Customer Reviews

Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've owned this album for over 8 years and I continually come back to it as my favorite U2 album. I find the individual songs and the album as a complete experience grow on me with each listening. When I first listened to it I enjoyed a few songs but now I can appreciate the entire album.

I enjoy all of U2's other albums but this one really moves me more than any of the others. Its music is more cerebral and experimental than the rest. Want to hear Brian Eno singing, Bono playing the piano, Edge singing and playing the organ, and Adam Clayton narrating? Then you want this album. I can understand not issuing this album as a "U2" album. If they had released it just like an ordinary album then many U2 fans would have been angry/confused by what they heard.

I like to think of U2 as an artistic band, especially as a counter balance to their popular face. I'm sure Eno had a strong influence over this album but I'm also confident that U2's members contributed a great deal of material. This album combined with the DVD "Classic Albums - U2: The Joshua Tree" gives you a very different picture of U2 than might come across while listening to their pop corpus. More than any of their B-Sides, this album is major departure from what one would expect from U2.

All that said, many people that like U2 would probably dislike this album, however if you own all their other albums you should really add this one to your collection.

In the mid 1990s, U2 took time out of A) saving the world and B) revamping their image by creating "Original Soundtracks 1" with longtime producer Brian Eno. This is NOT a U2 album and should not be considered a starting point for anyone new to the U2 library. That said, the Passengers sideline project was an interesting diversion from the ZooTV tour, and is an interesting extension of what the band had accomplished with "Achtung, Baby" and "Zooropa."

Here is an album that's almost like electronic jazz, perfect for a quiet Friday night with a glass of wine and no lights on. The tracks were fashioned around scenes for movies that do not exist, truly one of the more original album concepts of the last ten years.

You can hear Edge's guitar throughout "OS1," as well as Bono's voice, Larry's drums and Adam's guitar. But these elements are in the service of something distinctly different, the sounds of a futuristic city coming to life in a gently erotic sort of way. If that sounds esoteric and a little weird, well, that's "OS1."

The best track is without a doubt "Always Forever Now," which builds incessantly around a throbbing bassline, propelled forward into the night by Larry's amazing drumwork. This is a beautiful song, the lyrics consisting only of Bono's spoken word mantra.

"Miss Sarajevo" is also on the album, but it's eclipsed by the sci-fi erotica of "Your Blue Room," the strangely aquatic "Slug," Bono's piano figure on "Beach Sequence," Edge's ghostly vocals on "Corpse," and Eno's bizzare electronic vocals on "A Different Kind of Blue." The strangest song, without doubt, is "Elvis Ate America," a rap spoken by Bono that picks up where "Elvis Presley and America" left off on The Unforgettable Song (and surpasses it).

"OS1" isn't for everyone. It took me about 10 years to get used to it, because even though the gang from U2 are front and center, this ain't U2 music. Still, if you're willing to let go of your expectations and accept this as cinematic mood music, you'll have a good time. A very good time.

My favorite band in the world is U2. That said, this album is not a U2 album. It is a Brian Eno album, with help from many other musicians including Luciano Pavoratti (though I do admit most of the assistance comes from Bono, Edge, Larry, and Adam). It's a good, strong techno album,easy to relax to. However, it is not the long lost step between ZOOROPA and POP. It is the opposite of the 3 U2 1990's albums. Instead of Eno assisting U2, they assist his vision. It's all techno here folks, no memorable pop songs that you'll be hummin to yourself on the way back from lunch. However, if you want to see what U2 are capable of when they relinquish control and serve another creative light, go ahead. Anyone looking for the next "One" "Lemon" or "Gone" or "Discotheque" or should stay far away from Passengers. We can only hope Larry Mullen comes around to this album in a couple years so we can see a Passengers 2.

They wanted so desperately to call it a U2 album that they deemed it a failure. Or, at best, a partial success.

Passengers was a group made up of the members of U2, along with Brian Eno and whoever else this collective could drag along. Other members included Howie B and Luciano Pavorotti, for what it's worth...

Listen. "Original Soundtracks 1" wasn't meant to be a U2 album, nor an Eno album. It was instead the rather fruitful result of a collaborative effort between five men and a few guests. Brian Eno hatched the idea as a series of soundtrack pieces for films that don't actually exist; although one or two of the created works ended up in real films, the rest were based on purely fictional descriptions Eno created for the band to work backwards from.

Of the few that found their way into actual cinema, "Miss Sarajevo" is the most immediately affecting. The first time I heard this track, I was weirded out by the Pavorotti part, but with each subsequent listen, I've not only grown to love it, but I have realized how beautiful a contribution that vocal part was. It's been known to reduce me to tears every now and again.

Anyway, you can tell which songs are for fake movies by reading the liner notes. Eno has used anagrams to encode the names of all involved in the recording of a particular track.

All in all, this album is brilliant if you're not expecting a conventional U2 (or even Eno) album. If you can avoid the connotations each artist brings to the table, you'll most assuredly enjoy this album's sublime attention to detail.

I am a huge U2 fan, and I am openminded. What makes them my favorite band is their flare for experimentation and change. I bought this album because this was U2. However, I didn't expect a classic U2 album or anything close. If one has this mindset they will actually be pleasantly suprised. The appreciation grows. While the sound is for the most part not U2, it is in there.

