My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

This is a really cool project, I’ve become quite fond of Brian Eno’s ambient work and I think David Byrne brings a very interesting ear to the album as well. The fun mix of odd vocal samples goes well with the energetic instrumental tracks and becomes percussive and new.

I liked it. It was like ambient art rock.

Wonky sample nose by art-loving pretentious clever men. I mean, why not? It's not painful to listen to. The exorcism track is great. It just has "Interesting side-project" written all over it. As a teenager, I would pick this out of my step dad's CD rack from time to time when I wanted something different to listen to. 3.5 stars

Another +1 in the Brian Eno is a genius bucket. Dude rips. It starts out poorly with the 80s cheesy sound of America Is Waiting. But after that it’s great. I heard the expanded version and I like it all. At this point I need to go back to Ambient 1: Music For Airports because I may have misjudged it.

Brooding, unsettling but somehow compelling stuff. The tribal drumming is the backdrop for the first part. Melodies are not overt but do emerge from the chaos. On Regiment, there is a more standard groove before a striking vocal hook and warbling synth come in. This definitely leans towards fusion, and it's greater than the sum of its parts. Come With Us is maybe the strangest track, cold and metallic. Mountain of Needles, and indeed the rest of the album, continues in an ambient vein. I find it hard to rate this, but it feels impactful.

Mostly reminded me of a 90s RPG soundtrack, very experimental but enjoyable

1981 Genre: Avant-funk, funk rock, experimental rock, worldbeat, Afro rock, sampledelia Never heard of Brian Eno before this list... I'm a fan now. 3.5

I liked it, especially the funk/world/electronic beats... they brought cohesion to some of the more noisy samples and sounds. For as novel as it was at the time, it's still fresh as ever (aside from the opening track). 4.0

The world music sounds of David Byrne are hit or miss. Overall a unique album.

I do respect Brian Eno, but his stuff can often not have much to hook you in, very 'ambient'. I find this an interesting album, has a groove to it, possibly David Byrne's influence.

This was an odd little record. Didn't love it as much as some other Eno I have heard, but a cool flavour.

Really interesting album, sounds amazingly modern for being from 1981

4.0

Sounded a lot stranger back in the day…wonder what that means

I quite like this one. Cool sampled 80s music without being repetitive noises. I've listened a lot to Brian Eno music, and I've definitely heard some Talking Heads music already. Good partnership.

What a superb collage of sounds, from ambient to upbeat, from languid to dramatic.

For some reason, art rock liked to cosplay as world music in the late 70s to mid 80s. Peter Gabriel, Japan, Paul Simon, and of course Talking Heads prided themselves on using "exotic" (hurl) sounds and introducing them to the world. Maybe it was because as the synths became more and more prominent and rock more cliche, something was needed to keep it fresh. Maybe it was because samples were becoming a musical instrument of their own. Or maybe it was because Fela Kuti was that good. Anyway, I have to admit, this specific niche of music is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, and My Life In The Bush of Ghosts slots right into it. You get a series of sleek Funk instrumentals that build a great, unique mood. Mea Culpa is almost postapocalyptic, with distorted voice clips sounding like a barely transmitting radio broadcast. Help Me Somebody has delicious polyrhythms with that distinct 'Remain in Light' flavor. Regiment has Lebanese chanting trading off with Frippian guitar. The buildup to the ending of The Jezebel Spirit is great, and Mountain of Needles is basically Brian Eno showing off his nice synths. It's a nice album, even if it's influence is a bit overstated and you should be critical of whether those samples from Arabic sources were actually paid. Light 4

"My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" is the first collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and David Byrne. The album integrates sampled vocals and "found" sounds with African and Middle Eastern rhythms and electronic music techniques. That's a perfect description. This album was Byrne's first one without the Talking Heads. It was recorded before "Remain in Light" but released after due to legalities regarding clearing the samples. It did fairly well commercially hitting # 29 in the UK and #44 in the US. Critically, it has gained more favorable reviews over time for its influences in sampling and electronic music. "American is Waiting" opens things with a looped drum beat, weird noises and a guitar riff. The vocal sample is a guy talking on a NYC radio station. Hmmmm. Things get interesting in "Mea Culpa" with a very fast sample of an inflamed caller attacking a politician on a radio call I have no idea what they are talking about. There is an underlying African beat. Chanting eventually begins. The songs keep a little better and with "Regiment," there is a groove with the drums and bass. The Talking Heads' Chris Franz is on drums. Guitarist Robert Fripp joins the party giving a solo. The vocal sample is a Lebanese mountain singer. "The Jezebal Spirit" gets the funk out with the bass, drums and guitar. The song keeps building with keyboards and a guitar added. Apparently, the sample is of an actual Exorcist. Good luck picking that out. "Moonlight in Glory" is another funky song with congas. It sounds a lot like the Talking Heads' "Houses in Motion" from "Remain in Light." "The Carrier" slows it down and has a tribal beat and ambient vibe. Now, I'm thinking of early solo Peter Gabriel. I have to admit I was confused with the first listen of this; I really started to like it with additional listens by focusing on the rhythm and beats with all else in the background. The beats change from song to song - African, Middle Eastern, down tempo (before that was a thing), ambient and funky. And, several songs do sound like the Talking Heads' "Remain in Light" in their infancy. This album is not for everyone but if you're a big "Remain in Light" or ambient/down tempo fan, it's worth a listen.

I was kind of expecting more from these two's collaboration. Nothing really captured me.

4/5. An excellent collection of rhythmic beats and instrumentals with unique samples. It's interesting to remind myself this is made by two white guys. This is great music and reminds me of the instrumentals of Remain in Light by the Talking Heads. The difference in quality is unfortunately Byrne's missing singing. If these songs had singing, this would be elevated to best album of all time status.

A perfect merger of the sounds of both artists. I look forward to this growing on me as many projects by both Eno and Byrne do.

Ooh-er missus.

okay timbre

Liked this one a lot. It was weird at parts but it flew by.

As compared to other sample-derived albums we've had, this one has a lot more of the things I like. There's almost always one unifying riff or melody per track, the tracks have different tempos and tones, some of them are danceable, and the samples are from a wide variety of media and origins. I liked The Jezebel Spirit and The Carrier the most off of the standard album, and liked a few of the tracks from the remaster as well.

interesting sample sounds, seems to caricature Christianity. Overall good sounds.

A very peculiar thing. I quite like it and might listen to it again - decent music for a long drive. And it's obvious where it's been influential. Not exactly full of bangers though. But following on from four scores of 2, it's clearly more likeable and playable, so 3.5 seems fair. Bump it up to 4 because it's different.

Eno Jezebel spirit is cool Very very hungry is awesome. Love the wacky grooves and some interesting textures and rhythms. I’m sure it was super influential/ ahead of its time in its use of samples and loops. I can hear them developing some of the sound that they had on o”remain in light.”Cool but feels kind of transitional. I wish David Byrne sang on it this album would be great if it had some more melody and hooks. 3.5

Need more like this

This dude really sampled an exorcism

Such a unique sound

The album that paved the way for the Talking Heads album 'Remain in Light' (coincidentally, the album I got yesterday in this challenge). The experiments with world music and samples are very interesting and influential, particularly for the time. It lacks the hooks that you might expect from Byrne's music. Talking Heads is the album you play at your party. 'My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts' is the music you play when everyone has left and you want to spend some time alone with your thoughts. Definitely an album for people who are interested in experimental music and recording processes, not for everyone.

