Ambient 1/Music For Airports

It’s very ethereal and atmospheric, which is probably exactly what it was going for. Even then, it’s too ambient and out there for me making it a bit of a lull at times.

Ambient 1: Music for Airports, by Brian Eno (42:20, 4 tracks, debut Ambient,1979) Ambient (genre defining) I could see myself listening to this at work or going to sleep – great background music (which is exactly what is designed to be.) The definitive masterpiece of the ambient genre. Originally inspired by Eno's frustration with the "uninspired" background music at Cologne Bonn Airport, the record was designed to replace stressful "canned music" with sounds that induce calm and a "space to think". While not the first quiet music ever made, it was the first to be explicitly labeled "ambient". Reviewers often compare the music to abstract painting, where soundscapes "hang" in a room like visual art rather than following traditional melodic or rhythmic progression. The album consists of four long, untitled movements created using asynchronous tape loops that rarely repeat the same combination of notes. 1/1 Acoustic piano (Robert Wyatt) and soft synthesizer loops. Described as "luscious," "gorgeous," and the most relaxing track. 2/1 Wordless female vocal loops of varying lengths. Often called "heavenly" or "angelic," though some find it "ghostly". 1/2 A mix of piano and vocal loops. Noted for its human warmth and "cathedral-like" texture. 2/2 Purely synthesizer-driven (ARP 2600). Regarded as the most "space-ambient" track; luscious and slow. Ambient 1: Music for Airports is a studio album by the English musician Brian Eno. The first Eno album released under the label of ambient music, a genre intended to "induce calm and a space to think" while remaining "as ignorable as it is interesting". While not Eno's earliest entry in the style, it is credited with coining the term. The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths, and was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal as an alternative to "canned" Muzak and easy listening styles. The album was the first of four albums released in Eno's Ambient series, which concluded with 1982's Ambient 4: On Land. Rolling Stone credited Music for Airports with defining the ambient genre. In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it the greatest ambient album of all time. In 1975, Eno was hospitalized after a car accident. While he recovered at home, his friend Judy Nylon brought him an album of classical harp music and set it playing quietly against the sound of the rain against the window. The sound blended with the rain outside the room and, unable to get up and adjust the volume, Eno allowed it to create an ambience aligned with his fluctuating attention. Alongside this experience, his concept of ambient music would build upon composer Erik Satie's idea of "furniture music", music that is intended to blend into the ambient atmosphere of the room and "mingle with the sound of the knives and forks at dinner" rather than be directly focused upon. The album Discreet Music (1975), per Eno's own judgement, was his first foray into ambient music. After spending several hours waiting for a flight at Germany's Cologne Bonn Airport and becoming annoyed by its uninspired atmosphere, Eno conceived an album of music "designed for airports". He intended for the album to still function within various other situations. Ambient music was then a "relatively modest field", "more a concept than a genre", and mostly created against the context of dominant muzak practices. Eno's concept was distinct from elevator music and easy listening's "derivative" background noise approach, and was instead to be used as a means of creating space for thought. In the album's liner notes, Eno explained, “Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to `brighten' the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and levelling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” Eno later named the Ray Conniff Singers and the "Borgesian idea" of a self-generated "world in reverse" which is centered around music as inspirations during this period. [Eno] was in part striving to create music that approximated the effect of visual art. Like a fine painting, these evolving soundscapes don't require constant involvement on the part of the listener. They can hang in the background and add to the atmosphere of the room, yet the music also rewards close attention with a sonic richness absent in standard types of background or easy listening music. Eno began work on Music for Airports while producing the 1977 David Bowie album Low in Berlin. In the studio of the German producer Conny Plank, he recorded individual notes sung by three female German singers. After returning to England, Eno recorded Fred Firth on guitar and Robert Wyatt on piano. Eno turned the recordings into tape loops. Eno said the album was "conceived as deliberately austere and unemotional" and "was essentially made by machines". With regards to their instrumentation, dynamic range, timbre, harmony, tonality and texture, the tracks are confining and feature a "contained repertory of pitches, gestural shapes, and motivic content that lasts throughout its entirety". Variations of timbre are seen when comparing the tracks, such as the warm "1/1" contrasting with the cold and dark "1/2". They are without backing rhythms and instead irregular repetition. Eno has stated a connection to death. Not wanting it to be "all bright and cheerful", Eno, a self-proclaimed "nervous flyer", considered the feelings that arise from being at an airport, including the supposed mortality salience and hoped the album would bring solace: "Really, it's music to resign you to the possibility of death". John L. Waters described the album as a "logical progression from the work of the experimental and systems-based ‘serious’ musicians (John White, Gavin Bryars, Christopher Hobbs, Michael Parsons, Michael Nyman) that Eno recorded and championed for his label Obscure". "1/1", features piano loops performed in an arrhythmic manner – piano being the dominant instrument throughout the album. The track arose from two pianists improvising whereby neither could clearly hear the other, leading to separate yet complementary melodies being played. Various motifs, played in a fitful manner, are featured. Philosopher of art John Lysaker, while discussing the album's general sense of aimless direction, noted that "1/1" "holds together no better (and no worse) than a cloud". The music throughout is down-tempo, without "distinct melodic or harmonic development; no highs or lows". "1/1" is the only track to feature a melody. "2/1" and "1/2" make use of vocal loops; the former designed to have them fluctuate in synchrony. The disparate lengths of "2/1" were the result of each singer's differing capabilities. He modified the tape recordings offhandedly to loops, desiring "a silence at least twice as long as the sound" and "complicated rather than simple relationships". "And then I started all the loops running, and let them configure in the way they chose to configure". Music professor Victor Szabo described the track as "ghostly", writing that the "non-vibrato" tape loops are "uncannily lifeless": "Through such compositional techniques and affective-expressive codes, ‘2/1' intimates human absence more overtly than any other track". "2/2" was performed with an ARP 2600 synthesizer. Brian Eno described how this piece was recorded, “The second piece on the second side of Music for Airports was done with an ARP 2600. It's a beautiful sound, I think, and one that I couldn't have got from any other synthesizer that I know of. The thing that makes it so luscious is that it's slowed down, and it has three kinds of echo on it.” The first album of ambient music to become popular – and later recognized as the "first deliberately 'ambient' recording" – it was initially dismissed by critics, audiences and some of Eno's peers alike, bewildering some of the former. It only became more favored by the 1990s, having "entered the modern musical canon". Blandness was a very common critique in the initial reviews, a possible by-product of its unvarying and populist conception, wrote Szabo. In a 1979 review for Rolling Stone, Michael Bloom found Ambient 1 self-indulgent and lacking focus. "There's a good deal of high craftsmanship here," Bloom said. "But to find it, you've got to thwart the music's intent by concentrating." In another contemporary review for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau wrote that "these four swatches of modestly 'ambient' minimalism have real charms as general-purpose calmatives. But I must also report that they've fared unevenly against specific backgrounds." Alan Niester categorized the album as alien, calling it "background grunge" that was best suited for "dish-doing [and] bed-making". AllMusic reviewer Linda Kohanov stated that "like a fine painting, these evolving soundscapes don't require constant involvement on the part of the listener [...] yet the music also rewards close attention with a sonic richness absent in standard types of background or easy listening music." Pitchfork's Grayson Haver Currin wrote that "to hear Music for Airports as more than a background balm, these four tracks remain wondrous and transformative, able to rearrange the air in a room." Chuck Eddy from Spin later named it the fourth most essential ambient album. J. D. Considine wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide that the record defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre. Jon Caramanica called it the best of Eno's work which shortly followed Roxy Music. The album has been installed and performed in at least five airports; it has been met with resistance from some travelers and workers, who deem it disruptive. Clinics and hospitals have used the albums to soothe patients. Track listing 1. "1/1" (Acoustic and electric piano; synthesizer.) 16:30 2. "2/1" (Vocals; synthesizer.) 8:20 3. "1/2" (Vocals; acoustic piano.) 