two-note bass line and haunting repeated piano lines all set to a lightpaced rhythm. After a while the piece tends to sound like a long loop as it never builds with intensity or changes. This can be tedious after awhile however, it does provide "The Drop" with a strong finish.
Despite the negative criticism behind "The Drop", the album is still a satisfying and entertaining release from Brian Eno. It's not necessarily ambient in nature but does contain some worthwhile material.
In conclusion: Not a classic, but still very good.

On THE DROP, Brian Eno's first non-collaborative full-length work in a long time, one of the master sculptors of late Twentieth Century sonic landscapes is once again off on an expedition to discover new moods and textures. Comparatively speaking, each of these seventeen instrumental pieces contains more physical motion than some of Eno's older ambient albums. Some vignettes are drenched with a computerized soul that is nearly impossible to pin down -- particularly the Eastern-tinged, sorta funky, quasi-hip-hop of "M.C. Organ," and the syncopated rhythms and synth of the indescribably catchy "Swanky." But the THE DROP's standout is unquestionably the closing, half-hour-long "Iced World." With a mid-tempo backdrop of light, bell-like percussion and muted bass drum, Eno plays minimalist piano notes and synth figures. Throughout, a mid-to-high frequency drone whisks the listener off to an ambient netherworld. It's magical, if you're in a magic-receiving mood.

Yes, I agree with most of the reviews given- this is a bizarre collection of tracks, even by Eno's standards, but that is why it works!

Eno is able to somewhat encapsulate much of his non-vocal career into this album- there are slower, moody numbers (actually the whole lp is quite moody), beautiful uses of his synths, some Arabesque- almost lounge kind of tunes, the classic drawn out repetetive pieces, even some quasi-trance. This lp offers a condensed look at where Eno comes from and perhaps where he is going to.

This lp is certainly not for the faint of heart, to be sure, but give it time, as you need to give many Eno lps time- it will grow on you, as most Eno lps grow on people.

This really IS a bizarre, yet satisfying collection.

at first listening a nasty and very small CD. it seems to have no relation to any of enos previous work and gives the impression that he had a really bad headache during recording and decided to transmit it. by laser. directly to you. that's why i like it - in this country (the uk) eno is fast becoming a national treasure (consultant to big projects, talker about future things etc). it's nice to be reminded that he's essentially an anarchist and he will bite you if you get too close. spiky, unsettled music. you may not like it, but it likes you in a concerned but faintly sinister way. now stop crying.

I thought this cd was very strange and dark at first,then listened again at low volume while doing my taxes and it just seemed to really work on some deep level somewhere. It's actually quite beautiful and haunting. He never ceases to amaze me.

I can completely understand the low ratings on this album from some of the respondents. It has taken me a long time to appreciate this one, and I am an Eno fanatic. The first couple of times I listened to it, it made absolutely no impression on me--but like a lot of Eno, its charms come slowly. Still not amongst his best work--I think it may be somewhat hampered by his current fascination with generative music and the Koan product--but it does have some interesting songs, including "Hazard," "Boomcubist," and "Iced World." It *is* strangely Casio-like. I would say, "buy only if you have patience and appreciate Eno's other instrumental recordings."

With all his astounding, influential and historic albums that the man has released, it's a mystery as to how this came about in his body of work. Or is it? _The Drop_ is unique in the musical territory it charts; there isn't anything on Earth that sounds quite like it, but it just seems...dumb in some places. "Belgian Drop" really _does_ sound like an amateur noodling with a Casio. There are some fine moments to the album when its mantra of quirky bass and piano driven minimalism work to create a musical atmosphere that's quite imposing and interesting, that sound like the man who crafted On Land and Another Green World, and there's others that sound like the soundtrack to a bad 80s horror film.

The shorter songs tend to be the better ones, the nearly half hour long "Iced World" and similar stretchers get tiresome quite quickly. The tracks differ from each other a precious little; the sound selection is kept the same throughout with only the barest of structural alterations marking the changes from song to song.

To sum it up, it's an interesting but not wholly worthwhile detour from Eno's progression. Though I like it better than, say, _Nerve Net_, I preferred Neroli's vision of cerebral, emotionless ambient. Defintely not a consideration for Eno newcomers, or even Eno novices. I'd have to rank that this as one of his worst releases(not that it's crap, this is still Brain One we're talking about here, and it does manage quite a few notables before it's done spinning.)

 

He who expects never receives.This old saying has been haunting me for awhile now and I can't help but think this is appropriate for this release. I have listened to The Drop quite a number of times now, and I'm left with an empty feeling when I hear it. Now don't get me wrong. Eno is THE reason why I am on the air, but maybe it's a good thing to look at your old ghosts from time to time and admit that either your tastes have changed in a big way over the years ( which they certainly have), or Eno simply hasn't come up with any new that is worth while. What I hear are fragments of Eno's past, fragments that include Neroli and memories of Spinner and Shutov Assembly also. As well as Low and Heroes. This is almost an attempt at some sort of jazz, but it's a sort of jazz you can't quite pinpoint and consequently you're left feeling confused. Maybe this is the purpose of this recording. Eno has for a long time been at the fore front of modern music. The man is a pioneer and a genius in my book and listening to this record raises many questions for me like what is the purpose behind this ? Where is Eno heading ? Is he quietly having a laugh at us for taking it all so seriously ?

It has been close to five years since he has released anything. I personally am a big fan of his epics like Neroli and Thursday Afternoon etc. I like hearing the idea develop and seeing where it takes me as a listener. These releases allow you to look at your own thought processes and this I find interesting. As we all know Eno is a busy man. In fact one of the busiest men on the face of the Earth. Maybe this is why it has taken so long. Mark Edwards in his interview with Eno in The Sunday Times says Eno has not dried up with ideas and on the contrary he is still brimming. Apparently Eno himself was quite hesitant for several reasons in releasing this, mainly he was testing them to see if they stood the test of time and interesting ideas, and also he wanted to be quite sure that no one else was exploring this avenue. To quote Eno from the interview " In fact i can't stand jazz most of the time. But I love the idea of it, the idea of a music that's of the moment, self inventing, that's not frightened to be on the edge of falling apart." I think you need to keep this comment in mind when listening to The Drop.

Despite my misgivings, it's hard not to like this. In fact you want to like it because it is Eno. For me it is tracks like Slip, Dip with it's ghosts of Neroli, and the longest track on the cd Iced World as well as Hazard with it's sense of danger,that keep me going back and listening. I think if you are a new comer to the world of Brian Eno then you may get lost somewhat by listening to this. It's not what I would recommend to people for a starter. Still this is not to say it does not have it's worth. It's just so damn difficult to understand from time to time. I hear Eno saying that there is nothing to understand. Maybe it is yet another way of listening. I think I will keep that in mind. Still, it's always fantastic to hear anything new by Eno.

 

While listening to this album, I often wonder how many people in the world have heard it. It slipped into Eno's slot in record stores with little explanation or fanfare, and seemed at first a strange, abrupt detour from Eno's recent work. The melodies are harsh and strange, and seem to start and end at the same emotional level. Within these pieces there are no crescendos, sly asides, or even chord changes. They each cling resolutely to a weird sameness that harkens to a world where nothing really good or bad happens. That said, I've grown to really like this one. Perhaps it's because his legacy of risk-taking and frontier-forging has convinced me that Eno knows what he's doing and we should just trust him.