шо на рокси выебонил, шо в головах, шо здесь

Really impressive for its time and had held up well over the years.

Lekker gek

I continue to be surprised that I like Brian Enos work.

Listened Before? No Wish I were high and making chili when I was listening to this; instead I was trekking out and back from Ikea. Either way, this was an expectedly wild ride. Strong 4 leaning 5 for me. Album opens with constantly wandering "America Is Waiting." The song trudges forward with a repeating bass progression and some scratchy guitar work that congeals for about a bar or two at a time. All the while, there is some political sounding vocal recording buried throughout. Mea Culpa is almost post-punk in tone and form. Heavy synth work, syncopated drums, with fuzzed out vocal recordings make for a tense atmosphere. When my kids ask where babies come from, I'll point them to the bassline on Regiment. This is an early standout of the album IMO. Love the throaty bass, tribal sounding vocals, and overlaid synth work. Really cool track. The Jezebel Spirit is another standout. Dense groove of a track with condensed vocal sample that reminds vaguely of something Claypool would put together. Out of the gate, I really enjoy the trippy repeater / echo effects they employ on Very, Very Hungry. Layered rhythms make for a dense song that if you listen closely is the audio equivalent of weaving through a crowded dancefloor. Album ends on meditative Mountain of Needles. All throughout this album feels more "worldly," but this song in particular is spacey with a Far Eastern aroma. Added to Library? Yes Songs Added to Playlists: - Regiment (Driving)

This definitely starts out with a Talking Heads sound. Not surprising with my boy D Byrne. Mea Culpa has some wild samples on this one already with some backing of African drums and creepy instrumentals. Digging it. Bassline on Regiment rules. This one reminds me of Thievery Corporation a bunch. Help Me Somebody is another Talking Heads sounding instrumental. Eno and Byrne are so damn good with this kinda sound. Love it. Got distracted towards the end but it got a bit soundscapey. Still pretty good listening though. David Byrne just gets me.

If you’re old enough or lucky enough to remember the Electric Company’s animated short where you visually follow a pinball and the audio is the iconic “one-two-three-FOUR-FIVE”, my comment may resonate for you. A huge chunk of this album sounds like it could have been a contender for that kind of fun, veering around the curves, speedy sonic adventure. Eno and Byrne are clearly having fun together but know how to get out of each other’s way to let the pinball keep careening. And just when you give over to the colorful fun sounds that perhaps might be what it sounded like if all your small electronics picked two bars of tech music to stitch together, you tumble right on into Solo Guitar with Tinfoil which is beautifully soulful but still retains a hint of wacky verve around some of the curves. This album has serious fun factor.

David Byrne is one of my all time favorites. This album I like more for showing off how innovate and ahead of the music scene that Byrne and Eno were. It’s fun to listen to for the first time but not something to go back and relisten to. Rating: 3.6

Was worried that the album would be repetitive, but I ended up liking the majority of the songs. Plus, I got so much cleaning done while listening.

I've listened to this a few times over the years, and have always found it very intriguing. I imagine it was very ahead of its time with the number of samples involved, and I think a lot of the experiments turned out well. However, it's not quite a 5 star for me, because I don't find myself returning to it that often. Definitely worth a few listens though.

So strange. So wonderful.

Really enjoyed this.

Abstract but very fun to listen to

Brian Eno & David Byrne combine to create a post-world music soundscape. Some tracks captivate with mega-funky bass lines, where others lure with synth strings and ambient noises. The album is an experience, and there's a message in there somewhere.

Pleasantly surprised. Did not expect to enjoy it, but did.

because of my lack of psychopathism im not giving this a 5, but its definetely something. there is nothing like this, great mix of danceable and interesting ambient music filled with talking people or whatever is talking. crazy that it came out on 81. gonna have to listen more to this until it sinks in but its already a 4 for me (8/10)

It was pretty good. Trippy and late 70s / early 80s electronic.

These two mad hatters cooked up something good here!

9/10

Un disco experimental pionero en el uso de samples. Suena sumamente futurista y actual, considerando que se estreno hace mas de 40 años. Un gran trabajo del productor más aclamado de Bowie y el genio sin igual y lider de los Talking Heads. (Es mejor la versión original que la extendida)

I am not surprised that this album is a thing that exists. I am a bit more bemused about what to do with it. I think I like it? A+ album cover art both on its own and in reflecting the feel of the content.

Still sounds ahead of its time 42 years later. Spooky and atmospheric.

When I saw David Byrne and Brian Eno I knew this was going to be a strange trippy album. There was definitely a Talking Heads vibe on some of the tracks, others were way out there experimental electronic music. The album was ahead of its time, I can hear how it influenced many acts to come. I could sew how this album had an impact on future music. Overall it wasn't bad, just wierd music

Is this the first instance of samples being used in contemporary music?

This reminds me a lot of Talking Heads, but it feels more soundtrack-y, more atmospheric. (Yes, I know that would be obvious considering who is involved, but not necessarily.) It's a shame that they got in to trouble with sampling, but they tried their best to pay people the royalties for the songs. I liked this a lot, I think my favorite is "The Jezebel Spirit." "Moonlight In Glory" was kinda goofy-sounding, but that might have been the sounds they used. Definitely something I am going to come back to.

An album by Brian Eno and David Byrne sounds exactly what you would expect an album by Brian Eno and David Byrne to sound like.

cool

Highly influential Brian Eno / David Byrne album, some 5* tracks like Mea Culpa, but I always find the album as a whole a little bit too boring to listen to (just like the albums of Art of Noise) and would choose the Avalanches' Since I Left You over My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

Crazy experimental, so ahead of its time. Wow.

Oooh very nice. Kept me on my toes and was mostly enjoyable to listen to. I think there were 2 or 3 songs I wasn't vibing with, but the rest are stunningly creative.

Noisy and cool

Actually really enjoyed this album. I haven't cared for the other Brian Eno albums I've heard, but this one is good. Probably David Byrne's fault. 4/5

Ambient music, like Eno’s, can be cool, but usually ends up as background music for me. This is no exception. Good background music, at least. B

Arriving at the tail end of Talking Heads’ peerless Eno-produced trilogy, “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” is a quirky side-project which saw alternative music’s favourite oddballs (David Byrne and Brian Eno) let loose in a toy shop of sampling. The album was first conceived in a questionable vision of “Fourth World” music, shared between Eno and would-be-oddball-composer Jon Hassell. Their intention: to create an “imagined” otherworldly culture fusing indigenous music (“primitive”, in Hassell’s words) with the latest pioneering synthesiser technology. When Hassell heard “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”, he threw his toys out of the pram and claimed his work had been “appropriated”. Interesting irony for a man whose approach could easily be called out for colonial overtones. So while “My Life…” is dated and flawed in its premise, it’s mostly dynamic and engaging in its execution. Eno’s soundscapes are as reliable and enticing as ever, and Byrne’s off-kilter perspective and knack for paranoia leaps headlong into the emergent world of sampling. Where these tracks could have been boring and indulgent, most of them are imbued with their own distinct character and flavour… same bush, different ghosts. Like “Remain in Light”, the first half of the album comprises jittery, unnerving funk and Afrobeat, with the second half becoming more insular, less beat-driven, more textural. Particular highlights from the first half include “Help Me Somebody” (feverish, restless, all-out-frenzy), “The Jezebel Spirit” (with a genuinely unnerving sample of a pastor performing an exorcism) and “Regiment” (the presence of Robert Fripp and Chris Frantz mean it could have been a song on “Fear of Music”). Afterwards there isn’t as much to immediately grip me, or keep me coming back to the record, but it’s enough to get under the skin. “A Secret Life” is eerie and disquieting, and “Mountain of Needles” is a remarkable landscape of calm, evocative of being left alone in the fog at the end of a dark and winding road through different cultures and ideas. It might not be perfect, and it’s not at all a conventional listening experience. I’m perhaps also biased as a Byrne/Talking Heads fanatic, but I feel “My Life…” deserves its place on this list. It’s a landmark record in experimental music and sampling: immerse yourself. IMMERSE!

