My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Not my favourite 2/10

I was skeptical going in. Then first few sings were fantastic and I thought I'd find a gem. Then the rest was boring and self indulgent. Oh well

Weird space and all over the place. 1.5/5

I’m just not a huge fan of this type of music.

I like Eno and I love Byrne… I don’t like this at all.

Sounds for an art installation? I understand that it's important, but it's not something I'm going to want to put on. There are moments of enjoyable rhythmic musicality, but for the most part, it just feels like sounds.

This style works for me when its just David Byrne,....this just isn't hitting. Feels silly and all over the map. Couldn't get thru it.

Cool that they used sampling, but I feel like it could have been executed a lot better? It almost sounds like they’re trying too hard to be weird.

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts presents an intriguing soundscape and demonstrates an impressive use of sampling throughout its tracks. Yet, despite its experimental charm, the album frequently dips into unpleasant territory, and when it doesn't, it simply left me unimpressed.

Look ma! Samples! An exorcism! Is it good? Well……….. This isn’t as bad as my 1 star albums, so I’ll round up 1.5 to 2.

I always appreciate the new sound textures that Eno brings to his collaborations. Mea Culpa was pretty rad with the driving percussion and deep droning vocals, reminded me of some of the newer indie-electric bands I've heard (Check out "Wow" by Young Fathers). As you dig deeper into the album it sort of diverges into sonic "experiments" more than songs, often times slamming discordant noises together just because they could.

It was ok. Good Background music. I was excited for david byrne, but it didnt seem like he put much into it. It was mostly Brian.

The concept here was take two talented people who were near the peak of their creativity and put them in the studio together. Decent idea. If you like spoken word/chants over quirky melodies then this album is for you.

Artsy fartsy but come on

Bored me. Some interesting sounds. 2.4

Genuinely experimental and atmospheric. I’m surprised to see the ‘81 release date. This is truly ahead of its time. Slippery, strange, and a bit long. Innovative and all that, and I’m glad I listened to it, but I won’t be revisiting. It pains me to give a score this low to artists I admire, but I have to be honest about my personal enjoyment and listening experience. It's interesting but not listenable and I found myself wondering who this was for besides the people who made it.

Is the creator of this list friends with brian eno?

I didn’t finish this album and I’m fine with it.

60% Best: Regiment Must-Hear? No

Kinda weird.

This album kicks off with what I can only describe as a torrential assault against my ears of springy samples. I.. do not understand how this could be particularly enjoyable, but we power through. The song “Mea Culpa” is actually kinda fun, there’s this spooky surf vibe to it, that if I ignore the bizarre vocals, works pretty well. Things don’t really improve from here though, the endless annoying percussion samples that persist throughout this record were outstandingly grating. The final track, “Solo Guitar With Tin Foil” is kind of a shockingly beautiful minimalist guitar track, and it felt like a beautiful oasis in the middle of a springy desert. There’s definitely some positives here, but they don’t come close to outweighing the annoying samples. 2*

Waste of time

I have to admit that I started listening to this while mowing the lawn, which was a mistake. I couldn’t really get a good feel of it, I just knew it was different. Upon a re-listen, I will also admit that I had low expectations. What got me early on was not the creativity of what they brought into the recordings. Frankly, we can call that ingenious or innovative, but if it really only influenced future electronic music and nothing in the pop or rock realm, does it really matter? What I did like and ultimately drew me in to give this a fair shot was the rhythm of some of these songs. Sure there were some early misses like Help Me Somebody. Ok, a lot of early misses, with random screaming / narrative that might have had a place for others, but was totally lost on me. That said, songs like Regiment and Mea Culpa had something about them that I enjoyed. Unfortunately, as the album progressed, those pounding rhythms fell by the wayside, in favor of more and more randomness, which made this an opportunity wasted in my opinion. For those who might rate this a 5, I’d ask two questions: is this something you come back to repeatedly and is it close to a no skip record? I highly doubt you would find anyone to say yes to both. Anyway it’s very, very different and while different can be good, in this case it’s not. Interesting for sure, but I’m confused by why I had to hear it. Again, if it led to something that was huge, or if it was really influential on the direction of music, I could accept its place. But since it appears to have done neither, it’s just a departure that adds up to little more than noise save for a couple of highlights. Worse yet, its inclusion in a list of albums I had to hear at the expense of some tremendous records is really baffling. If you want instrumentals, do yourself a favor and go listen to something more influential and innovative that’s actually musical (and incredibly high level), like Joe Satriani.

