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Track Listings
| 1. America Is Waiting |
| 2. Mea Culpa |
| 3. Regiment |
| 4. Help Me Somebody |
| 5. The Jezebel Spirit |
| 6. Very, Very Hungry |
| 7. Moonlight in Glory |
| 8. The Carrier |
| 9. A Secret Life |
| 10. Come with Us |
| 11. Mountain of Needles |
| 12. Pitch to Voltage |
| 13. Two Against Three |
| 14. Vocal Outtakes |
| 15. New Feet |
| 16. Defiant |
| 17. Number 8 Mix |
| 18. Solo Guitar with Tin Foil |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Released in 1981, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is a collaboration between ambient pioneer Brian Eno and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. On Ghosts, the two strong-willed musicians manage to come to a meeting of the minds, blending Byrne's herky-jerky funk with Eno's atmospheric sound sculpting. More than anything, this is a large album, intent on pushing itself to the front of the listener's consciousness. Abundant percussion (everything from booming tribal drums to eerie electronics) reverberates in the background while Byrne and Eno toss all manner of found sounds, field recordings, and radio broadcasts into the mix. What results is a groundbreaking album that introduced a generation to the dazzling possibilities offered by electronic recording techniques. Highlights include "The Jezebel Spirit," an electro-funk workout that uses a recording of an exorcism as its focal point, and "Very, Very Hungry," a mysteriously ethereal display of electronic percussion and large-scale sonic architecture. --S. Duda
Product Description
Now approaching it's 25th anniversary, Brian Eno and David Byrne's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts appears downright visionary. With it's 'found' vocals, cut-and-paste arrangements, funked-up rhythms and embrace of influences from all around the globe, the duo's controversial work anticipated the creative cross-pollination an technological innovation of contemporary electronic dance music, world music, hip hop and alternative rock. You can hear echoes of My Life in The Bush Of Ghosts in the anthems Moby built around vintage samples, in the outrageously exotic beats of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, in the middle eastern-accented chill-out tracks of Thievery Corporation or Bjork's otherworldly soundscapes.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
124 of 126 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Reissues don't get much better than this.
First, the sound quality is much improved over the first CD reissue, warmer and more balanced, with slightly better definition.
Second, three of the tracks are actually longer than on the original release. "Mea culpa" is almost a minute and a half longer. "Regiment" is about 15 seconds longer, thanks to an extended intro. "The carrier" is 43 seconds longer, including an extra vocal in the middle that, upon comparison, was clearly excised from the original version. (In addition, "Moonlight in glory" takes a bit longer to fade out, though it does not otherwise seem to differ from the original.)
Third, the rather thick booklet actually has liner notes, with essays by David Byrne and Brian Eno (though theirs seem to be mostly David Byrne) and David Toop. You don't see liner notes much anymore, so this is a real treat.
Fourth, the new cover art on the slipcase perfectly illustrates the nature of the contents of the package. The image is actually that of the original album cover, only updated using current technology.
Fifth, according to the official web site created for this reissue, "David Byrne has personally overseen the tracklisting and remastering". I have seen too many artist catalogs remastered and reissued without the participation of the artists themselves, and the results are usually lacking in some respect. This is not the case here.
Finally, the video for "Mea culpa" is included. And at a decent resolution, too.
I have only two real complaints about this remastered edition. One is the omission of the track "Qu'ran", though I realize that particular choice was made back in the late eighties, when the first UK edition of the CD was released. It also would have been nice if the liner notes had included a mention of this track and the reasons for its absence, even if only in passing. In any event, if this track is a must-have for you, I recommend tracking down a used copy of the first US CD edition (Sire Records, 6093-2). The other is the omission of the credits identifying the voices used. David Toop mentions one of the sources in his essay, but none of the others are specifically mentioned anywhere.
Highly recommended.
First, the sound quality is much improved over the first CD reissue, warmer and more balanced, with slightly better definition.
Second, three of the tracks are actually longer than on the original release. "Mea culpa" is almost a minute and a half longer. "Regiment" is about 15 seconds longer, thanks to an extended intro. "The carrier" is 43 seconds longer, including an extra vocal in the middle that, upon comparison, was clearly excised from the original version. (In addition, "Moonlight in glory" takes a bit longer to fade out, though it does not otherwise seem to differ from the original.)