There are hints of U2 though with the best examples being "Slug" and "Miss Sarajevo". Both tracks are wonderful as U2 songs and the later includes a great performance by Luciano Pavarotti (The single is really great too). Most of the album screams of Brian Eno, which is fine. If anything, this album exposes U2 fans to the ambient music of Eno. A few other worthy remarks are that this album actually includes vocals by Adam Clayton, "Your Blue Room", and a kind of rap by Bono on "Elvis Ate America", which is not the greatest track, but good for a chuckle or two.

Last of all, don't expect to find any of these songs in a movie, except Always, Forever, Now, which made it into a movie after the album. However, you can have fun reading the made up movie descriptions and realizing that a lot of the names are anagrams for different performers on the CD and U2.

When I worked at my college radio station in the early 80s, someone had taken a magic marker to the Talking Heads' "Remain in Light" and had written "File Under Eno."

Passengers should not be filed under Eno, nor should it be filed under U2. This one-off should be considered a new creation.

Yes, it is related to other Eno solo work - "On Some Faraway Beach," Before and After Science, Apollo, etc., etc., etc. - but Bono's vocals on this album add a new element to the Eno mix. Bono isn't singing anthem rock, or even the softer material that he's performed on other U2 albums. His voice works well with the soundscape-like material that predominates on this album.

P.S. That Pavarotti guy is a good singer too...

As a longtime fan of both U2 and Brian Eno, my expectations were high for this collaboration. I made the mistake at first of trying to listen to this in the morning, on the way to work. The choppy first track, "United Colours," turned me off, and by the time the beauty of "Slug" (pretty song, ugly title) was kicking in, I'd switched to another CD. The next time I gave the CD a listen, I was in bed, listening to headphones and gazing at the small slit of light beneath the bedroom door. That atmosphere meshed with the textures and mood of this album, and as "Slug" gave way to "Your Blue Room," I felt like a powerful medication was kicking in. The rest of the first side -- "Beach Sequence" in particular -- builds up to "Miss Sarajevo," one of the best tracks U2 or Eno has ever done. The blips and stomping drums of the next two tracks introduce the more experimental and ambient -- and less listenable -- side of the album. "Corpse" is relaxing, but the comedy track "Elvis Ate America" is painful to listen to. The last three tracks don't rescue it, and the album's second side is a disappointing anticlimax following the sweeping buildup of side one. This is a great CD. However, if it were trimmed to a seven- or eight-song EP, I'd be inclined to give it five stars.

I did not know much about the engima that is Brian Eno, formerly of Roxy Music. All I did know about this man whose musical meanderings I first encountered with Achtung Baby , Needless to say I had discovered one of the most Innovative rocki bands ever, and in my ignorance I gave nearly all credit to the band U2.

Then came out Zooropa, and Pop and All that you can't leave behind. If you have heard these, no doubt every album goes off in some territory. Interesting thing is that I didn't hear some albums chronologically, but in random order. Joshua Tree after Achtung Baby and War even after that followed by Pop and then Zooropa. throughout my listening I notices some albums had a very visceral feel to it and after I noticed that the production credits of All that you can't leave behind were Eno and Lanois's. I went back and noticed carefully that the visceral albums all had Eno's touch.

Curious to know about this person, I went to the local music store where I found a single copy of Eno's machinelike, unemotional poetry on space "Music for Airports 1" I didn't like what i heard.

And then I encountered musical genius in Passengers by accident which led me to know more about Eno and co and after some research on him for a week, I realized this guy is unlike other producers, an eccentric with his own philosophies of musical space, soundscapes and interestingly enough not being able to read music but having an ear for sounds and what sounds he creates on this CD..ffrankly im hooked, the whole sonic aura makes me want to write a book, or well..make a film around the music. this is a work of art, not for everybody though. If you are curious as to where all this originality comes from, look up Brian Eno on the web. As for U2, they have a high standing in my books because they understand intricacies, art, and the simple act of attaching Eno as Producer. Passengers was a good way to transcend and explore past the boundaries which trap rock musicians. I applaud u2 and Eno.

"Your blue room" is my favourite, I find it haunting. Each piece has its own ambience. If you do like this, I strongly recommend some things by Peter Gabriel, "Passion: Music from the Last temptation Christ" a soundtrack. as far as i know that is the only work with him on production credits.

as for passengers and this cd? well i think it will stay with me for a long time to come.

By combining one of the greatest bands in the world with one of the greatest producers, U2 and Brian Eno have created a truly magical album. Passengers has some of the most surreal sounds around, as well as some incredibly sexy songs and enough off the wall stuff to keep you listening.

This album is amazing! I remember working in a record store when this was released & I told myself before even listening to it that I would buy it. U2 is one of my all time favorite groups so I had to try it. It was much more than I expected. The whole album is really great & I find myself playing about 8 particular songs over & over. This is a different side of U2 & one should not expect anything similar to previous U2 releases. The most notable characteristics of U2's music that stands out are the guitars & Bono's vocals, but cut that down a little bit and add in more of Brian Eno's influence along with others - that is the sound of Passengers. One can really see Eno's influence of his ambient style throughout these songs. Other members of this group include Howie B & Luciano Pavarotti (tenor voice on "Miss Sarajevo").

This is some real mood music. Listening to this Cd is comparable to sitting on the top of a penthouse 4 AM overlooking some foreign exotic city waiting for the sunrise. It really puts you out there! I would definately recommend this to any fan of U2 whom has ventured to listen to other types of music outside of U2 releases or Rock music.