11:30 4. "2/2" (Synthesizer only. Lasts 9:38 in the "Working Backwards" box edition (1983) and on the CD.) Eno 6:00 The track labelling refers to the album's first release (1978) as an LP, and so the first track means "first track, first side", and so on. The CD pressing adds 30 seconds of silence after every track, including "2/2". The album's back cover features four abstract graphic notation images, one for each track, representing their structure and instrumentation. Personnel Brian Eno – synthesizer, electric piano, vocals Christa Fast – vocals ("2/1", "1/2") Christine Gomez – vocals ("2/1", "1/2") Inge Zeininger – vocals ("2/1", "1/2") Robert Wyatt – acoustic piano ("1/1", "1/2") Recording Brian Eno – producer, engineer Dave Hutchins – engineer ("2/1", "1/2") Conny Plank – engineer ("2/2"), Rhett Davies – engineer ("1/1") Brian Eno – cover art See also Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror Ambient 3: Day of Radiance Ambient 4: On Land Brian Eno Bio: Born Brian Peter George Eno 1948 (age 77) Melton, Suffolk, England Musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, sound designer, author and political activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music. Eno studied painting and experimental music at the art school of Ipswich Civic College in the mid-1960s, and then at Winchester School of Art. He joined the glam rock group Roxy Music as its synthesizer player in 1971 and recorded two albums with them before departing in 1973. He then released solo albums, beginning with the rock-oriented Here Come the Warm Jets (1974), and explored minimal music on the influential recordings Discreet Music (1975) and Ambient 1: Music for Airports (1978), with the latter coining the term "ambient music". Alongside his solo work, Eno collaborated frequently with other musicians in the 1970s, including Robert Wyatt, Robert Fripp (mainly as part of the Fripp & Eno collective), Harmonia, Cluster, Harold Budd, David Bowie, John Cale and David Byrne. He also established himself as a sought-after producer, working on albums by Jon Hassell, Laraaji, Byrne's Talking Heads, Ultravox, and Devo, as well as the no wave compilation No New York (1978). In subsequent decades, Eno continued to record solo albums and produce for other artists, including U2, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois, Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, Slowdive, Karl Hyde of Underworld, James, Kevin Shields, and Damon Albarn. Dating back to his time as a student, Eno has also worked in other media, including sound installations, film and writing. In the mid-1970s, he co-developed Oblique Strategies, a pack of cards featuring aphorisms intended to spur creative thinking. From the 1970s onwards, his installations have included the sails of the Sydney Opera House in 2009 and the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in 2016. An advocate of a range of humanitarian causes, Eno writes on a variety of subjects and is a founding member of the Long Now Foundation. His modern political activism has also included awareness of the conditions in the Gaza Strip before and during the Gaza war and genocide, climate crisis awareness, opposing the Conservative Party, opposing Brexit, and advocating for freedom for Julian Assange. In September 2025, he signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people." Early life His grandfather was a multi-instrumentalist who played the saxophone and bassoon whilst he built and repaired pianos and church organs. I like melancholy and have never found it to be the same thing as moroseness or sadness. I've always enjoyed being melancholy, perhaps because that mood is very much a feature of the environment where I grew up. It's a very bleak place and most visitors find it quite miserable. I don't think it's miserable but it's definitely a sort of lost place in a lost time – nothing has changed in this part of England for many hundreds of years,” Brian Eno. In 1969, after separating from his wife, Eno moved to London, where his professional music career began. Eno's first appearance on a commercially released recording is the Deutsche Grammophon edition of The Great Learning (1971) by Cornelius Cardew and the Scratch Orchestra, which features Eno as one of the voices on the track "Paragraph 7". At one point, Eno had to earn money as paste-up assistant for the advertisement section of a local paper for three months. He quit and became an electronics dealer by buying old speakers and making new cabinets for them before selling them to friends. In 1971, Eno co-formed the glam rock band Roxy Music following a chance meeting with saxophonist Andy Mackay. Eno later said: "If I'd walked ten yards further on the platform, or missed that train, or been in the next carriage, I probably would have been an art teacher now". Eno played on their first two albums, Roxy Music (1972) and For Your Pleasure (1973), on which he is credited mononymously as "Eno". On the records, Eno was noted as playing the EMS VCS 3 synthesizer, whilst also being credited for tape effects, backing vocals, and production. Initially, Eno did not appear on stage at their live shows, but operated the group's mixing desk at the center of the concert venue where he had a microphone to sing backup vocals. After the group secured a record deal, Eno joined them on stage playing the synthesizer and became known for his flamboyant, androgynous costumes and makeup, partly stealing the spotlight from lead singer Bryan Ferry. After the tour in support of For Your Pleasure ended in mid-1973, Eno quit the band, citing disagreements with Ferry. Almost immediately after his exit from Roxy Music, Eno embarked on his solo career. In 1973, he released (No Pussyfooting), a collaboration with King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. The album had been worked on for over a year, particularly with the use of tape looping and delay systems, which would later be known as "Frippertronics". The record is hailed as being groundbreaking for future developments in drone and what would later be termed ambient music. Eno's first solo studio album, Here Come the Warm Jets, was recorded the same year and released in February 1974. The album notably features Fripp's guitar playing on several songs. In March 1974, he released the single "Seven Deadly Finns" with the B-side "Later On". Between 1974 and 1975, Eno began to write new material for a third solo studio album. Within this time, in January 1975, Eno was hit by a taxi cab while crossing the street and spent several weeks recuperating and room-ridden at home. After she had left, he put on the record and lay down. He then realized that he had set the amplifier to a very low volume, and one channel of the stereo was not working, but he lacked the energy to get up and correct it. Immediately following a full recovery, he began to experiment with several instruments and tools in Island Studios (now known as Basing Street Studios). Between July and August 1975, he had recorded what would become Another Green World. The album was released on 14 November 1975 but did not chart in either the United Kingdom or the United States. The album predominantly featured instrumental tracks, with notable fragments of minimalism and avant-garde tensing throughout the 40 minute record. Those that had featured vocals, such as "Everything Merges With The Night", "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Golden Hours" were met with praise. The track "Zawinul / Lava" is a homage and tribute to Austrian jazz fusion keyboardist and composer Joe Zawinul. The only song to have any single release was "I'll Come Running", which became the B-side to Eno's cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)". The album has been recognized by critics as a "universally acknowledged masterpiece" and "breathtakingly ahead of its time". The acclaimed music journalist Robert Christgau rated the album as an "A+", stating that it was "the aural equivalent of a park on the Moon; oneness with nature under conditions of artificial gravity". In 1975 Eno released the minimalist-electronic record Discreet Music (1975), created with an elaborate tape-delay methodology which he diagrammed on the back cover of the LP. Considered to be a landmark of the ambient music genre and the first record of Eno's to feature his full name, the album only features four tracks, one of which is the 30-minute long "Discreet Music", which features synthesized tape delays by Eno on an echo configuration. The album was remarked as a favorite record of David Bowie and, as a result of the record and its recognition to Bowie, it had led to his collaboration with Eno on Bowie's Berlin Trilogy. After Discreet Music Eno released two other experimental-electronic albums: the Fripp-collaborated Evening Star (1975) and the Roedelius-Moebius collaborated Cluster & Eno (1977). In December 1977 he released Before and After Science, which featured electronic and artistic rock compositions with vocals. In 1977 Eno assisted David Bowie and Tony Visconti for Bowie's album Low. It was during these sessions that he began work on his next solo project, released in 1978 as the first of his Ambient series, Ambient 1: Music for Airports. He coined the term "ambient music", which is designed to modify the listener's perception of the surrounding environment. In the liner notes accompanying the record, he wrote: "Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular, it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." The following records after the release of Ambient 1 and the subsequent series inclusions were The Plateaux of Mirror (Ambient 2) featuring Harold Budd, Day of Radiance (Ambient 3) with American composer Laraaji, and On Land (Ambient 4), a solo record. In 1983, Eno collaborated with his brother, Roger, and accomplice and friend Daniel Lanois, on what would be Brian Eno's ninth full-length album Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. In September 1992, Eno released Nerve Net, an album utilizing heavily syncopated rhythms with contributions from several former collaborators including Fripp, Benmont Tench, Robert Quine and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame. During the 1990s, Eno worked increasingly with self-generating musical systems, the results of which he called generative music. This allows the listener to hear music that slowly unfolds in almost infinite non-repeating combinations of sound. In one instance of generative music, Eno calculated that it would take almost 10,000 years to hear the entire possibilities of one individual piece. Eno achieves this through the blending of several independent musical tracks of varying length. Each track features different musical elements and in some cases, silence. When each individual track concludes, it starts again re-configuring differently with the other tracks. He has presented this music in his own art and sound installations and those in collaboration with other artists, including I Dormienti (The Sleepers), Lightness: Music for the Marble Palace, and Music for Civic Recovery Centre. In 1993, Eno worked with the Manchester rock band James to produce two albums, Laid and Wah Wah. Laid was met with notable critical and commercial success both in the UK and the United States after its release in 1993. Wah Wah, in comparison, received a more lukewarm response after its release in 1994. One of Eno's better-known collaborations was with the members of U2, Luciano