Third, the rather thick booklet actually has liner notes, with essays by David Byrne and Brian Eno (though theirs seem to be mostly David Byrne) and David Toop. You don't see liner notes much anymore, so this is a real treat.
Fourth, the new cover art on the slipcase perfectly illustrates the nature of the contents of the package. The image is actually that of the original album cover, only updated using current technology.
Fifth, according to the official web site created for this reissue, "David Byrne has personally overseen the tracklisting and remastering". I have seen too many artist catalogs remastered and reissued without the participation of the artists themselves, and the results are usually lacking in some respect. This is not the case here.
Finally, the video for "Mea culpa" is included. And at a decent resolution, too.
I have only two real complaints about this remastered edition. One is the omission of the track "Qu'ran", though I realize that particular choice was made back in the late eighties, when the first UK edition of the CD was released. It also would have been nice if the liner notes had included a mention of this track and the reasons for its absence, even if only in passing. In any event, if this track is a must-have for you, I recommend tracking down a used copy of the first US CD edition (Sire Records, 6093-2). The other is the omission of the credits identifying the voices used. David Toop mentions one of the sources in his essay, but none of the others are specifically mentioned anywhere.
Highly recommended.
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I got my copy of this CD the day it was released, as I had been waiting for this reissue for years. My 17-year-old daughter is very music-savvy. We were out driving in the car, and I played "Mea Culpa" and "Regimen" for her.
I asked her "When do you think this was recorded?" She told me "Probably sometime in the last ten years, maybe in the late 1990's." When I told her that David Byrne and Brian Eno recorded "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" in 1979-80 without the use of computers or digital equipment, she was stunned!
A lot of music that is now 25 years old has not stood the test of time; it sounds dated, cliched, dull. Not the music on this disc! It sounds as fresh, as scary, as exciting to me as it did when it was first released. The explosive percussion, the shimmering, chattering keyboards, the strange yet perfect "found" vocals... it's all here, in all its innovative glory. Six bonus tracks have been added, and although I feel they don't make the original album better, they add some insights into the music. Extensive liner notes serve to put this work into perspective as the true landmark that it is.
A masterpiece 25 years ago, it is still a masterpiece today and I suspect it still will be considered such 25 years from now. Run, don't walk, to wherever this disc is sold, and BUY IT. You will not be disappointed.
I asked her "When do you think this was recorded?" She told me "Probably sometime in the last ten years, maybe in the late 1990's." When I told her that David Byrne and Brian Eno recorded "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" in 1979-80 without the use of computers or digital equipment, she was stunned!
A lot of music that is now 25 years old has not stood the test of time; it sounds dated, cliched, dull. Not the music on this disc! It sounds as fresh, as scary, as exciting to me as it did when it was first released. The explosive percussion, the shimmering, chattering keyboards, the strange yet perfect "found" vocals... it's all here, in all its innovative glory. Six bonus tracks have been added, and although I feel they don't make the original album better, they add some insights into the music. Extensive liner notes serve to put this work into perspective as the true landmark that it is.
A masterpiece 25 years ago, it is still a masterpiece today and I suspect it still will be considered such 25 years from now. Run, don't walk, to wherever this disc is sold, and BUY IT. You will not be disappointed.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not since the Beatles reissues has a remastering provided such a dramatic improvement. Although it doesn't say so, I'd suspect engineer Greg Calbi (who mastered the original album) went back to the original 24-track masters, meticulously cleaned up each individual track, then recombined them digitally for maximum clarity. These don't sound like no safety masters! Vocals, synth lines, percussion and bass all stand out in fresh relief. Comparing this issue to the 1990 Sire CD (or even the 1980 LP) is like the Claritin ad, lifting a haze you didn't even know was there.
The track layout follows the 1981 re-issue, which replaced the track "Qu'ran" with the single B-side "Very Very Hungry" after the Islamic Council of Great Britain complained. Interesting that 25 years later (in these days of Danish cartoons) we still can't afford to offend.