This album grew on my as I listened through a couple times. The combo of the samples with David Byrne's punchy guitar works well. The eclectic samples, combined from many different places, make the sounds fresh and unique.

At the very least, this album is 10-12 years ahead of its time. It was a breakthrough step in the way samples were used, and it also exposed more people to a wider variety of world music. It sounds incredibly modern compared to much of the music of its era, and yet, it also sounds like a sort of musical fanfiction. It's a noble experiment, and one which significantly broadened the possibilities for the musical palette, but it largely comes across like demo tracks for Talking Heads songs with samples of speech put in place of where lyrics might be. There's the core of a song there, but somehow it's not satisfying in the same way. It's like ordering the appetizer combo and just eating that for dinner instead of an entree. I do still enjoy this record, just as I would enjoy eating an appetizer combo for dinner, but, despite being a big fan of both Brian Eno and David Byrne, this is not one I come back to often.

Amazing first track

BL: forgot to write a BL - aware of both artists and their work however. AL: I thought it was very cool and very well made. The instrumentation was fascinating and gave a lot to explore. I unfortunately just didn’t find it very listenable. It’s nice background drone but I didn’t find myself wanting to pick it a part as much as I would’ve wanted. I still enjoyed it very much though. FT: “America Is Waiting”, “Mountain of Needles”

Cool album. Very unique and great for ambient music and helping with focus.

I kept thinking I'd get bored of this eventually but somehow the album kept surprising me with its diverse sounds. I enjoyed the whole thing and it's been added to my Spotify favourites so I will return for sure!

Classic, have the CD in my truck, cant get enough

One of those albums about which you can say that though it didn't sell a million copies, everybody who bought it was a musician. It's still a fantastic listen, and great working music. Got to love an album with nods from Kate Bush and Public Enemy.

It is great hearing two artists really going for it and trying to get what's in their heads out into the world. It doesn't always succeed and some of the cut and paste from world music feels a little pilfered and unearned but a fascinating listen all the same.

Great time, thoroughly original and gripping most of the time, in spite of lacking the focus of the heads' other members. A great record.

This was interesting and not at all difficult to listen to. I can see pulling this one back up from time to time for some background listening.

In a lot of ways this feels to me more like a David Byrne solo album produced by Eno than a true mixing of their styles and pretty much for that reason, this has never been my go to work from either of them. I don't find it as well formed as Talking Heads classics and I don't find it as engaging as some of Eno's work from the previous decade. That being said I'm definitely guilty here of criticising things I like more as its a brilliant album full of so many ideas and sounds that it could keep you entertained for weeks. I definitely perfer the back half of the album which is a bit more chilled out and I think it would have been more of a favourite if it had that vibe throughout. Still a solid 4 though dont get me wrong

I appreciate what they are doing on this album, and kudos to David Byrne for taking this step among so many he'd take over the decades into something new -- he could have easily stayed only on the Talking Heads' path and done just fine -- so I genuinely admire his curious mind, eagerness to explore, and desire to collaborate with Brian Eno and his desire to work with countless others through the present. There are some very interesting (at least to my ear) tracks on this album. 'Regiment' is just one example. Really drew me in. Sometimes "sampling" kind of annoys me, just a personal preference, but I understand why some artists like to create works with samples in them. Overall, though, the exploration of sound and textures is very interesting to me. Good work here.

*S o u n d C o l l a g e* I love both Eno and Byrne, and I like to put this album on every so often, but it's also not the best work either of them was doing around this time

Очень смелым было решение основать поп рок альбом практически полностью на сэмплах. Как результат, получилось довольно интересно, хоть и местами слишком экспериментально даже для меня. Определённо чувствуется рука Дэвида Бирна, я как будто послушал что-то от сошедших с ума Talking Heads. (7.5)

4.2 - An impressive collaboration that draws on Eno's skill at creating textural soundscapes and Byrne's ear for rhythms. The innovative use of samples makes the sum of this project greater than its parts. I especially appreciate how they handle Quranic chanting without descending into preciosity; for example, I love how the guitar voicing on "Regiment" echoes the plaintive vocals. Eno and Byrne could've easily puttered out something safe but instead took bold risks that they were able to execute beautifully.

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’ is a record I find hide to describe. It’s an uneasy, queasy listen with a dreamlike quality. I was underwhelmed when I first heard it, but I adore it now. It definitely rewards repeated listening and is actually quite a nice companion piece to ‘Remain In Light’.

This was the first album title that I heard of from Brian Eno, but I never listened to the album. It is not difficult to hear that David Byrne collaborated on My Life In the Bush of Ghosts - some tracks seem to echo sounds from live tracks that I've heard from the Talking Heads. The album could be categorized somewhere between ambient and world music. Some of the spoken word recordings were distracting, yet there were some vocals / spoken parts that did swirl into the mix of sound and became part of a general audio landscape. After listening to the original release, I listned to the bonus tracks on the re-release. Overall, "Qu'ran" and "The Carrier" were the tracks I liked the best. These two tracks may have had the least amount of vocals / spoken word. I could come back to this album for a second listen.

“I wasn’t a huge fan of the Bolognese stuff” - Bill Hader, Documentary NOW Definitely a kooky album. Exactly what I expect from Eno and Byrne. But like everything these guys put out, I ended up really enjoying most of it.

I usually find these experimental albums to be pretentious and self-indulgent but this was pretty enjoyable to listen to. Probably wouldn’t seek it out again very often but it was simultaneously interesting and soothing.

When I bought this back in the day (being bog fans of both artists) I thought it was an experiment by two musical compatriots. While I still believe that is the case, its influence over the years has been profound. The use of sampling and tape loops were revolutionary at the time. The fact the loops still sound funky after all these years surprised me. Perhaps the use of found objects as sources of percussion is simply better than most of the garage band-esque beats we have today. The vocals, taken from disparate sources (many religous) is a technique that Bynre would revisit over the years, but not as successfully as this album.

я пока не очень поняла альбом, но он меня привлекает, вдумывает пока слушала, в какой-то момент правда наполовину оказалась в другом измерении брайан ино великий, конечно

It is just a glorious, weird experiment. You can see how Talking Heads evolved through this.