Pavarotti and several other artists in a group called Passengers. They produced the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1, which reached No. 76 on the US Billboard charts and No. 12 in the UK Albums Chart. It featured a single, "Miss Sarajevo", which reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Fripp and Eno recorded another ambient music collaboration album, The Equatorial Stars. In early 2006, Eno collaborated with David Byrne again, for the reissue of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts in celebration of the influential album's 25th anniversary. Eight previously unreleased tracks recorded during the initial sessions in 1980/81, were added to the album. In late 2006, Eno released 77 Million Paintings, a program of generative video and music specifically for home computers. As its title suggests, there is a possible combination of 77 million paintings where the viewer will see different combinations of video slides prepared by Eno each time the program is launched. Likewise, the accompanying music is generated by the program so that it's almost certain the listener will never hear the same arrangement twice. The Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition mobile phone, released in late 2006, features exclusive ringtones and sounds composed by Eno. Although he was previously uninterested in composing ringtones due to the limited sound palette of monophonic ringtones, phones at this point primarily used audio files. In 2008, he released Everything That Happens Will Happen Today with David Byrne, designed the sound for the video game Spore. In March 2020, Eno and his brother, Roger Eno, released their collaborative album Mixing Colours. From the beginning of his solo career in 1973, Eno was in demand as a record producer. The first album with Eno credited as producer was Lucky Leif and the Longships by Robert Calvert. Eno's lengthy string of producer credits includes albums for Talking Heads, U2, Devo, Ultravox and James. He also produced part of the 1993 album When I Was a Boy by Jane Siberry. He won the best producer award at the 1994 and 1996 BRIT Awards. Eno has contributed to recordings by artists as varied as Nico, Robert Calvert, Genesis, David Bowie, and Zvuki Mu, in various capacities such as use of his studio and electronic treatments, vocals, guitar, bass guitar, and under a mononymous stage name (Eno). In 1984, he (amongst others) composed and performed the "Prophecy Theme" for the David Lynch film Dune; the rest of the soundtrack was composed and performed by the group Toto. Eno produced performance artist Laurie Anderson's Bright Red album, and also composed for it. Eno has spoken of an early and ongoing interest in exploring light in a similar way to his work with sound. He started experimenting with the medium of video in 1978. Eno describes the first video camera he received, which would initially become his main tool for creating ambient video and light installations: Music for Airports, at least one of the pieces on there, is structurally very, very simple. There are sung notes, sung by three women and myself. One of the notes repeats every 23 1/2 seconds. It is in fact a long [recorded tape] loop running around a series of tubular aluminum chairs in Conny Plank's studio. The next lowest loop repeats every 25 7/8 seconds or something like that. The third one every 29 15/16 seconds or something. What I mean is they all repeat in cycles that are called incommensurable – they are not likely to come back into sync again. So this is the piece moving along in time. Your experience of the piece of course is a moment in time, there. So as the piece progresses, what you hear are the various clusterings and configurations of these six basic elements. The basic elements in that particular piece never change. They stay the same. But the piece does appear to have quite a lot of variety. In fact it's about eight minutes long on that record, but I did have a thirty minute version which I would bore friends who would listen to it. The thing about pieces like this of course is that they are actually of almost infinite length if the numbers involved are complex enough. They simply don't ever re-configure in the same way again. This is music for free in a sense. The considerations that are important, then, become questions of how the system works and most important of all what you feed into the system. The list below consists of albums, soundtracks and downloadable files that contain excerpts from some of Eno's generative music explorations:[citation needed] 1970 – Berlin Horse [Film Short] 1975 – Discreet Music 1975 – Evening Star (Fripp & Eno) 1978 – Ambient 1: Music for Airports 1981 – Mistaken Memories of Mediaeval Manhattan [Installation Video] 1982 – Ambient 4: On Land 1983 – Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (Eno, Lanois & R Eno) 1983 – Music for Films II (Eno, Lanois & R Eno) [exclusive to Working Backwards Box Set] 1984 – Thursday Afternoon [Installation Video] 1985 – Thursday Afternoon 1988 – Music for Films III (Various Artists) 1989 – Textures (Eno, Lanois & R Eno) 1992 – The Shutov Assembly 1993 – Neroli (Thinking Music Part IV) 1994 – Glitterbug [Original Soundtrack] 1996 – Neverwhere [BBC TV Mini-Series Soundtrack] 1997 – Contra 1.2 1997 – Lightness 1998 – Music for Prague 1999 – I Dormienti 1999 – Kite Stories 2000 – Music for Civic Recovery Centre 2001 – Compact Forest Proposal 2003 – Curiosities – Volume I 2004 – Curiosities – Volume II 2012 – Lux 2013 – CAM [Web – the book Brian Eno: Visual Music includes a download code] 2014 – The Shutov Bonus Material [Shutov Assembly reissue bonus CD] 2014 – New Space Music [Neroli reissue bonus CD] 2016 – The Ship 2016 – Reflection 2017 – Sisters [Web Download] 2018 – Music for Installations [Box Set][113] 2023 – Secret Life (with Fred Again)[114] Eno is frequently referred to as one of popular music's most influential artists.[176] Producer and film composer Jon Brion has said: "I think he's the most influential artist since the Beatles."[177] Critic Jason Ankeny at AllMusic argues that Eno "forever altered the ways in which music is approached, composed, performed, and perceived, and everything from punk to techno to new age bears his unmistakable influence."[1] Eno has spread his techniques and theories primarily through his production; his distinctive style informed projects in which he has been involved, including Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy" (helping to popularize minimalism) and the albums he produced for Talking Heads (incorporating, on Eno's advice, African music and polyrhythms), Devo, and other groups. Eno's first collaboration with David Byrne, 1981's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, utilized sampling techniques and broke ground by incorporating world music into popular Western music forms.[178][179] Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies have been used by many bands, and Eno's production style has proven influential in several general respects: "his recording techniques have helped change the way that modern musicians;– particularly electronic musicians;– view the studio. No longer is it just a passive medium through which they communicate their ideas but itself a new instrument with seemingly endless possibilities."[180] According to Vinyl Me, Please writer Jack Riedy, Eno's peak as an artist coincided with the album era – a period in popular music during which the album surpassed the single as the dominant recorded-music format – "and Eno took full advantage of the format to pursue all his musical ideas on wax." His groundbreaking work in electronic music has been said to have brought widespread attention to and innovations in the role of electronic technology in recording. Pink Floyd keyboardist Rick Wright said he "often eulogized" Eno's abilities. Eno's "unconventional studio predilections", in common with those of Peter Gabriel, were an influence on the recording of "In the Air Tonight", the single which launched the solo career of Eno's former drummer Phil Collins. Both Half Man Half Biscuit (in the song "Eno Collaboration" on the EP of the same name) and MGMT have written songs about Eno. LCD Soundsystem has frequently cited Eno as a key influence. The Icelandic singer Björk also credited Eno as a major influence. Eno has married twice. In March 1967, at the age of 18, Eno married Sarah Grenville. The couple had a daughter, Hannah Louise (b. 1967), before their divorce in the 1980s. In 1988, Eno married his then-manager Anthea Norman-Taylor. They have two daughters, Irial Violet (b. 1990) and Darla Joy (b. 1991).[193][194] Per a May 2020 interview with Michael Bonner of Uncut referencing his current girlfriend, Eno and Norman-Taylor may have separated or divorced at an unspecified juncture. Longtime friend Ray Hearn currently serves as Eno's manager. Raised Catholic, Eno has referred to himself as "kind of an evangelical atheist" but has also professed an interest in religion. In 2006, Eno was one of more than 100 artists and writers who signed an open letter calling for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, and in January 2009, he spoke out against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip by writing an opinion for CounterPunch and participating in a large-scale protest in London. In 2014, Eno again protested publicly against what he called a "one-sided exercise in ethnic cleansing" and a "war [with] no moral justification," in reference to the 2014 military operation of Israel into Gaza. He was also a co-signatory, along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky, Alice Walker and others, to a letter published in The Guardian that labelled the conflict as an "inhumane and illegal act of military aggression" and called for "a comprehensive and legally binding military embargo on Israel, similar to that imposed on South Africa during apartheid." Eno was appointed President of Stop the War Coalition in 2017. Solo studio albums Here Come the Warm Jets (Island, 1974) Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (Island, 1974) Another Green World (Island, 1975) Discreet Music (Obscure, 1975) Before and After Science (Polydor, 1977) Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Polydor, 1978) Music for Films (Polydor, 1978) Ambient 4: On Land (E.G., 1982) Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (E.G., 1983) Thursday Afternoon (E.G., 1985) Nerve Net (Opal/All Saints, 1992) The Shutov Assembly (Opal/All Saints, 1992) Neroli (Opal/All Saints, 1993) Headcandy (BMG, 1994) The Drop (All Saints, 1997) Another Day on Earth (Hannibal, 2005) Lux (Warp, 2012) The Ship (Warp, 2016) Reflection (Warp, 2017) ForeverAndEverNoMore (Verve/UMC, 2022) Aurum (Opal, 2025)

