Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror

Brian Eno, Harold Budd

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 31, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1980
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Editions Eg Records
• ASIN: B000003S2M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #161,164 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Limited Edition Japanese "Mini Vinyl" CD, faithfully reproduced using original LP artwork including the inner sleeve. Features most recently mastered audio including bonus tracks where applicable. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gauzy/Dreamlike, January 28, 2001

By A Customer

I have all of Brian Eno's ambient CDs. This one is my favorite. The dreamlike textures on this CD paint gauzy dreamlike worlds of filtered-light images. The piano used on this CD has haunting tonal qualities and sets the mood for the album. I use this CD as "wallpaper" while I work, for meditation, and to fall asleep to. Most of the ambient music I listen to is synthesizer-based (Steve Roach/Robert Rich) but the featured instrument on this CD is a piano. And it works beautifully. The track "First Light" sets the mood for the whole CD. A dreamy piece that defines the passage of time and love lost. Beautifully done. This CD is a flawless gem. If you like this CD check out "The Pearl" which is also by Eno/Budd. These two CDs could have been sold together as they both have the same tonal themes.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An ageless masterwork..., December 19, 2001

By	funktion (The Synaptic Gap) - See all my reviews

After his genre-defining AMBIENT 1: MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS, Brian Eno collaborated with minimalist composer Harold Budd for AMBIENT 2: THE PLATEAUX OF MIRROR, which proved to be a natural pairing. By taking Budd's solo piano compositions and applying his unique sound treatments, Eno managed to enhance a startlingly spare work, yet keep its simplicity intact. On many tracks, Eno's additional sounds are so subtle that they easily mesh with any background noise that may surround the listener. Budd's delicate piano work, though, is always at the fore, slowly creating a quiet, yet expansive, sonic landscape. Here both musicians are wholly in their element, making this an album of truly astounding beauty.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Harold Budd, part 1, September 4, 2002

By	rubidium84 (Ft. Calhoun, NE) - See all my reviews

This album and the follow-up, "The Pearl", really have to be taken together in the same listen. They both feature the same sparse piano melodies over a treated Eno-scape. These two albums are my favorites for relaxation, reading, painting - you name it, they're great for it. That's why it's called "Ambient" music - it is made to fit in with almost any atmosphere, blending with, as Erik Satie once said, "The sounds of the knives and forks at dinner".
My favorite time to listen to these records is in a rainstorm, especially with distant thunder in the background. The rain sounds seem to bring out subtleties in the music that can't be heard otherwise.
So if you like Eno's "Ambient 1" or "Discreet Music" or Steve Roach's "Structures from Silence", this is the album for you.