Customer Reviews

The Pearl

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I own at least 20 Brian Eno and Harold Budd albums. This one is by far my favorite. It is NOT repititive. If you think it is then listen to these guys other albums.

I use this CD in many ways: for example, when stressed it calms me, when unsettled it settles me.

Eno and Budd are each unique and this CD is a clear standout as my favorite.

I bought this album in 1984 when it first came out and listened to it while laying down on my bed. It made me feel sad, bringing me closer to my true emotional self. It made me pay more attention to the fine details. I listened intensely and felt overwhelmed. I fell asleep. This album is intense in how it will affect you, even though the music is sparse and minimalistic. If you think walking alone in San Francisco when the fog is rolling in is a good time, then this album is for you. It will surround you as you begin to notice fine details, to hear the wind in the trees and the sound of the rain just beginning to fall.

If my house was burning to the ground, and I had to save just one CD, this would be it. I bought this on vinyl the day it was released, and played it over and over until the needle wore through. Never before had I heard such spatial depth, and like much of the classical music to which I respond, this music evokes endless landscapes and feelings of nostalgia. It's interesting that some 23 years later, I'm still hearing nuances for the first time. As Mies Van Der Rohe once said, "God is in the details", and because of that, this music grows neither old nor tiring.

My favorite member of Brian Eno's ambient series has always been Ambient 2. Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror is an utterly beautiful record that showcases the brilliant talent of two already seminal artists. Released in 1980, the record came at a time when both Budd and Eno were pioneering ambient methodology. Harold Budd is one of the twentieth century's most recognizable pianists, not through technical skill but his distinctive minimalist style. Brian Eno always innovates at every step of his career, and he excels in producing just as much as music making. In Ambient 2, the dream team was assembled and an album of airy, minimalistic beauty was crafted. Ambient 2 is an album that carries a shocking amount of emotion with very little sound. Only simple, delicate piano chords are in the music, permeated by Eno's excellent production. Ambient 2 really is the best ambient album of it's kind. It's the kind of album that is engaging when you want it to be, and discreet when you want it to be in the background. You can have just as much fun listening carefully as falling asleep on your couch when it is playing.

Four years later, Budd and Eno decided to collaborate again and release an album in the vein of it's predecessor. The Pearl is very similar to Plateaux. Enough so that it could be considered a direct sequel. While Budd has a very distinctive style, Eno has always been about changing and developing his own style, making The Pearl a rare case, something familiar. So if you are not into minimalistic piano music, or ambient music, then this is not for you. But if you liked Ambient 2, then this record is completely triumphant. Ambient 2 left listeners begging for more, and The Pearl delivered the goods, and then some. The Pearl is more delicate, relaxing, better produced, and memorable.

Budd has opted for a more varied approach here. Ambient 2 was essentially full of happy, momentous ambient music that did not challenge the listener much. The Pearl has some vaguely dark moments. In songs such as Dark Eyed-Sister and Foreshadowed, the mood is slightly melancholy and mysterious. This is good because, these moments seem to make the album more realistic and engaging. There are also some songs where Budd makes some of his chords dissonant and even accidental, namely The Silver Ball and The Pearl. When he does this, those chords mixed with the subtlety of the music makes for a kind of mystery that is biting, and yet somehow searches for no resolution in the ears. Even when he hits an odd chord, the music is soft, and there is no shock here. It's that production, though, that cements the bond between the listener and the artists.

The album is better produced than Ambient 2, which already had fantastic production. While Harold Budd's piano sounds very bare and natural on Ambient 2, it sounds more softer, more produced here. His playing is just as strong, but easier on the ears. Eno and accompanying producer David Lanois are just as important as Harold Budd, who is obviously center stage. While Budd is the backbone and the real draw of the music, Eno and Lanois create the atmosphere with a backdrop of ambient sound that makes even the melancholy numbers feel warm and enveloping. This record is truly a safe place to let your mind wander. Always relaxing, even when it is stimulating.

The first time I listened to this album, I was blown away. I can think of very few other albums that I felt the same love for on the first listen, mostly unanimously great records such as Loveless, OK Computer, and maybe Siamese Dream. That's all obvious stuff. I was skeptical about The Pearl and I was completely enthralled from the beginning. Upon turning on the album, it seemed to end far faster than it should have despite it's regular length. And I could not deny that everything I just heard was amazing. Great ambient record.

This album can not get old! Every listen is a new journey Into the world of yourself. It has the ability to plow down the ego allowing you to listen to consciousness. Wake up!

I love Brian Eno and Harold Budd's music. The drifting effect of ambient music is soothing yet interesting to the ear and it really does create an atmosphere in the space in which you are playing it.

The Pearl is mostly "treated piano" (gosh, as a lifelong player, I sometimes shudder at what they do to my favorite instrument, but it sounds divine.) Even though there is less of the electronic spacey effect, these pieces create an incredible sense of mood and emotion. "Late October" really has the feel of the regret of late autumn, when cold winter is on the way and only a ghost of happy times in summer and a glorious fall remain in a russet-colored landscape. "An Echo of Night" is mysterious and dreamy.

Though the Ambient 1-4 were my favorite albums by Eno and Budd, Pearl is pushing its way right up there for "most listened-to." If you are a fan, I'd say this is one that you have to have. I just love it.

this music gives me a blissful, somewhat cleansed feeling. there is a bittersweet yet forgiving tone throughout the album. i hear hints of brian eno's thursday afternoon, the moon and the melodies and this mortal coil's filigree and shadow. while listening to the pearl i sometimes remember dreams of living and breathing underwater.

Add me to the chorus of adoring fans of this gorgeous record.

The Pearl was my introduction to ambient music 20 years ago. Since then, I've purchased a few dozen ambient or semi-ambient CDs by Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Michael Brook, Daniel Lanois, and others, but the Pearl remains my favorite. It's beautiful, soothing, and as others have said, less repetitive than most ambient records.

The Pearl was recorded almost 30 years ago. For this release, it has been meticulously remastered and sounds better than ever.

If you're new to ambient music, this is a great place to start. If you're already familiar with any of the ambient CDs by Eno or Budd but for some reason missed this one, now's your chance to have one of their very best.

I have several other Brian Eno albums, and this one fits right in with the rest. It is a beauty to behold. It is really relaxing and conjures imagery in your mind's eye. It tells a story, and you can tag along to see the story unfold. What you perceive is largely determined by your mindset at the time when you listen to it. If you are stressed out, it most certainly will calm you down. If you are already calm, you may reach a meditative state. This music is probably best listened to with headphones while lying down in the dark, when you don't have anything on your agenda for the rest of the day. Play it in the day and it might make you sleepy, which you might want to avoid if you have things to do. It's gentle, yet powerful. You're going to feel something pleasant from it, for sure.

I love to listen to this CD at night, when I need to decompress. But this CD is really lovely to listen to. I understand that the music is mostly Budd's, but I have known about Brian Eno since the early 80s, when one of his pieces was used as the intro music for John Schaefer's WNYC radio program "New Sounds." I have to say that Eno's partnership with Budd here makes for richer music. Sorry, Eno-fans! But I'm just pretty new to this style of music. I'll probably change my mind next week :)

But the music on this CD is absolutely dreamy, but subtly engaging at the same time, without clamoring for attention - my mind just follows it without worrying about where it's going. It seems to know.

In other words, it's not typical New Age garbage. (I was a massage therapist in my younger days, and I already KNOW what THAT sounds like!)

I just lie back, listen and bliss out. This is what I call organic music.