This was quite nice to listen to while working. But it’s still elevator music…

I don’t ever really have much to say about ambient music, so instead of a review I’m going to assign an airport I’ve been to to each song 1/1 - Chicago O’Hare 2/1 - Philadelphia 1/2 - Tampa 2/2 - Minneapolis

# Album Name: Ambient 1-Music For Airports # Artist: Brian Eno # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: Literally music you could like to whilst in a airport/elevator/shopping centre etc # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? Maybe background music.

So ambient I often forgot it was playing. Peaceful.

Para momentos que solo necesitas conectar con vos misma este álbum musicaliza muy bien esa situación

I never really know what to do with ambient like this. Eno himself called it “ignorable but interesting“ and that is my experience. I like having this on in the background but I don’t really feel much or find it essential.

2.9 Got a bit to much in to the spa music category for me. It did however give you a certain space to think, about the music, or whatever else that was going through my mind. I found that pretty interesting. I think Im going to have to a deep Eno dive at some point

Yep. Ambient. I would have been a neutral listener at the airport.

It's a lovely album but I had trouble singing along

I do think there's better ambient and I would reject a lot of the historical significance (there was plenty of ambient before this including stuff made by the man himself) but this does still have a lot of merit as a standalone project

Relaxing, ambient. Should have listened in the evening with low light and a quick hit. Instead, I was in the middle of my workday.

Minecraft

The title and blurb suggested this might be the perfect solution to help my wife pass more peacefully through international travel hubs. The suggestion of this solution, combined with her dislike for ambient music in general, did not receive a warm reception. I was unable to really immerse myself in this album as may have been necessary but found it pleasant enough as a backing track.

Perfect reading music

This is hard to rate, after all, it is just background music and that's is purpose 🤣. I grant you that it relaxing and at times barely noticeable 🤷🏻. As background music is concerned it does the job, but would I normally choose to this type of music?

Album incroyable pour de la relaxation, de la méditation ou pour mettre de la musique de fond pour le travail. Un petit moment de douceur dans ce monde de brute. Presque un poil curieux que ce soit de la musique pour aéroport. Très bonne musique ambiant, mauvaise musique d'aéroport. Note : 3 A réécouter : Oui

-good vibes -really helps calm me when I’m stressed -probably would be good for an airport -I enjoyed this as background music

If they had just started playing this in airports in 1978 we would be living in a utopia by now

This is without a doubt some ambient music. I put it on in the background and had listened to about 30 minutes before I even noticed. It reminds me of music you would hear at a video game or movie main menu or on that sci-fi themed amusement park ride while you wait to get on. If you're looking for background music that defines background music, you will find it here. Excellent ambient music. background.

https://share.google/36OH7Ll7pq0FWul37

Ambient, chillout, call it what you will. This is best played after you've had a shit of a day and you need to unwind before you kick something across the room that you shouldn't. Nice.

I understand that the ambient isn't very dynamic, but I didn't hear anything truly interesting in this album. For example, C418 did it much better. Rate 5/10

Brian Eno twice in three days is a choice. I get the importance of this, but this is just a straight up background noise album.

Agradável

I can appreciate this for what it is. Ambient. It is ambient. I can respect that, but I doubt I'd ever go back to it again.

ну ебать музыка интерстеллара

It's hard to rate this, I'm going with 3 because it wasn't interesting but it was influential

It's hard to know what to rate this. I can't deny that it did what it set out to do - it's very much what it says on the tin - or that it influenced a whole genre of music... Or indeed that it's a really well made piece of background music that's boring, calming and inoffensive in all the right ways. I put this on while I was working, and it was fantastic background music. On the other hand, it's not something I feel that I must have listened to before dying. I understand this album's worth and value on a cognitive level, and on a more abstract level I let it guide me through a meditative state as I plodded away at work, doing worky things... but I don't understand why someone decided this was required listening for life. I don't dislike this one bit, but I am perplexed by its inclusion. I suppose if nothing else it has broadened my horizons slightly and I've learnt something about the origins of ambient music, but this is "1001 albums you must listen to before you die", not "1001 Wikipedia pages about albums you must read before you die".

very chill, good for studying

I get the historical interest and it was cool to learn about. I don't know that I agree that I MUST LISTEN to this though.

Albums unlike playlists can be impacted by when you listen to them. My experience of this gossamer thin thing was probably improved by my circumstance. Catching an early train the slight, repetitive atmospheres were penetrated by the sounds around me the distorted announcements, the wind. As Eno imagined it would be. The music is never at the forefront but washed over me, in a calming way

This is actually kind of cool and like should I listen to it the next time I’m in an airport?

Music to read or nap by…in the correct context and environment, it’s enjoyable. Three stars.

I don’t actually know how to rate something like this, it’s really nice and calming. Genuinely fell asleep on the first listen. Not in a bored way though more in a relaxed sort of way. It reminded me of what you’d find on the sleep playlist on Spotify. I knew of Brian Eno prior to this through collaboration with David Byrne & I know another one of his songs ‘Baby’s on Fire’. This album however is nothing like either of those tracks, so I assume his discography is very experimental and has touched on a lot of different genres & sounds. The music was really pleasant and chilled, nothing stood out majorly but it was good to shut off too. I could use this album to relax or use it when I’m hungover. It definitely is background music, would go hand in hand with studying or reading. Favourite tracks are: ‘1/1’ & ‘2/1’.

I mean, it's fine? Very lovely for what it is, but what it is is just background music that i don't feel you're meant to notice very much - i certainly struggles to focus on it, but it was still... nice?

ladies and gentleman, the lengendary brian eno and his legendary ambient albums! i will put on this for my calculus ab mock exam. lets check out the progress after 40 minutes. im sorry to announce that i slacked off thinking of unrelated things. im sorry. the ambiants are quite nice but dont help. 3/5

Not sure if the long drawn out pauses between songs are intentional or a bad version on Amazon Music. It is what Eno claimed—as ignorable as it is interesting (at least the first half). Listened to this for the last hour of the workday and not really sure I’d be able to pick it out of an ambient music lineup…

3.5 stars for some reason I always assign the synth sound of the 1970's & 80's to him. I'm not certain I know exactly which albums are the ones that Brian Eno has produced in the past, but I associate bands like Talking Heads & U2 with him. I enjoyed this album, just wanted a bit more. I know that's not always the point with ambient music but still... didn't have a favorite track.

I was listening to this while stuck in terrible traffic and it didn’t help me calm down at all

Koncentrationskrävande

I appreciate this album being on the list for its importance in music history. That said, it's background music by design, and does its job well. So, maybe 3 stars in a compliment.

Transitioning from this to James Blake's CMYK or Moby's Hymn, the through line is super obvious, especially with the first song. Ultimately, though, it just fades into the background and often veers too close to what you'd hear in a spa.

very pleasant to listen to, but also a bit slow

Spa music.... listened to best when relaxing, not for driving or operating machinery.

Somehow pleasant and annoying at the same time

It is what it is. It’s background music. And it’s nice. For what it is. But even then it gets boring.

Cool that this album was the inspiration for the term “ambient music”!

This is a tough one to rate. It's probably not something I'd seek out again, but I enjoyed the effect of it. Meditative, mood-altering. It'd be the soundtrack to a movie I enjoy.

While acknowledging Brian Eno's huge influence, I struggle to consider this essential listening—though I guess the book only highlights this, the first of his ambient albums. There's certainly something to be said for its restrained minimalism, but Eno himself declared the music must be "as ignorable as it is interesting." In that case, mission accomplished, as this easily settles into background music while I work.

Good background music

Barely music yet relaxing/interesting

Nice bakgrundsmusik, kommer antagligen ha albumet i bakgrunden några gånger.

Well, as elevator music goes this is pretty good. Fell asleep about halfway thru the first tune but I'm sure the rest was good too.

This is #day504 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… here's to my second out of five Eno records represented on the list. "As ignorable as it is interesting" is really the best way to put it. I've nothing else to add. Let it be a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day505.

Sounds lovely Good, nice background All good Eno is muy bueno

Yes it is music for airports but I rarely go to airports so it is not goodm not bad.

Driving across NE, nearly fell asleep to this. Uber chill

Fitting that this would come up on a Friday-before-Christmas; as an extremely mellow and contemplative counterpoint to the mad festive whirl. Much of the time, I suspect I might not have the attention span to hear this through in a single sitting, but today it felt like welcome respite.

It feels less like music for airports and more like something to play when I want to fall asleep. The track order (1/1, 2/1, 1/2, 2/2) just feels weird to me — it probably indicates some kind of classification, but since the pieces are so long, I couldn’t really tell which tracks were meant to be related.

Definitely on this list because of its musical relevance rather than its catchy tunes. But the first track I genuinely enjoy, the others not so much. This is one I listen to when it’s focus time at work. A tricky one to rate but because I really like listening to 1/1, I’ll give it 3 stars.

wow, this really is ambient

I like ambient music so this was a nice one for me. Nothing too unbelievably special in my opinion though. I'll probably come back to this album when I'm looking for music to study or read to.

Ambient music is not something I expected to be on this list. In the right mood this would be awesome.

Chill ambiance, spa like music

Honestly kinda of nice for a change. Although I feel like this music is almost kind of liminal sounding if I actually heard it in an airport, I feel like it would feel slightly off for some reason... Could see this being played at a spa, a massage clinic, in a water themed video game level or maybe even an aquarium. Little bit haunting at times... for listening sake, not sure if it had to go on for as long as it did. For ambient sake the length was solid so that you dont have to loop it as often lol.

Really not enjoyed Eno’s stuff on this list so far so let’s see how this one goes… Maybe can get a bit more on board with his "ambient music", a term which he coined to describe music "as ignorable as it is interesting" and capable of "induc[ing] calm and a space to think" Much more palatable but maybe just safer than the marmite of other albums. But feels pretty unskilled, if inoffensive. Yeh, pretty bored of it by track 3 and nothing new or grabbing. Guess I just don’t really like this guy.

