Customer Reviews

Music for Films

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've bought a few of the other Eno Remasters and while they're better than the original CDs they might not be worth the price unless you're a completist or an audiophile. This CD is an exception. I've always disliked the original CD version with its distortion and sound as if heard through cotton batts. This remaster is lightyears away from the original CD. It is crisp and clear and spacious. I hear things I've never heard before. It is amazing. If you like the original--run, don't walk to get this.

Does anyone have the final word on the degree to which Astralwerks (sic) have screwed up these Eno 'remasters'?

'Another Green World' has the first bars of 'Everything merges with the night' missing, 'Climate Study' is missing from 'More Music For Films, and someone below states that the intro to
'Quartz' on this album is also truncated. Are Astralwerks just a bunch of amateurs or something? Eno must be well pleased with this mess..

It's amazing to think that this was recorded in 1978. It sounds timeless. This must have exercised a huge influence on the whole generation of ambient music that appeared in the following two decades, but still sounds more interesting than most.

While sonically similar to Music for Airports, the very brevity of the tracks here works in its favour. None outstay their welcome, whereas with MfA, one's mind pretty quickly wanders (though you might argue that that is precisely the objective -- in his original sleevenotes, Eno suggests that all of the Ambient series be played at barely audible levels.) While MfA is meditative enough for that to work it would be a shame to use this CD in the same way. The structure and space of each piece deserve close attention.

I don't know if any of these tracks made it into films (I wouldn't be surprised) but many of them were staple soundtrack fare for BBC documentaries for many years, as were tracks from Eno's excellent "Apollo" album.

This was a second Eno album I bought and over the years it has become one of my favorites. It's a soundtrack to sentiments of wonder, bliss, melancholy and obliqueness. Although the sequencing of the tracks on the album is something to get used to, once it's under you skin it makes perfect sense. Not Ambient really, I think the tracks are etudes; exercises in harmony, timbre, and in this light Eno is the Great Fisherman who reels you in via intuition. Classical, low key, playful and sad. Thank you, Brian.

The music here rates 5 stars, but be warned: the opening sustained note at the beginning of track 10 (Quartz) starts late, cutting off about half of the note. If that's not important to you, order away.

...I like it in _bits_. The problem with this album is that while the music on it is really wonderful, the sequencing of it seems to have been done by dartboard. There's not a lot here in terms of 'flow' that lends to a rewarding listening experience, and the jumping around that happens gradually becomes something that detracts from the otherwise-excellent content. Musically, the works here tend to fall into a category somewhere between pure ambience and the turf that Eno was exploring on "Another Green World", and all of it is top-notch. But listening to it, where short bursts occur where one would want a longer version, where rhythmic workouts sit obliquely beside tranquil tracks, and so on, gets frustrating. My suggestion would be to get it, then use a CD-R (MD? cassette?) and figure out a sequencing you like better.

Eno accomplished, with this 1978 release, something that few, if any, purported "new age," "instrumental" or "ambient" musicians have done before or since: create a tightly structured soundscape with timeless, melancholy, nearly archetypal themes. The brevity of the tracks is appealing (though on a few one wishes to hear more). The listener passes through movements that are intensely personal - at times melancholy or playful - other times simply profound. The invitation of the title of the album is to imagine the kind(s) of film(s) for which this music would be a good soundrack. Such a film would, by necessity, explore the deepest underlying themes of life - the longing for the eternal, the brevity of biological existence, our essential loneliness, and our relationship with God. This album is not only one of the great ambient works of all time - it may stand one of the greatest of all recordings. Time will tell.

I really enjoyed listening to all of this entire album,this was my second "Brian Eno" purchase, the other being "Ambient 1/Music for Airports" which I bought a few years ago.
I'VE BEEN A FAN OF Brian Eno's ever since I listened to both Bowie's"Low and Heroes" album and watching the documentary film of the making of U2'S "Unforgetable Fire" album 1984.
I think this album is a continuation of his work from "Roxy Music" in the 1970's and from his album "Another Green World" in 1974.
I feel that the reviewer who described this recording that "Brian presents 18 portholes into 18 different worlds that range from ethereal to downright eerie" was extreamly accurate and best suited to this ambient music.
I wasn't fustrated as some people were with the length of the tracks, he did follow through with what he intended to do with his music and I was fulfilled with listening to this disc, I didn't feel like I wanted more,It was very satisfying.
The Liner notes says these tracks are fragments, which is a good description for the tracks since they only clock in at a average of 2 minutes a piece.
Wonder, bliss, melancholy and obliqueness, low-key and sad are words that hits it right on the mark.Thank-you Brian for this interesting and challenging work.

'Music For Films' was my first Brian Eno purchase. It was a good choice, because it prompted me to check out many of his other works as well.

The best description of the album I could give is that Brian presents 18 portholes into 18 different worlds that range from ethereal to downright eerie. It's perfect for late light listening in the dark with headphones.

Recommended for any Brian Eno fan, or anyone who enjoyed the instrumental tracks on David Bowie's 'Low' and 'Heroes.'

Upon closely examaning this album one might be perplexed by 18 seperate ambient pieces that rarely reach the 3 minute mark. But the originator of this genre can and does pull it off very nicely with MUSIC FOR FILMS.

True it does seem that many of the pieces are just starting to flow into a groove but instead simply end. Most notable for me is M386, which features an excellent bass riff, that sounds similar to Lalo Schiffrin's Dirty Harry soundtrack.

SLOW WATER is also a favorite of mine that I wish would have been lengthened because of its light phased airyness, it does sound like slow moving liquid.

Somehow this minor inconveinence can be easily overlooked simply because most of the pieces contain similar instrumentation, and overall atmosphere. Once you have listened to the running order of the pieces you become more familar with how and when the tempos and instrumentation changes.

MUSIC FOR FILMS is a nice compliment to MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS and serves as a more ambient pop music length, if there is such a thing. This is a great alternative when you have become tired of the lengthy repetition of the latter but still want to hear the same sort of music.

The book entitled THIS AMBIENT CENTURY, which chronicles ambient music from turn of the century Classical all the way up to the present has a good couple paragraphs about this album, which involves a Pennsylvannia steel mill and LSD. If nothing else it gives a great perspective on this album that is mostly passed over by Ambient fans.

Besides this magical description it contains a large ammount of other Eno related things. Brian Eno also writes the forward so check this out at your local library as well.