Early 80s Brian Eno and David Byrne. Sampled vocals and found sounds, African and Middle Eastern rhythms, and electronic music techniques. Random squeaks and voice snippets over beats and some kind of melody. Very experimental. Long and deeply weird.

Dearest album generator, please spare me another David Byrne or Brian Eno album. Thanks.

Way too experimental for me I'm afraid

The songs that were actual songs were good. The ones that were just weird experimental noises were not that good.

Goddamn this went on forever. In some ways it can be cool and atmospheric but it trends into annoying and grating most of the time.

I like Talking Heads but this is a bit of a mess in all honesty.

Not impressed. Good background music/noise, but that’s about it.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did.

I agree with everyone who says this is ahead of it's time - it does sound like a more recent production than 1981. Sadly it is also a load of self-indulgent cut and paste gibberish set to some reasonably interesting rhythms. Expected better from Byrne and Eno to be honest, I do own this album but hadn't got round to listening to it until now. On a side note, why do so many of the reviews for this album in particular look as if they were written by bots...?

Maso

Albums that seem to be made to reflect skill with cutting edge technology age about as well as a smart phone.

A lot of care and creativity went into these tracks. I love Brian Eno's solo work. I respect David Byrne very much. Unfortunately, Byrne's music makes me feel anxious. Like the Talking Heads, this album leaves me feeling like I've had one too many cups of coffee. Regiment is a perfect example. That groove is so sweet. I was literally adding it to a playlist when that vocal came in. Quarter-tone music gives me vertigo for some reason. Unbelievable.

Weird

Trippy, sample-heavy ambient(?) music. Sometimes sounds like a forerunner to trip-hop. Cool ideas, though I can’t say I care too much.

Probably definitely how it feels to contract some form of aural schizophrenia.

Favorite Track: The Jezebel Spirit

It's something, not sure that works for me Will I listen to again: 2%

2 sterne

Scratchy

Not my thing. Probably takes another listen to appreciate more. Knowing nothing going in, it didn’t hook me right away and got a little bored of it.

Surprising and interesting at times, but "surprising" and "interesting" aren't always compliments when it comes to music.

Recorded before Remain in Light but released after it, My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts is a good companion piece to the Talking Heads' album in that it's a similar study in looping/samples and how to be a culture vulture. Similar to Remain in Light, this album makes extensive use of samples and loops, drawing heavily from African music; but this album also draws from American funk and Arabian music, including using several spoken-word clips from preachers, politicians, and apparently an exorcist? Unlike Remain in Light, this album leans more heavily toward the ambient/electronic sound Eno is known for, creating mostly soundscapes and movements rather than typical songs. It was an interesting listen, at least at first. But at an hour long, it soon gets kind of stale. And as someone who's not all that into electronic music, it definitely overstayed its welcome. It makes for ok background music, but it's not something I'd seek out on my own. I can see how this album would have been considered influential and innovative in its time, but it definitely feels like a cringey art project from a bunch of rich white dudes. 2/5