Shit made want to take a flight to a remote island and never talk to anyone again.

this sure was something. I would put it on to work to, but i wouldnt say I really enjoyed it. I think its very contextual. it is by no means bad, in fact its good. Its just not for me, unless im working, or sleeping. 3/5

I've come around more an ambient music in the last year or two, with the previous Tangerine Dream album and the occasional dungeon synth but this one doesn't really work for me 2/1 and 1/2 give me "ancient structure built by a long dead civilisation" in something like The Elder Scrolls rather than airports. It even stops for a second like the song is restarting. It's pretty annoying. It works for building atmosphere in that context but less so when I'm sitting at my desk working, I found myself wanting it to end. I like some of the piano work on 1/2 like I did with 1/1 though I was going to go 2 but I like at least half the album and parts of 2/1 so 3 is fine Highlights: 1/1, 2/2

★★★½

Gorgeous sounds, a clear vision of musical abstraction - but I prefer my ambient music a bit more noisy

Not bad, but it definitely is meant to listen to when in an airport, meditatin,g or trying to fall asleep

Very serene and calming. I enjoyed listening to it as background noise, I don't think I'd ever sit down and just listen to it but I would revisit if I need to do something else and have a bit more noise involved. 3/5 stars.

Ok

Sounds like an art gallery

For what the album is supposed to be, it’s lovely. I love what it provides, and I’ve found it makes studying a bit easier. Not a fan of the vocals, they kind of creep me out.

4 songs, 48 minutes. I‘m already annoyed. The songs are very calming. But calling this an album is bold. Was this the origin of ambient music? Apparently yes. Well done Brian Eno.

I’m sorry. I just can’t get into Eno.

King of Ambient music. Great for relaxing/sleeping.

okay but not for me; the title alone kind of told me that :-) but I did give it a listen

I believe this album is the definition of ambient. "Ambient 1" should preferably be listened to while doing something. It gets boring when you play it at a party. "Ambient 1" could send you to sleep. I appreciate Eno's work, including the Windows 95 startup sound. 3 stars for "Ambient 1/ Music for Airports".

Instrumental and experimental

I think it achieved what it set out to do but certainly calls for the right mood to enjoy it 3.5*

Super relaxing

This is really calming music, great for yoga!

People often have the discussion, and I've had it with my friends before, what's better? - headphones, speakers, or live music? Personally, I find that each of them has a time and place. Headphones are good for albums like this, where you'd almost need access to Orfield Laboratories' anechoic chamber to properly appreciate it with speakers (I joke but you're definitely not having a good listening experience in the car or without a decent set-up), speakers are great for when you're with friends, don't want to wear something or are wanting a wider soundscape, and live music (which completely depends on the artist you're seeing) is awesome for the raw technical skill or atmosphere from the crowd. If you put a gun to my head, though, I'm choosing the headphones 10 out of 10 times. The availability of isolation from the outside world with noise-cancelling, the ability to take it anywhere, and the level of depth that you're able to get - easily outweigh any other medium to me. 1/1 is a very good ambient track, but I found the rest to not live up to this standard.

How was this 1977?

Pioneer of ambient music

I listen to this when I want to sleep (complimentary).

The most aptly named album in history. This Eno guy sure has layers to him.

My impression of Brian Eno has changed a lot recently. All the songs sounded the same but in a good way

I’ve actually listened to this before (in an airport!) after it being recommended in an episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour. Pleasant. Kind of occupies a different medium besides “music” though. Makes comparing it to the rest of the actual albums intended to be enjoyed rather than background apples and oranges

The first ever example of true "ambient music," i.e. music that you're literally not supposed to listen to -- just put on in the background and forget about. This goes against everything I believe about music, but at the same time, this was utterly pioneering, and Brian Eno kind of perfectly accomplished what he was going for...? This would probably make me feel rather peachy in that hellish purgatory of LAX. But also, when the purpose of a piece of art is to ignore it, and it happens to be really good at making itself so forgettable and invisible that you inevitably ignore it...can we seriously call it great art? Maybe? Fucking hell.

Are we done with Brian Eno albums now? 3 seems a bit much Easily ignorable background music. Perfect title for this album

Some more Brian Eno. I am now officially halfway through this guy's albums. It's been too long since the last one - 150 albums or so. I haven't listened to Here Come the Warm Jets in the time since first hearing it, though I remember admiring it for being pretty out there and unusual. I also remember having a decent impression of Another Green World, so this album could be the one to win me over. Yeah, not bad. I enjoy ambient music when it captures an ethereal, otherworldly atmosphere, and this album channels that feeling pretty well with it's delicate pianos, breathy synths and wrapping soundscapes. Ambient is an admittedly difficult genre for me to engage with through a critical lens, though from an enjoyment perspective I appreciated the bits which occasionally popped into my attention. "1/1" is pretty good, even if it's long as fuuuuuuck. Very meditative. It reminds me of the rest sublevel music from Pikmin 2, which is a pretty good tune to be in league with - that song always makes me feel like my soul is leaving my body. "1/2" is a good continuation(?) of the opener. The solitary atmosphere is pretty great, and I appreciate the jingling quality with the piano along with the lively, breathy synths. Book time. Where Eno found his footing with the creation of the ambient genre. A whole lotta nothing in there after that, though I'm favourable to this inclusion for that single point. I didn't know Eno created the ambient genre, though it makes a lot of sense knowing this guy's involvement and reverence within the production side of the music industry. I cosign this inclusion.

This is experimental music from a composer that established ambient as a genre. It’s interesting and easy to listen to, especially while working on something else. It sets the mood and the environment (hence the name). I enjoyed it, but would probably pick other works by Brian Eno for a repeat listen.

This is no doubt influential and there is definitely a place for this. I enjoyed listening to the first track whilst I worked, it was incredibly calming, and I was even contemplating a 4 for this album but the rest of the album didn’t quite have the same effect on me. I could see myself returning for a listen as an accompaniment to working or perhaps when trying to relax but feels like it would be for a specific purpose rather than anything regular.

Brian Eno said that ambient music (as he coined it) is "as ignorable as it is interesting." He certainly nailed it. And I don't mean that as an insult in the slightest. I found this album to be quite good at what it does - being good background music that invites a sense of calm and introspection. I thought it excelled at that brilliantly. And I think that's the best way to review and talk about this album - through the lens of its purpose and intent. Eno set out to do something specific here. He set out to make an album that was ignorable while still be interesting. That sounds like an easy task, but I'd imagine it was actually quite challenging. I really think he nails the concept, and should be celebrated as having done so. I wish I had more to say, but this isn't album that necessarily warrants or invites much deep criticism or analysis. It works, and that's the most and best I can say about it. Three stars. Standout Tracks: 1/1, 1/2

I would never put this on a a listening experience, which I think is kind of the point anyway. Might pop it on next time my anxiety starts running wild though

music for yoga

good vibes

Niche!

It must have something about it to be on this list but for me, it was background music. Didn't make me feel anything and was very forgettable. Perhaps you had to be there when it was released

Inoffensive and relaxing. Not sure it’s an album I need to hear before I die, and I’d rather go listen to some modern Lo-Fi instead.

There seem to be a lot of people who are mad that this album was on the list but I disagree. I think this belongs on the as really the first album of it's kind. It's more of an art installation piece. I might not actually want to sit and listen to it frequently, but it's kind of something you experience. A cool idea that I think people really take for granted these days because you hear stuff like this all the time now. But you hear stuff like this all the time because of this record. It's interesting if nothing else. As for a rating, it's tough to say. I mean I don't really like it, it just kind of flows over you as intended. It's by no means complicated or musically advanced. I certainly wouldn't buy this if I saw it in a record shop or recommend it to anyone. But it does what it was intended to do very well. 3/5

Didn't sound like music I'd heard of in an airport before, a spa maybe. Perfectly solid background music but nothing more interesting than that; even the tracks aren't named at all interestingly.

Don’t really know how to rate this, because by design it’s pleasant while not really giving much to engage with. It’s fine, but not really what I’d choose to listen to.

Bueno

Different but delightful nonetheless, would be happy to listen to other pieces :)

There's nothing wrong with a nice choice of wallpaper. I mean, at the end of the day it's just wallpaper. It's there to sit in the background and make the room more pleasant without really getting in the way. It doesn't make the room. But it certainly can make the room a bit nicer.

Probably listened to this 2 or 3 times as I inadvertently put it on repeat. Not against it, seamlessly followed one after the other. Went to sleep…

Fine background. Used it in yoga

How much of Brian Eno is on this list? Ugh. Well, this was kind of nice but also kind of... Boring.

It reminds me a college boyfriend and sleeping over at his house. Otherwise, fabulous! Loved it! Already did and haven’t heard it in a while. Just yeah, the memories.

Best Song: 2/1. Maybe the most "forward" of the tracks here. Worst Song: 2/2. Sounded a bit too much like musicians warming up their instruments. Overall: I mean, it's ambient, so it feels like there inherently isn't that much to say about it. It succeeds at what I feel like it is attempting to do. It lies gently in the background, and I think subtly augments an already relaxed setting.

