My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

Brian Eno/David Byrne | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: April 11, 2006
• Label: Nonesuch/WBR
• Copyright: 2006 Nonesuch Records, Inc.
• Total Length: 59:28
• Genres:
• ASIN: B0014JBLKE
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,206 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Influential Album Gets Its Due, April 15, 2006

By 

Kevin O'Conner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Audio CD)

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.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's STILL Years Ahead Of Its Time!, April 21, 2006

By 

John W. Evans (La Grande, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (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.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe that's what artists do, May 23, 2006

By 

Robert Carlberg (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Audio CD)

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.