So, I make mashups. If you've been following my reviews (and if you're not part of my group, how have you been doing that?), I might have mentioned it before. And I gotta tell you, if there's anything I love hearing in a mashup, it's spoken word samples. Like, come on, recontextualizing a bit of dialogue from a film or whatever as an intro, outro or interlude to a track? That can be amazing. I particularly wanna highlight The Kleptones for how they've done it; they're my biggest inspiration on that front. Here we have an album by Brian Eno and Davie Byrne, then, that is famous for its sampling of largely spoken word sources. This should be something right up my alley! Like, yeah, there's only one source sampled per song, but still, I can imagine something incredible being done here. Or if nothing else, it'd be nice to hear to glimpse some DNA that'd be expanded on in later music from other artists. And, y'know... On the one, I can appreciate this for bringing this kind of sampling more mainstream. Brian Eno is an artist with clout — certainly more than I imagine the guy from CAN has — so if this inspired artists to try more of this kind of vocal sampling, then that's only a good thing, and for that alone I'll be happy this album exists. But as an experience; as a collected whole; as an **album**... Well, when you understand vocal samples the way I do, it makes the whole album kind of feel like... Y'know, interludes. Like we're hearing the parts before the actual song starts, or the parts once it's done, or the parts that serve as breaks in-between parts. For most of these tracks, it's like I keep expecting the vocal part to come in, but it never does. They jus' kinda... Run around in a circle for a bit before they decide to stop. And they're not bad for it; this isn't ambient music, but as experimental sampledelia to paint a scene to, it's fine stuff. I'm just thinking, there should be more going on, right? And as much as I wanted to say more about this album... Yeah, no, that's really about the size of it. Just this overwhelming sense of "Is that really it?" And it's not even like I was expecting that much from this album to begin with, and certainly there are instrumental patches in here that sound weird enough to be more interesting, but it's just... Really not to me. Not enough so that I wanna be **too** mean to this thing; my appreciation alone for what it meant to sampling, even as much as I hear it's debated, keeps me from being too down on it all overall. But it's like, I was actually really surprised when this thing ended. It hadn't even sounded like it'd started yet, and now it's over? Gosh, I'm talking about my rating now... Lately I haven't been mentioning my rating in my reviews since I wanna have people focus more on my feelings directly than how they relate to a number, but with this album...! I mean, look, I really give this thing a 3, at minimum. To shrug and go, "Oh, well, not my thing, but I can at least appreciate its impact." But every time I think that, my gut tells me I'm wrong, and, well, who am I to argue with my gut? It does kind of pain me to give a Brian Eno and David Byrne a 2 (even if I have no idea how much Byrne actually contributed to this), but... Eh, as I say, that's just how the pieces fall out sometimes. Ultimately, this album's just too uninteresting to me, and it never sounds like it actually starts. At least Eno's purely ambient work had an excuse. So... Pshm, I'unno. I'm just bummed out this is how this thing turned out. Guess now I don't hafta feel too bad that I could never remember how this thing was titled? "Ghosts In The Bush Of Life?" "Life Of My Bush Ghosts?" "Bush Of Life Ghosts?" Seriously, it just always eluded me... And yet I can remember well more than half of Chumbawamba's THE BOY BANDS HAVE WON, et. all, so go figure.

I get this is a monumental album but it feels like homework.

This one is pretty solid. I like it for what it is, I understand the experimental part of it, maybe it’s because I’m not around when it came out? I think it would’ve had more of an impact back in 1981 if I heard it then. Good beats, I appreciate the incorporation of world music, I think this is a one and done for me, though. Two out of five.

Weird production. Too experimental

I’ve never liked David Byrne or Brian Eno as much as I always felt I ought to, and this collaboration is no different. Sampling works better for me in small doses.

After listening for a while i finally got a song i liked. Then I realized it was because the album was finished and Spotify played a new artist.

Experimental. Uninspiring.

This was kind of hard to get through, but there were some cool Talking Heads-esque grooves here. Aside from that, I was not interested in this.

Was it interesting? Yes Was it inventive? You bet Was it good? Nope

Noise noise noise.

Rock, 1981 -> 2

I'm a gan of the talking heads but nit too sure who brian eno is, in my head he makes movie soundtracks. After a quick search he seems like an interesting guy. But I don't like his music. I just need some more structure here. There are great grooves and little ideas that sound very heads but they sit in the amorphous blob of ambient nothing. It's just not what I'm looking for I guess. I just need more than what is here. Maybe that's a me problem but it gets a lower score than I'd like to give it because of that

Day419 - i guess sometimes when you put two geniuses in a room it’s this mess and not abbey road

Boy, this is a lot. It started out good (probably 3.5 or so) but then just kept dragging on as the songs got longer and same-ier. So we're going with 2.5, rounded down.

Not actively bad for the most part, but too weird for my taste. It felt longer than it perhaps was, and I couldn't really make heads or tails of most of it

This was too experimental for me.

I appreciate that this was ground breaking at the time, but I hated listening to it.

Experimental, weird with electronica bells and whistles, arabic onomatopoeia making up some kind of world music.