Good ambient

This was good music to have on the background to work, but it was kind of hard to listen to intently for this project. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 4/5

Incredibly well executed ambient. By nature though this is hard to get into or excited about. High 3.

A tricky one. It does what it aims to do well, but it's still just background music

honestly can appreciate nice ambient sounds

Interesting. Not sure I would pick this out, but not annoying or anything. Reminds me I need to meditate more though.

Pretty cool ambient, impressive that it came out as early as 1978 (I'm sure there were earlier entries as well, didn't do my research). Calming, relaxing, I think it fits the theme of an Airport well. I don't have a favourite track as the whole album mixed into a single long track for me. It was easy to work while it was playing and I felt relaxed afterwards so I guess that's to the point.

I fear I'm starting to like Brian Eno's music

I felt so ignorant looking into this. I've never heard of Brian Eno, or at least my brain hasn't latched on to his name, but I do love me some good ambient music and this is definitely GOOD ambient music. What a beautiful set of tracks, it brings me peace. It's mood music, to be expected, but it's so delicate and intricate. Keeping an ear awake to listen to the details is very satisfactory for this project. I could see myself purchasing this record. 3.4/5

As someone who listens to a lot of music as background noise, I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would, but it’s still pretty good overall. Part of me thought it ended too soon and I wanted more, so maybe I did like it. I’ll give it a 3.5. (Side note: the first track gave me intense Miles Davis - In a Silent Way vibes and stood out as the best of the four tracks)

It is really hard to rate an album like this because it is such a departure from other things on the list. It's great at what it does, but is it as good as, say, The Wall? Hard to tell. Enjoyable but i don't think I'll queue it up regularly.

I just don't get ambient, good music I guess

I’ve always had an interest in ambient music, an umbrella term that refers to so many different styles (from intricate musical landscapes to utilitarian sound bordering on non-music) that it's hard to define. But I’ve never been a big fan of Brian Eno, who I see as the Edison of ambient music : he received far too much fame just for capturing some ideas in the wild, repackaging and marketing them, while ambient was actually very much alive before him - with much more interesting stuff like Reich’s minimalism, Tangerine Dream's trippy experiments or Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre’s dreamy soundscapes. But I'll give credit where credit is due ; "Music for airports" is an interesting piece of ambient. Voluntarily unsophisticated, with simplistic structures and superficial ambiances, it’s specifically conceived to be forgotten. The album is honest, it does precisely what it says it does - background melodies that you can occasionnaly listen to, or not. If you pay close attention, some of the loops can be quite eerie or haunting. I'm not sure it makes airports more interesting (to be honest, it would be funnier if airports played Pantera), but it does at least fullfill its goal. Its musical value remains limited in my opinion, mainly due to its lack of complexity. But it does have a soothing and unobtrusive quality that would absolutely make me play it while painting my garage or reorganising my bookshelves. I’d ideally give it a 2,5*, but I’ll be generous and round it up for its unconventional nature. 5/10

Sort of like the music they play when you get a massage. Or when you are on hold on a phone call. Which the point of it, isn’t it? Ambient sounds. I liked the first track. I didn’t really like the soft “aaaah” vocal patches that came in on the second song and stayed for the next. They sounded very dated to me. It felt like I was wondering around the island in Myst. I like the idea but the “aaah”s put me off. I like tracks 1 and 4 and will check out other Eno ambient stuff. 3 stars.

This was my daily album the day after I had a flight, so I saved it for my return flight. It's definitely ambient noise, doesn't drown out the people talking around me but it did make me sleepy.

It’s interesting that this was groundbreaking at the time. I didn’t mind it but doubt I would listen again.

interesting. not bad, very atmospheric

First thought when I saw this: "Oh, joy. Experimental trash." But it wasn't Kanye, so I'll give it a 3.

Not much to Say about this one, first ambient album I encounter here, it was Nice

already listened to it, decent. pretty pivotal though as an inception point for ambient music

Dad- 5 Mom- 4 Mike- NA Lori- 6.5 Michael- 7 Miles- NA Cole- 8 Avg- 6.1

Although unlikely to listen to it again, it was interesting and different

A very Vangelis-esque mood tome. Really beautiful and wonderful at evoking the vibe. Not something for everyday, but when it needs to hit, this would be perfect.

3stars pero solo por lo q figurativamente fue, no por lo q objetivamente es

bastante lindo

lo usaría para meditar

Good study music, but I don’t like the cuts between each sound

Gear: HEDD Audio HEDDphone Two Artwork: 🗺️🗂️🍵 Production (Remastered 2004): 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🎹🔄🧘‍♂️ Rating: 🛫✈️🛬/5

Not bad

Peaceful. Feels like putting it under 3 stars when it's so influential is unfair. Rating: 3.0

This is music, I guess.

This album is an enormous surprise. It's insanely relaxing, and has a depth of sound that keeps it interesting even though it's technically simple sounding to me. Crafted with care by a mile. To hear it for the first time nearly 50 years after the fact does add some interesting perspective on the 4th track sound options. Almost a 'Close Encounters' vibe in it's final part.

Ahead of its time. Pretty good

The title explains it perfectly, because it is exactly music for airports. I knew what to expect before I hit play so I was prepared for this. I liked it, it made me want to start writing dissonant guitar riffs over it and put blast beats on, so I guess it was inspiring? I give it 3 stars though

Basically invented the ambient genre so have to give it props. Not really made to be an active listening experience but a good vibe.

Great ambient chill music. I think that he does some pretty great work. It's not something I would listen to all the time but when the mood for a sonic chill fest strikes me, this would be a great album to put on.

Established its genre and will listen again when reading/ meditating/ zoning out. Not sure I heard the airport vibes as such but still enjoyed it.

hard to rate an album that serves a different purpose to usual 'music'. No hits, singles, live essence. But serves a purpose (reading, unwinding, landscapy)

Nice to listen to while I'm working but hard to score it really

I've never gotten into Ambient music before but I have heard of Brian Eno. I don't really know what to expect. I do like the idea of it being music for Airports though. Only 4 songs but it's 48 minutes long lol. I can see why this is on the list, because it came out in 1978! Which feels really early for what this is! Like I would have expected the 2000s. Very cool. Very peaceful to listen to. I feel like I should be meditating. There's a lot of silence at the end of each track which is interesting! I have no doubt that this is well made and good but it also sounds like when I was a kid playing around on an electric piano with the different noises. I think for the time it was revolutionary but now the technology is so prolific that it's something that is much more easily or accessibly made. It's good but too long lol. It's definitely ambient, but it's not just noise.

.-- .... .- - . ...- . .-.

Listens: 2 Standout tracks: 1/2 (I guess) Definitely, unquestionably, music for airports. I'm not in the habit of being in, at or around airports for any longer than I need to, but I can imagine that this is the kind of album that would really come alive while wandering though a preferably foreign, catastrophically large, utterly deserted, international airport at, say, 3 am on a Tuesday. Let's also say its the dead of winter, to really set the mood. Just you, your supra-aural noise cancelling headphones, and this album playing as you casually stroll down miles of seemingly endless concourse, staring at the occasional sleeping person, janitors milling about, empty storefronts, and a wasteland of empty seating. Ambient music, meet liminal spaces. Enjoy. All that said, I've never done anything like that before and I have no desire to. This is not something I care for very much. I wanted to make a cheeky remark about Minecraft wanting it's music back, but this came out in 1978, so uh, its got C148 beat by about 30 years. This would go well with Minecraft. I would give this a 2, but bump it up to a 3, because Brian Eno has apparently coined the concept of the "Ambient" genre with this album.

Listened Before? N This is great.... for sleeping. I would seriously put this on to sleep. Good stuff but not on a Wednesday morning. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: 2/1

Meh

very nice and relaxing! could definitely see myself coming back to this when i need background music.

Unlike others, I do think this album should be on here, as it is influential as a genre/type of music. Relaxing but a little boring

broing

What a weird and wonderful album. As a "song", this doesn't work at all. But it is still peaceful and interesting both when actively listening and when doing something else. I feel I've heard this during every Savasana during yoga, but also in hundreds of loading screens over the years. 2/2 in particular sounds straight out of Mass Effect, while 1/1 slunds like something from Blue Prince. Really interesting and definitely influential and I'm glad I listened. As an overall enjoyable album, but nothing I would ever willingly play without a specific purpose.

if i were more patient, i’d like this better

Not mush here to get excited about. Will give the benefit of the doubt and put it in the 3 side of a 2.5.

Not an unpleasant album, but I am not chomping at the bit to listen to it again.

Reminds me of Houmous & Chutneys 21st studio album, Music For Car Parks. It was sponsored by NCP. 3.4 3. 1/2

I think this needs adding to my focus music collection - lovely ambient background music. 3/5

Pretty much essential Eno, but you need to be in the right mood for something like this. It's beautiful and tranquil and soothing, but it's very new age sounding. Would go great with your next massage

Why oh why would this be on here. It's literally spa/airport music. Not bad, but not "good".