Actually a really interesting album. I can’t say I loved every single song but many were super groovy with really fun samples. It feels like the much older, more pessimistic/depressed Since I Left You by The Avalanches, but a really good listen nonetheless. 8/10

Heel toffe sounds

JMC Nice experimento

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: America is waiting, Somebody help me

David Byrne is a national treasure, and so are his big suits, and so is Brian Eno. It's easy to see how a collaboration from these two could go incredibly right or horribly wrong, since they are both incredible visionaries. This album isn't as pleasant to listen to as a lot of stuff made by these two in their previous solo/group work, but it is really cool. The use of heavy sampling to compose an album makes this album highly significant, but more than that, it's good. The music is as diverse, global, and polyrhythmic as you might expect from David Byrne, and not quite as ambient and electronic as you might expect from Brian Eno. Definitely well worth a listen 4/5

A very minimal and very entertaining album. If you don't like much of anything but want lot of everything in other places. Lot of tribal rythems and also lot of gospel vocal. If you thought this was boring I wouldn't blame you

Never heard of this album but am glad I got the chance to listen today. Enjoyable vibe and the experimental sounding stuff works. A definite keeper.

The cooky spacey sample thing only those Eno & Byrne boys could come up with. Thank you Wikipedia for applying the context ‘a vision of psychedelic Africa’

What do you get when you combine the minds of two creative weird geniuses? You get something experimental that many will find mindblowing and unique, while many more will find nonsensical, directionless, and unsatisfying. It mostly sounds like an Eno album, but you can hear David Byrne's goofiness thrown in, along with his love for afrobeat, funk, and punk. With its comfortable and extensive use of sampling and electronic ambiance, this album is over a decade ahead of its time. Runner-ups to early 80s sampledelia came in the form of silly old-school hip hop acts like Malcolm McLaren, but this is so much more mature and in control. The major weakness is the length of the songs. There are only 11 songs, but due to the extensive repetition, if you don't like an idea, then you have to sit through it for the next 4 minutes. Combined with the abrasiveness of some tracks, this can be a chore. "The Jezebal Spirit" comes to mind as the major example, being nearly 5 minutes long, and that's supposed to be the single. There's also a dramatic tone shift in the second half, getting increasingly atmospheric and mellower. Bonus tracks are fun, but also a bit too much. For anyone interested, there's a removed track called "Qu'Ran" you can find on Youtube which is fantastic: dark, psychedelic, and funky. Favorites: America is Waiting, Mea Culpa, Regiment, Qu'Ran, Very Very Hungry, Come with Us

This album feels like just an eclectic collection of sounds, but it's somehow still cohesive. The music theory as a whole escapes me but this album just feels overly complex in a good way. 4/5

Artworkið á albúminu er banger! Langar í þetta til að setja upp á vegg. Tónlistin er eins og við má búast þegar tveir skrýtnir og skemmtilegir listamenn koma saman: skrýtin og skemmtileg.

Wild, weird, fascinating and clangy.

Just a demonstration of Eno and his classic production innovation in my mind. Not always the perfect foreground music, but almost always well done.

Classic.

New to me but I loved it.

finally something from brian eno i like. obviously, huge into him as the godfather of ambient music. that's my jam (not jam?) a solid amount of the time. But like, i didn't love roxy music, and his solo career is meh, so i'm glad david byrne was able to steer this into a direction i enjoyed.

3.5/5 Very cool and innovative Byrne and Eno, but it’s no Talking Heads 🤷‍♂️

Perfect, amazing, never been done before, ahead of its time, etc. 4.0

Due to the randomness of the 1001 songs generator, this is my second Eno album in a row. I really enjoyed them both, which is a surprise because this isn't my type of music. I'd heard some of Eno's ambient stuff and found it dull, but this was a return to form, no doubt helped with the collaboration with that absolute genius (and pain in the arse) David Byrne. I missed a lot of good music in the '80s, tending to stick to rock. I shall keep listening to more weird stuff.

I liked this a lot, I mean I'm a fan of both Brian Eno and David Byrne and this has a lot of both of them in it, so it makes sense

God damn, Eno was just on fire around this time, his genius fingers were in so many lusciously-textural music pies; and Byrne was the undisputed king of the groove in this era as well. Much more freaky sounding than the Talking Heads work Eno produced but still with those toe-tapping head-pounding cross-rhythmic synth-warbling beaaats

My only exposure to Brian Eno, up until this point, was via his involvement in the iconic Talking Heads record Remain In Light, which only came out a year before this album did. Naturally, I was curious. I have never seen a producer-centric album outside of hip-hop, and I was intrigued to see if there would be any overlaps in influences between Eno and his work with the art-punk band. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts was truly an aural journey; a sprawling soundscape from start to finishing comprising of krautrock-esque beats, hypnotic keys, and oddly expressive looping vocals. The result is a captivating album that would not be out of place as part of an installation art piece. The liberal featuring of afro-funk guitars and drums on tracks like The Jezebel Spirit confirmed the aforementioned confluence of inspiration with Talking Heads, invoking a spirit and drive like that on I, Zimbra. Little wonder too, then, that lead Talking Head and fellow creative iconoclast David Byrne features heavily on the album. Overall, this was a great album to work to, but also one that I would definitely revisit to devote my attention to. The mix of live and programmed instrumentation and spoken word parts of David Byrne result in an album that still sounds layered, intriguing and hypnotic, one would have to be forgiven for forgetting that it was made over 40 years ago.

Great

Super dope and weird.

I like the texture of this record - have had the vinyl for years

Brian Eno and David Byrne are both certified musical geniuses in my book, so one would expect something really special when they collab on an album. They (mostly) deliver here with truly innovative (for its time) samples from obscure songs and exorcisms and add atmospheric African beats and rhythms. Some of it is brilliant like Jezebel, but some falls flat unfortunately. This album went on to influence a host of others that also sampled arcane audio recordings and imbue their sound with African grooves. Of note was KLF who did a bang up job with their seminal Chill Out album. This album sags a bit in spots so it’s a 3.5 to me but I’ll round up because of its groundbreaking sound and influence

Experimental. Intriguing.

A strong recommendation to anyone looking for a more "Remain in Light" or "Speaking in Tongues" with an experimental spin.

A really interesting listen and unique to what I've listened to so far. 8/10 for this one

I had high expectations for this one, being a Talking Heads fan. Overall the album did not entirely live up to those expectations, but I did really enjoy it. 3.5 stars, which I will round up to 4 because I liked the album more than most others I rated 3 stars. Really liked track 4 (Help me somebody).

This is a WEIRD album. And it as fascinating as it is weird (and trust when I say, it is truly WEIRD). Interesting that this album is under the Eno name and not a collaborative title as this definitely feels just as much a David Bryne album as it does an Eno one. I guess Eno's masterful as always production does really flesh it all out but part of the bewildering beauty and effectiveness is in how Byrne (known of course for The Talking Heads) decided that this avant-garde afro/worldbeat/funk project would be his first without the band that put him on the map. It continually surprised me with how well it all works, how well Byrne plays as a counterpoint and partner in crime in an album that is sonically pure Eno madness (and such great madness it is!).

Very good work by Brian and David

Всегда про проходил мимо, а оказалось, что это очень интересный для меня материал. Ранее полагал, что это некий гитарист-экспериментатор, а это один из основоположников эмбиента. Позор мне.