A few seconds into this album I thought to myself "Oh. It's one of these albums. Unfortunately for me I was correct." Do people actually enjoy listening to this, or do they think they like it because it makes them feel sophisticated? I understand musicians need to experiment to figure out what is possible, and it gives DJ's and producers a plethora of sounds to use. But I won't be listening to this album a second time.

Not for me

is there something wrong with me i don’t think i like brian eno even a little bit

Pre-listening thoughts: I am so curious about this one. I know Brian Eno produced a lot for Talking Heads so I imagine there will be some sonic similarity there (and bc of David Byrne obviously). I wonder if it will stray into ambient territory though. Hoping it just sounds like a Talking Heads record even though you’re missing every other band member to make that magic happen. So it probably won’t 😭 Post/during listening thoughts: hmmm.. this isn’t really what I was expecting! Lots of sampling here. I thought David Byrne was gonna sing but I guess not. It’s like a collage in music form. It’s definitely well produced, there’s no denying that. I’m just not sure I enjoy it all that much. Like I’m not really sure what I’m listening to. It sounds like scrapped Talking Heads instrumentals with like random speaking bits over it. Brian Eno, you have once again become an opp; and David Byrne, I am not mad, just disappointed. But I’m gonna keep reading your book cause it’s good. 3.5/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: nope. No matter how influential this was for sampling I don’t think it needed to grace my ears before I croak Fav tracks: Help Me Somebody (I guess. I wasn’t super keen on anything on this album. So disappointed actually) Least fav tracks: Mea Culpa

First half is fine and the 2nd half is atrocious. 2.5

again not offensive but interesting doesn’t necessarily mean a good record

What a mix bag. There are some good, groovy songs and some that are just complete slogs. At times, I felt like I was listening to a movie soundtrack. I appreciate the boldness, but overall, it's a little flat. 2.5/5.

Muslim call to prayer with percussion, although it is admittedly good percussion

Reminded me of a thievery Corp album but a little bit more chaotic.

This is one of those albums that feels like it was really important at the time, but has faded into obscurity, and probably for good reason. The samples make for an interesting listen, and some tracks really groove. But others just drone on for minutes at a time. Both artists are highly influential, but there’s a reason people tend to talk about the music that’s more palatable to listen to when the discussion comes up.

This was… interesting. Odd world music vibes mixed with religious chants.