This is what comes up when you lookup on YouTube “1 hr relaxing/focus music”

Like I got a massage but my muscles still ache.

A product of its time; I liked the piano-focused parts a lot more than the annoyingly-dated synths. But nice.

the good part about ambient music is you'll never know when the album ends!

Pretty. Chill. Probably good meditation music for people who do that? It is what it says it is. Hard to give a ton of stars for what is meant to be background music.

What a strange album. Nice to listen to while working on the computer I guess

Brian's gone full ambient here. Just the four tracks, all endless, all basically identical, and yet listen carefully and there's a whole world of beauty in there. It's such a feat to be able to produce ambient music that leaves the listener feeling something so strongly, while also achieving the most important goal of the genre - being almost unnoticed.

Dreamy and ethereal. Background music for airports, elevators, high end coffee shops, etc.

Better than the electronic music on Low, but still not something I would voluntarily listen to.

It’s ambient music so like, it’s fine. Not life changing.

It’s the kind of thing I could listen to while working… which is the point.

Good mello music for meditation or when doing a painting.

A bit relentless!

Very relaxing but I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if it had a few more electronic elements

too long but pretty good

I think this is fine probably? I don't really know what I think

Chill Beats to Study to - 1970’s version

Damn near fell asleep on the road by the time I got to 1/2. That thing is a tactical weapon. Broadcast it at a tank battalion and you’ll have them sleeping in no time. Don’t listen to this in a car. Good sleep aid.

I was excited to listen to this in the airport! Worked like a charm

Relaxing

It’s just kinda there.

I mean... A bit boring, but if you listen to it at the right moment (when your in need of some calm) it's certainly beautiful. Sounds like one of those albums that was genre defining at the time, but has since been improved upon.

great background music. thats about it

Solid ambient album. A little boring at times.

I get why it exists and I respect it, but I don't think I would even know if I ever heard it again. Its ambient noise.

(Rubs the temple) Oh good, another Brian Eno album. If this is music for airports then the volume better be turned up on the airport speakers because the songs tend to be softer. This is better listened to through headphones, so perhaps that's the key. Listen to this in an airport while wearing headphones. It is not driving music. This should really be called "Ambient 1/Music for Spas." It's just so sparse in its sound. This is fine and a bit sleepy. There's no need for it to be in this book, as there are already 3-4 other albums that attest to the genius of Brian Eno.

First? 3/5 Again? 2/5

A bit too ambient for my airports. Great background music. The cover art is a 5.

chillig, gut zum einschlafen

This music made me feel as though I was at a spa rather than an airport... Very soothing.

I can only appreciate this intellectually

Apparently this is the OG Lo-Fi beats to relax to, so respect for that.

Álbum pionero de música ambiental, el primero de Eno en este estilo. Según él mismo, se trata de música "tan ignorable como interesante", y estoy de acuerdo. No es un álbum para ser escuchado activamente, ya que no se trata de música melódica de por sí. De hecho, me cuesta incluso calificarlo de música. Se trata, sobre todo, de sonidos etéreos, casi angelicales, perfectos para una sesión de meditación o, en general, para tenerlo de fondo (como he hecho mientras trabajaba). Por su relevancia histórica y porque cumple lo prometido, le voy a dar tres estrellas, a pesar de que no sea un álbum que me apasione.

classic but i had to give a 3 because i wanted literally anything else today

Lovely and beautifully made, but I suppose I was a little bored. I prefer my ambient tracks to build and release eventually, like Godspeed! You Black Emperor or Talk Talk. Oh well! (13 known/25 new)

Not as bad as I thought but not for me either 3/5

Sehr angenehm.

I like to think of Brian Eno as Aphex Twin minus the beat. I generally don't have the patience for him, but when I am attentive I usually find it worthwhile.

A bit tedious even for an elevator ride. I wanted to like it, but…

Helt ok

It wasn't unpleasant to listen to, and it did what it was supposed to, sink into the background and be ambient. But I can't give this more than 3 stars, as it didn't do anything other than not annoy me.

calm thanks robert wyatt

Meditative - I listened to this as I was falling asleep so I don’t feel like I can give it a fair rating, but I’d say somewhere between 3ish and 4ish

I know I'm not really supposed to actively listen to this, but I paid attention and it's great Feels like I should be in the cooldown section at a yoga class

I agree with the top reviever in that this is not an album that was ever meant to be actively listened to, so I am only willing to score it so high. It's effective at what it does, though, and I get the historical significance.

lemme try listening to it when I go to the airport next. Very pretty from what I’ve heard (I’m on the first song). I think it would be good for when you stressed out and don’t want to hear aggressive ass rap coupled with aggressive ass airport security lemme give it a cool 3.

3 Stars (8/15)

I wonder…if one counts producer and contributor credits, would Eno be the most prolific participant on this list? Anyway. If I were to pick one Eno album for this, it would be Discreet Music.

It was what it was. Overall score 5.0/10

Zzzzzz

Je suis pas mal un fan de musique d'ambiance en tout genre, mais celle-là rentre pas vraiment dans ma vibe, y'a quelque chose de sinistre en dessous des notes fantomatiques des synthés qui me déconcerte et nique la sois disante ambiance

Perfect album for being at an airport. Beautiful soundscapes that could put you to sleep

A beautiful and quiet album that seduces slowly and subtly. 3.5 stars

This is so perfectly balanced for the background that it can only be a 3

Pleasant ambience - not a fan of Track #2, though.

this is the greatest album of all time well extremely repetitive for what it is okay second track kind of holy, am i ascending?

I get the point for this, but I wish the songs were a bit... shorter? Maybe that's being picky, it's supposed to be ambient music. So it's really background music. But it just feels... too simple. Like anyone with a keyboard could make this. And the songs don't really have an ending, either. Again, the whole thing with ambient music, right? I respect the experiment Eno is doing here, he is best for me doing something in the background (not "the star"), like his "Enossification" in Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." Definitely will be good background, relaxing music, something to fall asleep to (not necessarily a bad thing)...

Ekstremt chill. Glemte at jeg hørte på det. På en god måte. Første låt er best

I enjoyed this a whole lot more than I thought I would

nice 3/5

Good background music, I suppose.

Imagine waiting for a flight in a terminal in a large North American city. The sights and sounds can be overwhelming, passengers rushing to their gates, kids crying, loud announcements over the P.A. system, the sheer volume of noise at the peak of travel and you just want to sit and wait for your flight. Then you slip on a set of noise-cancelling headphones, click play on your Walkman or CD player or stream on your phone to "Ambient 1/Music For Airports" and let your mind and eyes delight to the calm, pastoral sounds from Eno. You're not really listening to the "songs", but the ambient sound feels like you've transported to a totally different environment and I guess that's the point of "Music for Airports". Listening to this and observing the hustle and bustle of the airport will feel like your watching a bizarre-version of theatre. It feels like you're in a spa or lounging out in a float pool to relaxing, soothing sounds, but wait are there any other ambient music outside of airports? Yes, (give Ambient 4: On Land, a listen)...now close your eyes, relax...ZZZzzzzzzz.......

Lyttede i flyveren for at opnå fuld effekt: det passede sgu meget godt

It's fine ambient album. I believe it was groundbreaking back then, but it's too minimalistic for me.

Thoughts before listening: I am typically not into ambient music so I have always avoided this album. I like some of Brian Eno's music, but 4 long ambient tracks just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe this will be nice background music while I work this morning. Review: So I won't be adding any of these songs to the playlist, but this isn't as difficult of a listen as I assumed. It does make for nice background music but with musical themes and textures that keep it interesting. This is very relaxing music reminiscent of what you would hear when getting a massage. Overall I am glad I had an excuse to listen to this although I doubt I would revisit...I also got a little bored by the end. 3-stars

pleasant enough. would probably be really nice to fall asleep to. can’t imagine myself ever playing this in an airport tbh highlights: 1/1 (feb 13 2026)

OG ambient

3.5? Lovely, but so hypnotic I'd only recommend for the commute home (no driving)

A tricky album to rate, I didn't exactly hate it and I didn't exactly love it. Half marks then.

Chill

cool

3/5 Good ambiance noise for background music.

Not really sure how to rate this. It’s music that was meant to be ignored, and it’s great at cutting out background noise. Listened to it over the years when I’ve really needed to concentrate, and it’s perfect at that. But I dont sit thinking ‘I cant wait to stick me Airports record on!’. It had a time and place and it’s perfect for that. Plus this paved the way for more ambient records, like that quiet Jon Hopkins record, or maybe even Boards of Canada to an extent

Brian Eno has a lot of strings to his bow this sounds nothing like his other stuff. There were some interesting parts to this, which is incredible considering how ambient it is and speaks to Eno's talent. It is much too ambient for me though, I can't think of when I'd want to listen to this. Without anything to offset it, I find the sparseness a bit dull. Way better than an album like this should be but not really for me. 2.5.