Awesome atmospheric and weird album with Talking heads influences combined with synth-ambient music

Pretty cool! I liked it more and more as it went a long. It’s interesting that I feel like I can never tell what’s gonna happen next over the course of the song. 3.5 because I wish there was some singing/lyrics

Really cool sound.

Entertaining and kinda groovy. A little weird tho

About what you'd expect when these two get together, but that's not a bad thing. Firmly avant-garde.

Yes to sonic exploration. Yes to music gadget greenery. Yes to Eno. No to how it actually sounds.

Ahead of its time by

I think this has lost a lot of the impact it once had, but still stands as a groove ass album.

Good album but very distracting to listen to while problem solving.

Would listen to again. Very funky and psychedelic vibes

Qur'an is missing from streaming versions btw

Revolutionary electronics album combining international sounds. unfortunately didnt listen enough 8/10

This wasn’t too bad. Kind of Talking Headsy electronic music. I can dig it. Oh wait, now we are getting real middle eastern and then going off into an hour of classic Eno-wankery. I am less able to dig it as the album goes on. Oh wait again, I was supposed to stop at “Mountain of Needles” but Amazon Music’s insistence on playing the expanded edition of everything fucked me yet again. Who knows if I dig this or not? Probably not. Brian Eno was just this giant nerd Frankenstein monster roaming the countryside of the 70’s and 80’s music scene, glam metal and disco groups chasing him with torches and pitchforks while he tried to understand human emotions but just ended up hurting everyone with his overwhelming nerd strength. It’s tragic.

Nice and weird and strange but it never really takes off. I've tried a few times in the past but it won't stick.

Interesting. I love me some early Eno and a.big Talking Heads fan, I will probably have to spin this again.

It was cool to finally hear something from Eno, the grandfather of ambient music. This is a collaboration between Brian, who was an original member of Roxy Music and worked on David Bowie’s Low, and David Byrne, the lead singer and co-former of Talking Heads. This was a pretty trippy, experimental experience that had plenty of interesting moments and ideas. I still felt underwhelmed at times and this isn’t something I’d be likely listen to again but it was cool to hear what two of the most important minds in music at the time were able to create together. 1 listen Favorite Track: Regiment

Interestingly bizarre

I like sampling mixes, but this is not your tipical album. It's interesting, but it seems like more the artist trying to explore mixing different sounds an rhythms, prominently the tribal ones. After that first track, its actually ok as ambient, just as ot says on this page (especially tracks 2 to 5). Regiment and Help Me Somebody are actually decent tracks, at least 3.5, but the rest nah. They save tehm ig

Like-able, and interesting, probably won't reach for it again.

Interesting but no standouts. Worth the listen.

This was interesting- mostly instrumental with some vocal stims thrown in. You could very much hear David Burns influence- reminded me a lot of some of the repeated vocals and instrumentation on Remain in Light. The songs were good overall- sometimes a little cacaphonous at parts. Overall- good background music

Encore de l'experimental-funk-punk..... Idées sympathiques ! J'aime bien l'esthétique "vieille radio" mais je n'ai pas les connaissances nécessaires pour apprécier cet album à sa juste valeur je pense

Interesting and cool

I enjoyed this more than I thought. It was actually a good sit-on-the-porch album for the my morning tea.

I have seen this album cover before but, never heard of it or listened to it, all I know is that it is like very experimental and electronic. This isn’t really an album you would listen to on a walk or to relax but, it’s more of an album you put to listen to it and pay full attention. I saw some people say they thought that it was just random sounds put together, which it kind of is but, honestly the more you listen to it the more you feel the rhythm and start to enjoy it! I’d recommend America is waiting, Mea Culpa, Regiment, Jezebel spirit, Very very hungry, The carrier, Mountain of needles, Pitch to voltage, Defiant and solo guitar with tin foil.

i guess im listening to a raga in the middle of the album huh

It was a pretty cool album, it started off strong then tapered off. Very conceptual. Very, Very Hungry is the last song that caught my attention because I think it used a sample that reminded me of a Red Axes song. The Jezebel Spirit and Help Me Somebody make excellent use of sampling too.

Really interesting album, somehow not all the ideas work. High 3

Lots of cool ideas not fully realised.

When I heard about My Life In The Bush of Ghosts I wrongly assumed it would be David Byrne doing his full on David Byrne vocal performance over the top of a Brian Eno record, and the concept got me very excited. Nothing was ever going to live up to the idea that I had in my head. Instead it's a very tasteful instrumental meeting of creative minds, a blend of the two artist’s sonic palettes. Byrne’s bouncy, eccentric instincts come up against Eno’s more patient, atmospheric ones. Together they are manipulating sounds, textures and samples from Africa and adding a psychedelic flare, leading to a unique sounding Western record. We have different ideas nowadays about how appropriate it is for artists to draw so deeply from non-dominant cultures but it does look like Eno and Byrne made efforts to be respectful to the (admittedly sometimes unwitting) collaborators who make up the record’s samples. The results speak for themselves, with this being a curious exploration of culture, even if it's not exactly my favourite mode for either artist.

What a strange record, i find it oddly mysterious and compelling but also quite boring. Really hard to tell how much or how little impact this might have had. Going low to solid 3.

I feel like this is going to be one of those albums that I absolutely love after I've listened to it five or six times

This list has already taught me how criminally under-appreciated Brian Eno is, and a collaboration with David Byrne is bound to be something worth hearing at least once.

This album is way more interesting in theory than it is in reality, unfortunately. The constant sampling is cool for a little bit and I guess it's revolutionary sort of, but they don't really go anywhere with it? Others would figure out better ways to handle the combination of grooves and randomly sampled stuff, but Eno and Byrne fall short here.

Lo que hace Byrne tiende a caerme bien. Me gustó la atmósfera que se genera en algunos temas. Dificil album igualmente, no es accesible a primera escucha, ni tampoco para cualquier día o momento. 5/10

3.5 regiment was the standout for me. I was maybe a bit more drawn into the rhythm section than whatever else was going on. There was a description of this being 4th world music and i would say thats pretty accurate

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts was certainly a really interesting album as are most of Brian Eno's solo works. This time around, he teamed up with David Byrne which makes a lot of sense since Eno and Byrne alongside his band were practically joined at the hip during the late 70s and early 80s. This album was quite a mix of rock and electronica with some dashes of world elements as well. I thought this little mashup worked shockingly well as these songs had a real nice atmosphere top them. The very heavy bass did irritate me but not because it sounded bad (which it didn't) but actually because it constantly made me think my phone was vibrating. Despite that annoyance, this album was shockingly pretty good. Best Song: Mea Culpa Worst Song: Moonlight in Glory Side note: Last album where Brian Eno is specifically credited, time to rank them 1. Ambient 1/Music For Airports 2. Here Come The Warm Jets 3. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts 4. Before And After Science 5. Another Green World

Didn't love it, but it wasn't so bad

Very good. 3.5/5

Can definitely hear some Remain in Light vibes.

What a trip. I had never heard of this effort from these two musical legends until now. Occasionally good.

Quite experimental for its time. It’s synth and shoe gaze, but also has middle eastern influences? Not surprised that Eno produces something like this.

