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I had a cassette tape of this album that I bought when I worked at a music store in 1985. I played it until it was worn out! I could never find another one at all, in any format, anywhere. When I asked others if they had ever heard of it or the composer, they would look at me like I was crazy. They thought that I meant his brother Brian, who I also love. I could never find anything at all. Thank god for the internet and Amazon! You rock! Great album Roger!
"Voices" is an album of meditative piano pieces by Roger Eno with treatments by his brother Brian. It's very reminiscent of the Eno/Budd collaborations "The Plateaux of Mirrors" and "The Pearl", and like those works, it's music that can either be listened to seriously or just played at low volume in the background. In other words, it's "as ignorable as it is listenable". If you're an ambient music fan, you owe it to yourself to get this album.
I first came across Roger Eno on Brian Eno's Music for Films III where he performed the wonderfully simple but hugely effective 'Fleeting Smile'. This album is very much in the same vein.
Apparently often compared to Satie and Debussy, Roger Eno's work reminds me at times of Angelo Badalamenti in it's chord progressions and evocative moodiness. It is far more pared down though, not necessarily simplified, but stripped to it's basic components. The essential instrument on all tracks is the acoustic piano but this is treated with echo, reverb and backed up with subtle background electronica. The overall effect can be amazingly calming and uplifting but also, at times, a bit gloomy.
I suppose, given the titles, some tracks might sound a bit like the musical equivalents of Jack Vettriano pictures, of which I am not a huge fan. But the music is far more subtle than that, and far more open - to your own interpretations, associations and memories. Leave the titles to one side and simply immerse yourself in the music. You can put the album on in the background and treat it as 'ambient' - nothing wrong with that at all - but the pieces do also reward actually being listened to, rather than simply heard. Either way, they are evocative, gentle and contemplative.
The quality of the MP3 tracks seems fine - downloaded with a bit rate of around 210Kbps.
I remember discovering the quite beauty of Maryland's rolling hills and winding roads.We had this Cd playing in the car and it seemed to be the perfect guide, letting us see details we probably would have missed otherswise. Unfortunately I did not take videos of all the scenic drives that we had been blessed to see - I have about 40 favorites in New England, New York, Pa and Virginia. But anyway thanks to the miracle of HD YouTube videos I can re-ride many of these drives in the comfort of my living room again and again.And what I do is turn off the volume of the videos and watch them with this Cd as the accompanying background music. What happens is amazing since both complement and reinforce each other's beauty.This is one of the three CDs that is prefection itself for watching the splendors of a nostalgically beautiful highway or road unfold before you. The other two are Harold Budd- Brian Eno collabarative masterpiece Cds , Plateau of Mirror and The Pearl. I think I love ambient music because it so corresponds aurally to nature's visual images. As beautiful as scenery can get, a masterfully crafted ambient piece enhances the splendor still more. When Eno composed his legendary Apollo CD he was trying with all his genius to capture the elegant otherness and vastness of outer space and look how famously he succeeded. These other Cds seemed to have been created to tease out still further the quiet splendor of scenic drives with their shadow dappled roads and peaceful cloud studded blue skies. These Cds are just as effective watching color slides or still images but for some reason the slowly moving image cannot be surpassed.
Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2000
I believe this was R. Eno's first album and it is, along with "Between Tides," (which for some reason is hard to find) his most successful. "Voices" has a lot in common with the Eno/Budd classics "The Pearl" and "Plateaux of Mirror" (the latter of which is also puzzingly hard to find), but is more literal, less moody. A listener will find that, much like Brian Eno's work, the compositions adapt well to a variety of moods and landscapes. The album's chameleon-like quality makes it as relevant now as when it first came out. Later R. Eno would descend miserably into New Agey "chamber music," but has recently surfaced from that muck with "Damage," an album also worthy of investigation.
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2006
With atmospheric treatments provided by brother Brian, "Voices" is a lovely album that merits positive comparison to works by Harold Budd. As other reviewers have noted, it has a very similar feel to the ambient classic "The Pearl". It is a bit different however, a little less abstract perhaps. I've been listening to this album for about 20 years now and it definitely holds up.
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