I don't know how to rate this at all.... I liked the other solo Eno album we've had, but it was actually of substance. This is specifically designed to not really be listened to I guess, and just serve as background noise. And as that is was pretty nice I guess, but can't see myself even thinking about putting this on. Very clearly Brian Eno though, which is quite interesting in itself

I'm pretty sure they play this when I get my eyebrows waxed.

This just isn’t for me

this was neat, idk really how to explain it any better than that

Great early foray into ambient music!

Its aight

Could have used this 2 days ago when I was in an airport... I did quite like this though. It was nice background music at work!

heavily dependent on the occasion you listen to that. background music while working: absolutely. active listening: hell no...

This is an odd one to score. The intention of the album is so different to any others it’s hard to compare; I found it boring, but I guess that’s the point. Also, since this was released, ambient music has become so much more prevalent because of stuff like video games and YouTube that this just seems basic and in no way noteworthy. I don’t know whether to give it credit for helping to define the genre or mark it down for being easily reproducible, so I’m hedging my bets

Beautiful, meditative, relaxing, introspective music. This is my first dive into Brian Eno (after being told my whole life I need to start listening!), and I'm really enjoying it. The first track actually sounds exactly like music I used to write when I was in music school, and I guess now it's finally clicking ~16 years later as to why all my professors told me to listen to him. If I had to have a gripe it would be that some of this feels a bit undeveloped, and I mean that in the classical composition way of actual "development". You hear so many layers and instruments come in and out, and they all add colors, but the melodies that they play don't really expand or explore. They do their thing, move around inside of the key, and then resolve. There's a real lack of tension (not that even album needs to have tension) that leaves me feeling complacent in a nice way but also a little unsatisfied over the course of a whole album. 3.4/5, rounded to a 3.

I can’t really give such neutral music anything but a neutral 3… Actually, I was going to give it a neutral 2, to separate it from other albums (including other Eno albums) that I’d actually choose to listen to and get some active enjoyment out of. But then I was listening to the final track at the kitchen table and experienced a profound moment of calm that bordered on emotional. Dammit, Brian!

Creepy spa music. I feel brainwashed.

If I ran an aquarium, this album would be playing all the time next to the jellyfish tank, particularly tracks 2/1 and 1/2. Other than that, I can't see myself listening to this again. It's exactly as advertised, so I can't fault him there. It's not bad, it's kind of relaxing even, but it's just ... there. I know that's the point, but that's not what I look for in music. 3/5 because it's listenable and obviously influential (or maybe I should deduct a star because it's responsible for creating the ambient genre?) but wholly forgettable.

It feels hard to review this album. It is very good at what it is aiming to do (be ambient), but is something I’m likely never going to seek out to listen to again. It is like a more modern day version of Gymnopédie No 1 by Satie - made for the background. However, Brian Eno made something that, in my opinion, is far more ambient. You likely won’t find any melodies that will stick in your head here. More likely, you’ll remember nothing but remember thinking it was calming.

A 3 for simply being titled exactly what it is.

Pretty neutral on this, frankly

does what it says blends into the background is interesting but not too interesting was good to put on headphones and do some work

I like working to ambient. I dont love it. Glad to see it represented on this list but I think there are better ones out there. SAWII, Pop, etc. Can see this getting slated on here but it's nice, peaceful etc. 2 to 4 depending on my mood.

Super relaxing and contemplative. Great to have in the background while doing some work

Don't know what to say about this. It was pleasant, and very cool to know that it pioneered ambient music. Of all "pioneering" albums I've heard on here, I liked this one a lot, but it's, by definition, background music.

Going to have to check with Kevin on if that was Eno or not. Well that was certainly Ambient. It was great background music while working. Just don't know if I needed 40+ minutes of the repetition. Still gets a high 3 but can't go any higher than that

3.80 rym 3/5

Music For Airports has 1 big point in it’s favour, and 1 big point against it. The point in it’s favour is that it is truly groundbreaking. I can think of a good 2 dozen artists that I really love who have clearly taken direct or indirect influence from this album, and on top of that, there’s the fact that ambient music is fucking everywhere these days. I’ve listened to music directly inspired by Music For Airports that wasn’t even really aware that it was inspired by Music For Airports. I’ve fucking fallen asleep to music like this! Which leads us on to the big detraction to it, which is that it’s incredibly rucking boring to actually sit down and listen to. I was on board at first. During the first five minutes I was calmed, relaxed, ready to turn around, present myself and yell ‘Yes, Daddy Eno, please take me!’ And then the foreplay continued for another 10 minutes, and then the rest of the album was also pretty boring. I can see where people have taken inspiration from this, and appreciate it’s influence when it’s in downbeat electronic or ambient interludes on Indie Pop records, but this is the OG Lo-Fi beats to relax/study to, and I don’t think I’m ever gonna prefer relaxing/studying to this than I am that channel. For personal enjoyment, this is only a two, but because of it’s clear importance, I’m gonna give it a 3

I mean, it's exactly as advertised. If I could give it 2.5 stars I would, because it's neither exceptionally wonderful or dreadfully bad. It is what it is.

Hmm Ambient music I like it

I quite like Brian Eno.

3-

I mean this is exactly what I expected from the title. Calming, ambient, yes, but not something I would look out for. After a while I was waiting for it to end.

Can confirm music for airports goes hard in airports

Intriguing album. It definitely accomplishes Eno's goal of ambient music being as forgettable as it is listenable. That's not to say it's necessarily boring, there was definitely neat stuff to listen to in here, but it's also easy to just kind of tune out and feel more than hear. Not sure how often I would listen to this again, but it piqued my interest enough that it's worth more than a 2, so 2.75/5.

Calming. Makes sense to include if this is basically the first of its kind.

I guess it’s probably good at what it’s aiming to do. Definitely not something you’re supposed to *listen* to

MMM ok

Helped me mindlessly crunch through some trimming at the studio today 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Pretty cool but this is literally background music

Okay. Ambience. Sure. I mean, it's got Brian Eno's name attached to it, and he's one of the greatest producers in music history! I don't really know what I was expecting, and I don't know what to say. It's 42 minutes of ambient music. But hey, it's some great ambience. I listened to this while drawing and I gotta say, it was a pleasant experience. The sound is quite enjoyable. Would I want to listen to this in an airport? I mean, it's not the most fitting in my opinion, but I certainly wouldn't be upset if this started playing. The instrumentation is quite good. Overall, this is probably one of the most important ambient albums of all time, so it deserves the inclusion on the list. High 3/5.

I’ve discovered I quite like Brian Eno whilst doing this but this might have been a little too ambient and ephemeral

Well, it certainly is ambient.

I bet music for Greyhound bus stops is more my style

I mean, it's ambient, but, it's seminal.

You know, for being an album called Ambient 1/Music For Airports, The songs didn't really feel like they would fit an airport, more like a beach during a sunset. That aside, This album generally gets its job done and my biggest problems with it are just the problems that come with all ambient albums. Its repetitive sure, but that is what you would expect from these sorts of songs. There is also the fact that this kind of music is very purely situational for me as in i have to be in a very specific mood or situation to really want to listen to this stuff. But for what it is, this album does what it sets out to do pretty well. Best Song: 2/1 Worst Song: 2/2

I always have soft spots for instrumental/ambient albums I can throw on in the background while reading or doing chores. Brian Eno exceeded my expectations on this one. This album is definitely get more plays from me.

Completely okay music. Good for focusing or for a quiet morning but won’t ever be in my regular rotation. It’s like some abstract art you see in a museum that you appreciate and admire but you'd never buy a piece like it for your own house. WHAT DOES HE KNOW? BRIAN ENO

First two songs were actually really chill - was perfect working background music. back half didnt feel much different and kind of dragged on

I mean absolutely pretty sounds but not gonna actively listen to it. Maybe 20-30 years later. Love it tho

I normally don't care much for ambient, but something about this was so relaxing. If I'm ever floating in a dark tank of water, I hope this is playing

This was what it says on the tin. It's ambient. I listened right after waking up and doom scrolled to it. I did doze off some. So I guess that's a compliment.

I mean, it does what it says on the can. I listened to it in the background while I worked. Effective.

I feel like I want to vote N/A on this. It's certainly skillful and Eno is a name for a reason, but it's almost hard to tell what type of album this is or the role this plays in musical development. It's beautiful and balanced and flows perfectly but it's almost devoid of something by design. I think this may make sense to be on the list but I'm not sure what to do with it. It feels like it could be meaningful at the right time but forgettable outside of that. My vote is middle mostly due to indecision.

Another beautifully ambient, new age-y album from Brian Eno! I was intrigued to learn that this was the first album that he ever released in which he called it "ambient music". I had never known Eno to be anything BUT an ambient/new age artist in his solo career. Like many ambient albums of the time, this has many hints of that "space age" to it, but I would say it does not overtake the entire album. There is plenty of non-spacey ambience to be heard here! Overall, this is simply peaceful, but with a touch of mystery.

The man himself, Eno is an absolute genius Atmospheric. Has a weird psychadellic feel to it at times. 3.5 / 5

Stellar Album

3.5/5. This is falsely advertised because it’s not just music for airports but also for studying and falling asleep.

Very chill, a nice music nap