3.5/5. A question I had while listening to this collaboration between legendary producer Brian Eno and Talking Heads frontman David Byrne was “was this the first plunderphonics record?” as this album sees the two digging through a ton of samples from a ton of different sources and forging them into strange, atmospheric soundscapes. The album is essentially the two musicians experimenting with sounds, and like all experiments not all of them necessarily fully work. But it’s still a fascinating listen and there are some great cuts on here like “Mea Culpa.”

Kind of exactly what I expected - it might grow on me with more listens. A three but only just

Aight

Ol' Sourpuss himself

Not my thing

Cool to listen to once, but not something I would put on a second time.

Not bad jam music. I don't need an entire album of it though.

Interesante, tendré que volverlo a escuchar 3.5

I don’t know why but this collaboration didn’t hit like it should have. It was good, but nothing compels me to go back again.

Enjoyable background music.

Just not my idea of fun

Eno and Byrne create an interesting and innovative collage of sounds here. It's exactly the sound you'd expect from these two collaborating. However, it is a bit substandard compared to their respective works of this era. It's never dull, but it does tend to get repetitive. It doesn't really develop much past its starting point, which is a shame because this album is an absolutely brilliant listen at times. Favourite track: Regiment

Not as bad as I thought it would be. Yes it’s experimental but all songs had a nice consistency to them. Cool production.

Regiment is a banger

An interesting album that isn't really in my wheelhouse, but enjoyed it. And usually love anything David Byrne is involved in. Highlights: "Mea Culpa" and "Help Me Somebody"

This was a cool abstract album.

Odd!

One of my first memories with Alex is hitting a record store in Center City sometime in our first month or two on campus. I probably picked up some Rod Stewart record or some shit like that and Alex swiped My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. It was basically the first time I heard something like this and it helped expand my tastes a bit more. While it's not the best thing either one of these guys have put out (or close to it, imo), it's still an interesting listen. I could play Regiment on repeat for 24 hours

My cat scratched my copy of this years ago so I have not given it a full relisten in many years. Still holds up, the Eno-dominate back half is a little less exciting than the hybrid first half. America is Waiting & Mea Culpa are great spins. Side-note, I believe my pressing had the Qu'ran track removed from later pressings for blasphemy & perhaps that's why my cat, who is Muslim, scratched it.

It’s alright. Nothing crazy, pretty experimental and instrumental. It is David Byrne, whom is the lead singer of the talking heads, which is funny because I got “1977” a few days ago. Tolerable, and not a bad listen, but definitely not on the top of my list, similar to that of the Talking Heads record. Personal ranking: 6/10 Favorite Tracks: None

I might not be cool enough to get this one, but it's what I'd expect for a Eno and David Byrne album

If ghosts could make music I know it would sound like this!

Borderline Experimental™: The Album I had a headache when I put this album on. The elements inspired by the legendary David Byrne helped relieve my headache symptoms. Those inspired by Brian Eno made it fucking worse. But hey, Radiohead exists largely as a result of the electronic concepts on display here, so that's cool I guess.

A toss up between a 2 and a 3. But I'll go with a 3. It's as weird as fuck and I can see how some will hear it as dicking about 😅. But there's something mysterious about it

I have a lot respect for Brian Eno and David Byrne, just not this album. I can see how this would be influential to bands like Radiohead and others who expanded on this sound. I was excited to hear it, and a bit disappointed.

I don’t know what to think of this album. Pieces of it were enjoyable, especially in my elevated state this evening, but it didn’t hold together for me. 6/10 Pretty Good

Brian Eno always has an interesting sound. Not something I'd listen to every day, but good

Pretty much what I’ve come to expect from Brian Eno, not too offensive but very different. I’m sure there’s some influence behind the artist, I’ve just yet to see it.

Makes a lot of sense with this collab of Brian Eno & David Byrne. Very avant garde & experimental. Definitely an album to really concentrate listening to. Thats what I appreciate about Eno. Byrne is such a weirdo, and I dig the “out there” brazen approach when it comes to his music. Some songs are funky and I liked them. Some were not for me.

America Is Waiting - it's brian eno, i expected weirdness. It's not a comfortable listen, but it's interesting. Mea Culpa - weird, like it shouldn't be considered music. But it's interesting, in a way. Percussion is really good. Regiment - ooh, its nice. The drums, bassline, guitar. Feels very ahead of its' time for 1981. Saved for later. Help Me Somebody - very cool, carribean feel in the rhythm. A little bit nervous, but interesting. I love the variety between songs. The Jezebel Spirit - funky and danceable, but doesn't resolve into something that I find satisfying in the end. I don't really love the sort of megaphone type vocals. Very Very Hungry (formerly Qu'ran) - laid back, interesting percussion, a bit disjointed in melody and vocals, but interesting. Again feels ahead of its' time for 1981. Moonlight in Glory - nervous percussion, but interesting variety in instruments. Funny bassline and melody. I like the use of such a variety of instruments. But, not my favorite song by far. The Carrier - interesting vocals, interesting song overall, not much to say as it wasn't too special either. A Secret Life - bit of a nervous song, didn't really hit me in a good way, the vibe is ominous. My least favorite of this album. Come with Us - strange song, sounds more like an OST of a weird video game. Not totally uninteresting, but not appealing either. Mountain of Needles - kind of lacklustre ending to a strange album, but not totally unbefitting. Still interesting listen.

Couple of the songs aren't available on YTM so I found a bootleg version on YouTube itself. This album isn't bad but I am definitely not into it. Might need to come back to this another day.

I like other Brian Eno albums…. I like the Talking Heads….. expected his to be better than I found it. Meh. The first couple songs gave me Hope but there are no standouts for me.

Pretty decent album. I like that every song has its own vibe, it never feels like it’s stuck doing the same trick for 40 minutes. It’s constantly switching moods, textures, and weird little ideas. It also feels kind of proto techno in a cool way. Not in a club banger sense, more like you can hear the early blueprint for a lot of electronic music that came later.

Kinda cool, but all over the place.

This is an interesting pairing. Being sampledelia through and through, this album also jumps around quite a bit in terms of the genres it's trying to mimic. I think this album may be one of the earliest commercial examples of sampledelia, hence its inclusion in this list I assume. However, I think I'm more impressed at HOW the duo found these samples. Many of the samples you hear are from seemingly random radio snippets across the country, plus an exorcist's dialogue over a particularly funky track ("The Jezebel Spirit"). Unsurprisingly experimental given the two who were involved in the creation of this album. Doesn't do much for me personally, but I can't ignore the influence this may have had.

Exactly what I expected from this duo. Soundscapes combined with world art rock.

Creative, but not too enjoyable to listen to.

Kind of a funky album. Not super into it but it's not offensive to my ears.

I wanted to like this more, it's just some kinda good experimental stuff. I like the more rock songs on here. The first half is immensely better than the rest as well.

Eno is the master of compiling and layering sounds, influencing bands from Talking Heads, to King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Bowie, and others. The album is a collab with David Byrne — don’t know why his name’s not listed in the generator? This is complex electronica, and very listenable. The sounds are literally engineered to please the nervous system. Like most electronica, it is in the end a bit soulless. A 3.

He he he pretty cool but not anything I really care for. I do like Eno and David Byrne quite a bit though.