Allez, on attaque un monument. Un de ces disques qui, rien qu'à l'évocation de son titre et des deux noms sur la pochette, vous oblige à prendre une posture intello, à hocher la tête d'un air entendu en murmurant "Ah oui, bien sûr, un album fondateur". Et sur le papier, mes aïeux, quelle promesse ! Brian Eno, le sorcier-producteur, le pape de l'ambient, l'homme qui pouvait rendre un annuaire téléphonique intéressant en le passant à travers trois synthétiseurs. Et David Byrne, le leader-anguille des Talking Heads, le type le plus bizarrement cool de la planète new-wave, capable de danser comme s'il venait de recevoir une décharge de 220 volts tout en chantant des trucs profonds. Le genre de collaboration qui fait mouiller les critiques musicaux du monde entier avant même la première écoute. "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" est sorti en 1981. Une date qui a son importance car c'est l'album qui, nous dit-on, a inventé le sampling avant même que les samplers existent. Une pièce maîtresse, une pierre angulaire, le chaînon manquant entre le post-punk, la musique ethnique et l'électro. Un disque qui, si on écoute la légende, a engendré à lui seul le trip-hop, inspiré Moby pour son "Play" et donné des idées à une armée de producteurs qui, sans lui, en seraient encore à enregistrer des solos de guitare. Quand je tenais la boutique ou que j'étais derrière le micro à la radio dans les années 90, cet album était une sorte de totem. On ne l'avait pas forcément beaucoup écouté, mais on savait qu'il était IMPORTANT. On vendait du Massive Attack, du Portishead, du DJ Shadow, et on se disait : "Tout ça, les mecs, ça vient de là. De Eno et Byrne qui s'amusaient avec des bandes magnétiques et des enregistrements de prêcheurs libanais ou de chanteurs égyptiens." Le respect était total, presque religieux. Alors, forcément, quand son tour est venu dans ma liste des 1001, je me suis préparé. J'ai sorti le bon verre, je me suis calé dans le fauteuil, prêt à recevoir la révélation. Et les premières minutes, nom de dieu, quelle claque ! C'est brillant, la production est d'une modernité confondante. On est en 1981 et ça sonne mieux, plus audacieux, plus inventif que 90% des trucs qui sortent aujourd'hui. On entend ces voix venues d'ailleurs, ces "found sounds", qui s'entremêlent avec des rythmiques funk-mutantes, froides et groovy à la fois. C'est hypnotique, c'est intelligent, c'est cérébral. On se dit "Putain, ils avaient tout compris avant tout le monde". Le concept est génial, le son est immaculé, l'album n'a pas vieilli d'un iota. Et puis... Et puis le premier morceau se termine et le deuxième commence. Et on se dit : "Tiens, c'est marrant, ça ressemble un peu au premier". Le troisième arrive. "Ah, ok, je vois le principe". Au quatrième, un léger sentiment de lassitude commence à poindre le bout de son nez. Au cinquième, on se surprend à regarder par la fenêtre en se demandant si on a bien rentré le linge. Au sixième, on se dit qu'on se ferait bien un café. Voilà le drame de "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", c'est une idée de génie étirée sur 40 minutes. Une démonstration technique incroyable, une thèse universitaire sur le rythme et le son, mais où sont les CHANSONS ? Où sont les refrains, les mélodies qui s'accrochent à votre cerveau, les moments de grâce pure qui vous font oublier que vous êtes en train d'analyser un disque ? Nulle part. C'est une oeuvre d'avant-garde, et ça me fait une belle jambe. C'est une collection de rythmes et de textures, c'est une putain de branlette intellectuelle de producteurs de génie qui ont oublié l'essentiel : l'émotion. Passée la surprise initiale, passée l'admiration pour l'audace et l'innovation technique, eh bien... on se fait chier. Royalement. C'est le même motif, la même formule, déclinée à l'infini. Une voix "exotique" samplée, une boucle de basse funky, une batterie métronomique, quelques nappes de synthé et hop, emballé c'est pesé. C'est un album que je suis content d'avoir écouté, pour ma culture personnelle. Pour comprendre d'où viennent certains courants musicaux que j'adore. C'est un disque essentiel à l'histoire de la musique, c'est indéniable. Mais est-ce que je vais le remettre sur ma platine pour le plaisir ? Pour accompagner un trajet en voiture ou une soirée entre amis ? Jamais de la vie. C'est un album que l'on respecte, que l'on admire, mais que l'on n'aime pas. C'est une pièce de musée. Fascinante à regarder, mais on n'a pas envie de l'accrocher dans son salon. Alors oui, c'est un album "fondateur". Il a fondé les bases de tellement de choses. Mais à force de se concentrer sur les fondations, Eno et Byrne ont oublié de construire une maison habitable. Ils nous ont livré un plan d'architecte sublime, mais sans les murs, sans le toit, et surtout, sans le coeur qui bat à l'intérieur. Une expérience. Indispensable, mais unique. Dans le sens où je ne la referai pas de sitôt.

ummm...yeah. Woof. Not my cup of tea (or my cup of "concept music"). Occasionally I would perk up with some fun beat/grove/sound while this was playing. But mostly I just wanted it to end.

I'm a big time Brian Eno and David Byrne fan from their other projects, so I was excited to hear this album for the first time. Never have heard of it before I started this project. Starts off with America Is Waiting and while I like the weird, funky electronic sounds and samples of what I assume is news media stuff, it didn't really strike me as amazing. From there, the album is getting weirder and weirder. Just not my cup of tea. Random sounds and unincorporated samples and electronic keyboards just isn't music to me. I liked their work with Talking Heads, but this is an album I didn't need to hear before I die. 2/5 because I like both of the artists a lot and I understand they're both a bit weird.

2/5

It would have been nice to fast forward this.

...welp, this was a mess. A reasonably pleasant mess, but still.

Maybe a little too out there for me. Could hear Byrne's influence which was neat.

not for me

2.5

Overall, didn't like this. It wasn't until the last few seconds of the last song that I found it enjoyable.

