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This is a very difficult cd to find at present, and i was fortunate enough to get it for a reasonable price. I started looking for it after i found out that the beautiful song i'd been listening to on a friend's unlabeled mixed cd was the title track to Evening Star. The opening track (Wind on Water) is a very strangely crafted piece of music. It almost never establishes a "tonic" or resolving note, yet the whole thing sounds like home. The guitar work in it hardly sounds like a guitar, and is mixed very well with the synth in the back. the piece sounds like you're watching something naturally epic happening, like cells going through mitosis.
The title track, which is still my favorite, is probably the most visionary and picture-painting track on the cd. i don't like the word soundscape because it's so cliche and abused. robert fripp really shines on this piece, and makes his guitar expressive of things that most guitar players find great difficulty in bringing to life. the beautiful thing about this song, and really the whole album, is how *subtle* it all is. it never hits you in the face like a rock song, no matter how loud you turn it up. the whole thing plays through like a soundtrack to something wonderful happening under a microscope, or through a telescope. either way, it's very cosmic.
the only thing i'd criticize is the last track, "An Index of Metals." if you're familiar with King Crimson (Fripp's band), you'll know what i mean by this. like a handful of Crimson pieces, it takes a while to get started, with what seems like several minutes of near-silence at the beginning, and then pretty much sits back and enjoys a half hour of disturbing noise and dark ambience. it's a contrast, as the rest of the album is very light and relaxing. It's reminiscent of Crimson's "The Mincer," or "Starless and Bible Black" on the Starless and Bible Black album, so if you can dig it, then it's pretty intense.
Overall, i'd highly recommend the album, and hopefully they'll re-release it soon so everyone can listen to it without paying 40 dollars for the cd. If you're looking for truely "ambient" music (meaning not pumped up dance beats with spacey music in the back, but really atmospheric stuff), then you'll probably be more than satisfied with it. on the other hand, it might not be fully appreciated by someone who expects something much more defined and typical of a newer generation, like house music or techno-ambient stuff like Orbital.
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Top reviews from other countries
LEE BRIDGES
Unlistenable surface noise.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 22, 2020Jamee Gibson
Excellent pressing, great service!
Reviewed in Canada on January 16, 2022