Funky ambient electronic beats and vocal samples. But what does it mean? Should I care? Poor Jezebel

This is a wacky album. I love how you can clearly see both artist's contributions. Fun stuff. Favorite track: Mea Culpa

I thought I'd enjoy this a bit more than I did

It's an interesting album, mixing lots of samples (quotes from sermons?), some world/Indian music, plenty of post-pop / funk music, etc. I don't think it's an album I would ever reach for, but if it's there in the background, I don't mind.

I like this. It’s weird, idiosyncratic and at times hypnotic. Eno and Byrne are two autistic guys being dudes, turned loose in the studio to commit the music streams running in their heads to vinyl. It’s not particularly memorable. But it’s a pleasant listen that has enough moments to hold my attention for an hour of runtime. I like to think of it as a little rumspringa for two creative giants to do whatever the hell they wanted.

Ihan hauskaa häröilyä kolmosen arvoisesti. Ehkä tosin nuo loppupään biisit meni vähän yli.

Evidence that, if you work with Brian Eno, you don't know what to expect next and Talking Heads followed up 'Remain in light' with a year's hiatus whilst their leader and their producer created an entirely new form of music by using samples of voices as a 'lead melody' over rhythm tracks. The bonus outtakes are not really worth much but it's inventive stuff and influential, creating even more credibility for its creators

I approached this album with bad attitude - due to my previous experience with experimental music - but it was suprisingly good to listen to. It wasnt that every song on this album was good for me, but some of them have nice grooves and nice vibes that can induce a trance of some sort.

Funky African-inspired rhythms looping, ambient soundscapes and textures floating by, and a whole bunch of weirdness and peculiar sampling in between. It certainly sounds like a collab between Eno and Byrne would sound. It’s cool and a unique listen, but not something I’m likely to revisit regularly.

Sound pretty overall, kind of sci-fi vibes.

I bet that in 1981 there weren’t too many albums which used samples in this extent. For us Talking Heads fans the grooves on this album sound really familiar and they make you foot tap along, but it does get bit monotone towards the end. Plus points for the experimentation and trail blazing way of working, but this album would have benefitted of having few songs on it in between the repetitive groove tracks.

Cool futuristic-sounding record that's a bit of a complicated mess, leaning a bit cluttered in its experimentation. If it hadn't, though, I imagine it would have been a boring new age mess instead, which would have been much worse. So I don't know if I want to give this a higher score for that reason. Oh well. Still a big Eno guy regardless.

I like weird stuff like that. Brian Eno is a treasure.

It’s a strange album. Has some decent grooves, but is musically all over the place and becomes a little too hectic. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again

When two artists, who are on the spectrum, get together to make “music” (read: challenge the world of music) this is what we get. Also, there was probably a lot of coke supplied.

Simultaneously sounds like parts of Eno and probably more so Byrne (Talking Heads) without being as compelling as either

Really interesting, varied. Some tracks I love...others...meh

very funky and experimental. i can see why its influential, but it’s not for me.

I was really digging this, then it got a lil too esoteric in the second half so 3 let's say?

quite peculiar and moogy and transported me to many different places. not sure its my bag tho i did enjoy some of it

Much more interesting than other purely electronic albums that have appeared here - still quite boring. 3/5.

Actually had some nice moments rhythmically, and it's a good collaboration between Byrne and Eno carrying on from Remain in Light. Loses itself by the end of the album though.

Funky and good. It’s an album I’d classify and ambient listen, something to rock too in the BG, but occasionally has the oomph to come to the front and demand focus. Its play time is a little long for me. Wish it was closer to 45. Doesn't hold on to me enough to give a 4 atm, but i could see it getting there. high 3

I generally quite like Brian Eno, but this doesn't quite hit the mark.

So this is what happens if you lock Brian Eno and David Byrne in a room together. It's artsy and noisy but still has a beat. A fun smattering of 80's analog buzzes, beats, and funky guitar. Regiment and Jezebel Spirit were pretty good songs.

This is just an instrumental Talking Heads album. It’s white boy funk with polyrhythmic beats. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s also completely unnecessary. I suppose this is cream and honey to their hardcore fans.

Not the best or most interesting project that either has on this list, but occasionally captivating nonetheless.

very experimental sound (at least to me)

Ok

- ilmeisen vaikutusvaltainen levy ollut, kyllä tästä radiohead kuuluu - ihan koko levyä ei jaksanut kuunnella töiden ohessa mut iha jepa

Interesting stuff. Tracks with it being Eno and Byrne. There are some definite grooves you can jam and bob your head to.

This was an interesting listen. Musically accomplished but didn’t really stand out. I loved my 80s instrumentals like this (Art of Noise, Yello, etc.). This felt like that. 3/5

Must be fun to be in this stage of being a musician and just be able to collaborate with your musical genius friends.

The only other Eno album I've heard is Before and After Science, also from this list, and this album blew that one out of the water. I would describe this album as intriguing. Each track was a combination of sounds that always engaged my attention. There aren't any earworms or hooks, but there was complexity here that I appreciated even if I likely won't go back to it.

It's alright, has a Biggie sample in there too.

I'll start to like a song and dig whatever's going on and then it just keeps going on and on and on and on and on and on all the same....

I hear this was groundbreaking at the time it was released. OK for some background noise, interesting in parts, relaxing in others, exciting sometimes.

Quite a conceptual adventure. Flag for re listen. Some good influences on eg Public Service Broadcasting.

yeah it was cool, all of the samples were creative and used really well, I just wasn’t that obsessed with it while I was listening idk

Didn’t have a ton of time to get into this one today, but from a quick first listen, it has everything that an amateur fan of David Byrne such as myself would like. It’s definitely on the list for a re-listen.

The kind of thing you’d hear in the little side room of a modern art museum that plays a short film on loop, you know with little stools or benches strewn about. This album was as weird as I’d hoped! The beats were the highlight of the whole thing, so intricate and fun. The overall sound and glitchy samples were way ahead of their time, I thought Boards of Canada were the first to really do this — but they didn’t debut until like 20 years later.

aahhhhhh.... I love both of these guys but that's a no for me dawg. I bet Laurie Anderson liked this though... :) ;P

𝘔𝘺 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 plays like a collision of ideas — part atmospheric experimentation in the vein of Bowie’s “𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴”, part rhythm-driven exploration that anticipates the aesthetic of 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. Found voices, fragmented samples and restless percussion drive the record forward, but the experience can feel more like a fascinating experiment than a fully cohesive album. The sound world is inventive and influential, yet a bit detached, as if the concept itself matters more than the emotional impact. Interesting, clever, sometimes striking — but not consistently gripping.

Before Madlib, MF Doom, and RZA, Byrne/Eno were the first incorporators of vocal snippets that engender a kind of immersive and documentarian experience: from Ray Taliaferro of KGO Newstalk AM 810 to Reverend Paul Morton and Lebanese singer Samira Tewfik, these samples prompt worldly perceptions w/o committing the crimes of a poacher like McLaren. The two were also able to sustain enuf funkiness throughout to engage my dance-wise senses. However, what I love about the Talking Heads, especially w/ Eno, as well as Brian's solo work, is missing here: this is nerd music, plain and complex, w/ almost no emotional depth. I feel it percussively, and I can dig its influence, but the two of 'em made far better records than it. Nerds!