Not for me

A decent half hour album dragged out way too long to the point where I was begging it to end. Love Talking Heads so was sooo disappointed with this.

I will never understand how listening to tape loops repetitively for 5 minutes for each song is enjoyable. This is listenable, though, so I just listened to the first couple minutes of each track before switching it to the next track.

Starts off okay but slowly drags into a long mind numbing struggle. One and done with this one.

I’ve not got much of an opinion on this one. There’s a lot of Eno on here and I generally find him a bit underwhelming. This album is no different. Meh

Like interesting but sort of boring too?

elettronica ma non si può tanto sentì... va bene come soundtrack per qualche azione nei film...

Brian Eno is a renown producer and musician on his own. Throw in David Byrne and have the executive producer Cocaine behind the board and you have magic! This is ‘80s synth-pop and excess at its best. The Herb Alpert /Notorious BIG bass line in Regiment was a funk variation. Listening to this album made me feel like I went to sleep and woke in 1980’s East Germany, which is fair because he had just got done doing a two year stent with Iggy Pop and David Bowie in Berlin (I don’t know if there was cocaine or those two had just enough for a wore off on him in sobriety). Overall, he is a king of emoting: you can hear a lot of Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and Nine Inch Nails in this album. I don’t know if I returned this one, only time will tell.

Experimental at best. I'm sure it was mind blowing back in the day, but not super enjoyable now.

Not my favorite

This was difficult to get through. I respect both guys, but no thanks on this.

Very weird experimental music with a lot of electronic parts, I know David Byrne is the Talking Heads guy, I recognize the name Brian Eno but I'm not as familiar with him. Yeah this is definitely not for me, super atmospheric, definitely super non-traditional which I guess I respect in principle, but it's just not that enjoyable to listen to.

Less music and more just experimental noise. Appreciate it for what it is, even though I did not care for it much myself. Best Song: Regiment Worst Song: Very Very Hungry

Weird album, it doesn't really sound like Brian Eno, and it definitely doesn't sound like David Byrne. A classic collaboration, that shows none of their respective talents. I certainly didn't enjoy it and will quickly move to the next one.

Really enjoyed the last album we had from Brian Eno, but this one was less relaxing and more annoying noise.

Not his worst on here, but it wasn't much better.

I don't know who this is for but it's not for me. I'm sure Brian had a great time making it and I guess I'm happy it exists but it just didn't do anything for me.

The purported appeal of this album is it was creative & adventurous; it’s just cooky; bizarre lyrics & a compilation of clambering music annoyingly arranged.

This one was weird. The tracks were cool but not sure I will listen again

..

I like both of these guys but this is just them insulting their worst tendencies.

Vendetta against David Bowie is over, David Byrne is my new enemy. Maybe this was forward-thinking for the time, but Jesus fucking Christ does it have “Culture Vulture” written all over it, for like, 20 different reasons. I won’t deny, sometimes, it hits a groove, but if I feel icky every time it doesn’t groove, maybe there’s a deeper issue at hand.

A bit too experimental for me, can’t say I was really a fan of this.

I was prepared to fully hate this one. I didn’t, it was ok.

I wasn’t previously aware of this album and was a bit low on expectations. Actually not that bad, but entirely forgettable imo. I fess hence why never heard of it before.

I like pioneering use of samplers & all but don't think this one is special. Closer to a Brit trip hop guy's "vision of a psychedelic Africa" than I want to listen to. music: hated. (⌐■_■)

Not sure how I feel about this one. Brian Eno is bringing many awesome sounds together, and it sounds like the specific precursor to Remain in Light. But it also sounds like it's the homework to the final exam. It's a work in process. Innovative, maybe, but I think capturing his sound in something more complete, like his Talking Head albums that are already on this list, is more appropriate for a list like this.

Experimenting and pushing boundaries is good, but shouldn’t always be packaged and sold as music. Some of this is legit good, but I think they front loaded the album. Highlight was the bass line in Regiment.

Much respect to both of these individual artists. This bored the fuck out of me. 2/5

No notes.

Very weird but funky

Just tiresome. Seemed to go on forever just for the sake of going on.

