Another Day on Earth

Brian Eno

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hannibal
• ASIN: B0009HL7JM
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,760 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #26 in	Music > Jazz > Avant Garde & Free Jazz
  #44 in	Music > Dance & Electronic > Ambient
  #65 in	Music > Miscellaneous > Experimental Music

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Another Day on Earth is an ambient song cycle that is full of yearning and a mood that Brian Eno has called "brave and resigned." Even in song, Eno is a master of ambience, creating detailed soundworlds and lyrics that don't so much make sense as create a feeling. It's taken him 15 years to create a new vocal album, and the songs span that time, with the welcome reprise of "Under," a devastatingly beautiful hymn of loss and redemption that dates back to 1991's aborted, unreleased My Squelchy Life album. It's turned up before on the Cool World soundtrack and Eno Box II: Vocals. Joining "Under" as one of Eno's most sublime songs is "And Then So Clear," a paean of wasted longing and hope with its cycling rhythm, ethereal guitars, and pitch-shifted vocal harmonies. You can hear Eno's love of gospel music on "This" and "Bottomliners," and can almost picture them in a particularly pensive Baptist church with his double-tracked vocals emulating a solemn choir. But it's not all minor-key reflection. Eno also unleashes a couple of fractured tunes, like "Bonebomb," which is from a project in which he mutated the meter of poets reciting their works. Another Day on Earth is a more personal album from the ambient avatar, a recording of rare and meticulous maturity. --John Diliberto

Eno in Song: Performer and Producer

For Your Pleasure, Roxy Music	Here Come the Warm Jets	Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
Remain in Light, Talking Heads	Heroes, David Bowie	The Joshua Tree, U2

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More, please., June 16, 2005

By	Heavy Theta (Lorton, Va United States) - See all my reviews

How long has it been since he recorded with John Cale. 15 years, maybe? Eno's vocals are still haunting, his production remains forceful and organic. This is much better than a lot of the early reviews. The disc is inconsistent only in that he is throwing together a lot of different ambiant constructs. While a lot of folk are hoping for another Taking of Tiger Mountain, this really has a lot of Thursday Afternoon disassociation flowing through it. The fact that it's not for everybody only endears it more to his admirers. Don't kid yourself, this is one of the last giants doing what he does best.

87 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking Beauty, June 16, 2005

By	o dubhthaigh (north rustico, pei, canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

First, I can understand Spike's issue with Eno's music. If you're not into ambient, this will kill you. But it's like Diana Krall for me - I just can't stand that soporofic bore, and I'M FROM CANADA!
Now, on to the disc at hand....
"This" is simply the best kick off song on a CD since "Come Together" opened ABBEY ROAD. It is thematically akin to what Eno did on his collaboration with John Cale, and would fit right in with "Spinning Away." It's beyond clever and absolutely perfect even to the way it deconstructs at the end. From there, clearly his most recent effort with Fripp, the haunting EQUATORIAL STARS, certainly has had an impact on the ambient moods he creates throughout this disc. It is in so many ways a reflection of how exhausted with the travail of living another day on earth can be, and yet there is something that just refuses to cave in, for all the existential weight.
"Bottomliners" will haunt you long after its conclusion, and seems almost to be the twin of "Bone Bomb", whose sudden ending is as profound a statement on death as you'll ever get. "Caught Between" resonates with an intensity of a life lived with eyes and sensibilities finely attuned. "Under" is more effectively presented than in its 1991 life.
Most reviews mention the hymn-like quality of the songs. They are indeed spiritual statements and certainly not pop songs. Given the comparative wealth of information among his credits - quite a rare thing - this must be, without giving away too much, as personal a statement of his life at this point as he's ever made. Fripp and Bowie, his daughters, key people in his career are given thanks. There is obviously something going on that he wanted to say. And in ways what he wanted to say is what remains left unsaid. He unsays it poetically. And there is just a heartbreaking beauty about the music he creates.
If you are like our buddy, Spike, or just have Dutch roots (what the h#ll were they thinking in rejecting the EU constitution - like they have a presence in the world!), you just are not going to like this CD. If you have enjoyed what Eno has brought to Bowie, Fripp, TH, U2 and Daniel Lanois, you'll find thid disc impossible to put down. As essential as ANOTHER GREEN WORLD, or MUSIC FOR FILMS, or even the Berlin trilogy, this is stunning and reflectively provocative.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A RETURN, June 29, 2005

By	J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Thank God for Brian Eno. He has wrung extraordinary music from some of the most talented but middle of the road bands ( U2 and Talking Heads fans will take me to task for that, but I really believe he brings out the best from those two bands in particular.) He WAS the MUSIC in Roxy Music, before he was ditched by the insecure and jealous Brian Ferry. He pioneered the use of ambient sound in pop music. And now he has managed nothing short of the comeback of the year with this album. Another Day on Earth reportedly was 15 years in the making, but the tracks flow effortlessly and you would never know that one song here ( the beautiful "Under" ) was featured over ten years ago on an otherwise abysmal soundtrack album called "Cool World". There are touches of his ambient work. There are instantly and ridiculously catchy pop songs. There are stunning rhythmic instrumental dirges. Words that immediately come to mind while listening to this album: haunting, soothing, inspiring, unforgetable. Hands down this is his finest, most consistant vocal album since the landmark Another Green World. In a perfect world everyone would know who Brian Eno is, and everyone would have the priviledge to experience his music. This is sophisticated ( but not pretentious ) adult pop music. Old fans will be pleasantly surprised. New fans and the curious will be rewarded.