The seven bonus tracks are mostly familiar. "Pitch to Voltage" is called "On The Road to Zagora" on the widely-circulated bootleg of outtakes "Ghosts," "Two Against Three" is "The Friends of Amos Tutola" and "Number 8 Mix" is "Les Hommes Ne Le Sauront Jamais." "Defiant" is a radically remixed "Qu'ran" with a different vocal. "New Feet" showed up on Eno's 1980 KPFA interview (as untitled). "Vocal Outtakes" is 0:36 of exactly that and "Solo Guitar with Tin Foil" sounds like Byrne testing a long delay. Still these tracks make a nice adjunct, and needless to say, sound WAY better than on the bootleg.
The only tracks missing are the real "Qu'ran" and "Into The Spirit Womb" ("The Jezebel Spirit" with the original Kathryn Kuhlman vocals, which her estate still refuses to license.)
I haven't mentioned the music yet. Somehow, if you're reading this, I doubt I need to.
The track layout follows the 1981 re-issue, which replaced the track "Qu'ran" with the single B-side "Very Very Hungry" after the Islamic Council of Great Britain complained. Interesting that 25 years later (in these days of Danish cartoons) we still can't afford to offend.
The seven bonus tracks are mostly familiar. "Pitch to Voltage" is called "On The Road to Zagora" on the widely-circulated bootleg of outtakes "Ghosts," "Two Against Three" is "The Friends of Amos Tutola" and "Number 8 Mix" is "Les Hommes Ne Le Sauront Jamais." "Defiant" is a radically remixed "Qu'ran" with a different vocal. "New Feet" showed up on Eno's 1980 KPFA interview (as untitled). "Vocal Outtakes" is 0:36 of exactly that and "Solo Guitar with Tin Foil" sounds like Byrne testing a long delay. Still these tracks make a nice adjunct, and needless to say, sound WAY better than on the bootleg.
The only tracks missing are the real "Qu'ran" and "Into The Spirit Womb" ("The Jezebel Spirit" with the original Kathryn Kuhlman vocals, which her estate still refuses to license.)
I haven't mentioned the music yet. Somehow, if you're reading this, I doubt I need to.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Had to...
...purchase because price was too good. Had this on vinyl, and cassette back in the day. One of my five favorite records and Help Me Somebody and The Jezebel Spirit are two of the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Dragonsmoke
5.0 out of 5 stars
and it STILL makes an impression
If you've read the other reviews and still aren't sure if this is something you'll like to hear, don't worry about it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Donald E. Gilliland
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not buying but it still worth a five star
The track "Qu'ran" was excluded from this release without comment. However, in an interview for Pitchfork Media about the 2006 reissue, Byrne said:
"Way back when the record... Read more
"Way back when the record... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Bill Fleming
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Do you hear voices?"
Brian Eno + David Byrne / My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
(18 audio tracks + a video on a single CD):
Odd music and strange voices
Videos added to audio... Read more
(18 audio tracks + a video on a single CD):
Odd music and strange voices
Videos added to audio... Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. Bynum
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Ground Breaker From Adventurous Artists
Brian Eno and David Byrne are two of the most adventurous musicians out there. Off the heels of the masterful "Remain In Light", the Talking Heads biggest names came up with an... Read more
Published on May 13, 2011 by Ashley M. Blanchard
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Had To Hear It Twice
Upon first listen, I disliked this album intensely because of the presence of "vocals." The outer packaging makes zero mention of vocals when listing the instrumentation, so I... Read more
Published on March 15, 2011 by Kenneth M. Goodman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ironing Music across the Coral Sea
I was ironing while peering out my window across the Coral Sea, thinking about the intervening years between 1989 and 2009. How much is a long time? Read more
Published on October 26, 2009 by Paul M. Saxby
5.0 out of 5 stars
No extraneous filler
After almost thirty years, this is still one of the most beautiful and interesting CDs I've heard. Back in 1981, the original "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" was a revelation that... Read more
Published on September 6, 2009 by William Jens Jensen
4.0 out of 5 stars
Atmospheric masterpiece
On this 1981 collaboration, Byrne & Eno are assisted by eleven musicians on instruments like bass, bodhran, bata sticks, congas, drums, guitars, synths, various percussion and... Read more
Published on August 6, 2009 by Pieter Uys
3.0 out of 5 stars
Political correctness gone haywire
I'm being charitable about giving this three stars, when it deserves only one. I own the original album copy, and the first CD release of "My Life.... Read more
Published on June 29, 2009 by Gerard J. Voytek
So You'd Like to...
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