It had its moments

Fun beats! I will definitley use this for studying sometime! 6.4/10

was expecting it to have vocals, i was hung up that i wouldn’t hear any david byrne vocals but after i got over that the instrumentals were okay and had some good sampling, okay overall and i can see the influence it may have caused

Trur eg likar Brian Eno utan David Byrne

Nice music of Africa I guess

6/10

If you want Byrne and Eno firing on all cylinders, go listen to Remain In Light (though, “The Jezebel Spirit” does sound like the bones of “Born Under Pressure”). I don’t mean to imply that this album is bad, but don’t expect a meeting of the minds that intended on creating a pop opus - have some patience. Everyone was hemming and hawing about how this was Radiohead before Radiohead and I don’t agree except for one song, which is “Mea Culpa”, and I must say it was a fantastic song. All of the Radiohead sound without the Radiohead bemoaning. “Mountain Of Needles” was impressively futuristic in the sense that it sounds a bit like a vaporwave song before the advent of vaporwave which was of course pulling from songs during this albums time. That was a nice little timeloop. After that, the record does just meander a lot. Any derogatory “bleeps and bloops” comments can be fairly directed at the last bit of this album. Still, Eno is a mastermind. For every bad record that Neil Young is involved in on this list, there’s a good record Eno (post Roxy Music) is involved in. 3/5

don’t particularly care much for brian eno… but this album with the genius of david byrne is pretty good.

I appreciated how experimental this album was for the time.

Brian Eno and David Byrne present in this album a collection of very funky and abstract tracks. So abstract, that I might be a bit difficult to describe these songs in detail. The album starts with some very funky new age cuts, but they get more abstract, weirder, experimental and less funky as the record progresses, to the point where the last tracks is basically ambient music. Apart from the sound progression, there is no real cohesion between songs. The world 'collection' that I used at the start really fits as a description of the album. What makes this album special is how detailed and ambitious it sounds. They borrow a lot of sounds from different genres, such as Afrobeat or Tribal music, and they play with a lot of noises and samples, making every song incredibly detailed. However, while the album sounds really good in concept, I think it is a bit stale in emotions. The funkiness is not contagious enough to make me want to dance and the atmospheres created aren't that engaging. Nonetheless, I still appreciate a lot how unconventional this album sounds

Really good but not next level for me

Not impressed

An interesting one , it felt like demos of future talking heads songs

"Regiment" is a really cool song. I like the funky bass that's present on some tracks. Overall it's fine with some bright spots, but not really something that hits for me.

Did these guys get there inspiration from tribal villages and drugs? That's the vibe I'm getting and I'm enjoying it! It was a bit too strange to add to my library. But it was good! 7 out of 10

interesting, and can appreciate it as a historical snapshot, but not for me.

No. 22 I feel like I can understand the importance of this album in terms of shaping the perception of sampling in modern music, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy it very much, or that I would listen to this on a daily basis.

Liked this one. Weird tunes, but if I enjoyed the first listen I imagine many of these would grow on me.

138/1001 Brian Eno and David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ The use of samples and soundscapes have clearly inspired a number of artists listening to this and whilst I can appreciate its influence, it wouldn't be an album I'd gravitate towards. The highlights from this album are the more Middle Eastern inspired tracks.

Too synth-y 3/5

Liked it, little odd at moments, didn’t fully grab me

exactly what I thought it would be 3.5/5

Ailienljud

It's experimental and weird and very Talking Heads-esque. But it has its moments. It's very far from that garbage you find on Metal Machine Music and etc. It's listenable and somewhat interesting. Not a favorite, but ok.

5.5/10

super weird. obviously expected from these two but still worth noting. cool stuff here and there but mostly good as background noise

joar paar nice ideen aber auch echt anstrengend artsy

The only collab I've heard from them were the Talking Heads albums. And you can really feel that vibe on the very first track. The rest to me is more Eno than Byrne. The album was 50/50 but ultimately rather interesting 3/5

Two interesting artists but unfortunately this is a pretty boring album

Solid background music but nothing too particularly exciting.

This feels more like an interesting experiment than a fully fledged album. It's not unpleasant, but nothing really goes anywhere. I really prefer music to soundscapes.

I think this might have been an influence on Radiohead, given its experimental sound. I liked it but not that much.

Weird, nice and calm.

Kept my interest throughout but wasn’t as instantly rewarding as any Talking Heads or solo Eno records I’ve heard. Definitely worthy of further listening.

Interesting.

Actually enjoyed 80% of this quite a bit

Hard to complain about Eno but this wasn't the one for me.

This is really high concept and out there. It's pretty inaccessible but it is interesting.

It’s really just a collection of interesting soundbytes — little sonic sketches that never quite become full songs. If I were a musician, I take some of those bits into full songs or albums. However to listen to this multiple times is kinda of challenge. It's really a 2 but given the sheer volume of this it has to be higher.

I enjoyed most of this. Atmospheric to energetic. Sounded exactly what an Eno/Byrne collab would be expected to sound like.

They tried alot of stuff on this one. Wasn't bad but i don't see listening to it again.

This was entertaining. Definitely as much David Byrne as Brian Eno.

Cool concept and interesting layering of the sample with the guitars. Wish I could give it a 3.5.

Previously rated (Brian Eno): Before And After Science (3/5) Another Green World (3/5) Here Come The Warm Jets (4/5) ************************************ What am I to feel when listening to this? There were sounds made, some were interesting, but not *that* interesting that I needed to hear it before I die. What did David Byrne contribute? Not bad, but very forgettable.

Omnämns ju ofta som ett referensverk för den tidiga samplingskonsten. Man förstår varför, och det är väl också därför den är med här. Användningen av samplingar för att bygga musiken är både imponerande och banbrytande. Huruvida musiken som kommer ut är bra kan man dock ha synpunkter på. Det är en skiva som kräver en del av dig och några lyssningar för att komma in i den. Jag har gett den fem varv och den växer fortfarande. Det innebär ju också att den faktiskt är intressant. Den funkiga ökenbluesen i "Regiment" är väl den mest öppenbara låten som tilltalar en direkt. Men här finns fler som utkristalliserar sig efterhand, exorcistpastorn i "Jezebel spirit" är inte dum. Mot slutet får Enos ambienta struktur mer utrymme och då ändrar skivan lite karaktär, "The carrier" med sin arabiska chill-out är riktigt bra och avslutande spåret också bra, spåren däremellan är dock helt hopplösa. Den behöver ännu mer tid den här skivan men en stark trea för nu

Som en instrumental syssling till Bowies Lodger. Eller som ett soundtrack. Det är idéer till låtar som aldrig får blomma ut. Blir väl bäst i Regiment även om jag inte är särskilt förtjust i den arabiska sången.

Lots of very interesting ideas, but not a lot of musical cohesion.

This was quite strange but not in a bad way.

It’s not bad, it’s just not what I enjoy listening to. I think if it was more of a traditional album with a couple of these thrown in, I would appreciate them more.

Quite a collaboration between two strange guys. Mostly spoken word / speeches rather than singing.

Funky, experimental, well paced, and most importantly, super fun. This has got to be one of the earliest instances of sample-based electronic music.