Weird. Political statements that still last, but sounds like Indian percussion in space.

Thank you, next

non ho ancora ascoltato un album di Brian Eno che non mi abbia abbondantemente scartavetrato le palle. basta, vi supplico.

realized while listening i accidentally listened to the deluxe edition which is another ~20 minutes. luckily the extra songs really represent how insane i felt like i was going for having to listen to this for an hour

Background music - of no .usical interest or importance whatsoever. Not unpleasant, just pointless.

There's too much Brian Eno on the list. Some of his work is good, but this is him doodling again.

No

This album is basically music porn. It's innovation and sound "real" music critics and musicians can point to as being very special and that's why only they can understand it. So of course, this one is going to be in this book, because music critics chose the albums, and this is one purely for them. This work is very innovative and it's an incredibly high concept record. It's necessary to understand this is an indulgent album, which does not mean it is a bad album. I don't know if I would ever listen to this album for any reason other than to show others what an indulgent album it is. I enjoyed the last Brian Eno album I heard and I like the Talking Heads. This one isn't for me.

I get what they are doing but don’t really care

This guy noises!

Brian Eno confounds me, we had some bad Roxy Music, some good Roxy Music, some bad solo stuff, and then My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts which I did not especially enjoy. It's not outright terrible, it's a sampling and ambient electronica album from well before it became a big thing but I don't think it does an especially good job of it and doesn't warrant a place on the list just because it was interesting or revolutionary at the time. It's a 2, there's not much I liked on here, but also not much I actively hated.

This is technically impressive for its time, it's forward looking, but it's not very listenable, really. It's quite janky, there are a few good moments and the odd good track, but overall it's a bit of a tuneless mess. 2/5.

Hated it

This is my favourite album of all time! Said no-one ever (who meant it)!

I find this music deliberately difficult and it just doesn't appeal. I read a glowing review about how this was a meld of a million genres and influences and all I hear is disjointed rhythms and barking samples that put my brain on edge.

Yeah, I don't know. There are some cool moments on here, but overall, there's a detachment to this that makes it hard for me to care too much.

Collaboration inconnue entre ces 2 artistes. Je trouve les morceaux terriblement répétitifs. Pas désagréable à écouter mais pas très intéressant. => 2/5

Some very interesting sounds and samples. I've heard some of them before. I can see why it was ahead of its time. But it dont think its an album i would come back to often if at all. Maybe i should be trippin more, then maybe i would. It could be something i put on in the background to focus on work perhaps. Other than that, i cant say i enjoy it.

The problem is, outside of the innovative sampling and it’s apparently controversial legacy, the music just isn’t terribly interesting

:S

Unfortunately my music system seemed to play this backwards. Tea of cup my not. Or maybe the band forgot to turn up. But still better than rap and hip hop so a 2 for that as there is no foul language invading my living space.

Sehr experimentell viele Samples, nicht so meins

I didn’t find this very enjoyable.

Toch een aardig duo, Byrne en Eno. Dat bewees zich natuurlijk ietsje later met de Talking Heads. Dit album zit vol Afrikaanse en Islamitische invloeden, en je hoort echt het Talking Heads geluid al. Leuk om te horen. Kan wel muziek zijn die lastig is om met volle aandacht in een drukke trein in de maandagochtendspits te luisteren en er iets boeiends over kunnen vertellen. Maarja, ik moet toch een weg door de reviewjungle weten te macheteren. Er staat nogal wat open. Al met al gewoon een geweldig duo. Je hoort de Talking Heads al zo duidelijk terug, en dat is leuk. Maar een heel album met deze muziek is een beetje too much. Ik vind vooral de afsluiter Solo Guitar With Tin Foil zo apart dat het grappig wordt. Rating: 6/10 Highlights: Regiment

Just not nice to listen to

Uhm sorry David Byrne maar dit was niet het. Viel bijna in slaap

I understand the importance of this album, but damn. I couldnt get through half of it, i was almost able to like a couple songs, but never quite

Oh god what This is quite creative The song solo guitar with tinfoil set some expectations i expect to be followd theough on

Dynamic but incredibly boring

Give me some music with gd lyrics

This one's a snooze fest, no thanks.

вот это настоящий психодел, пожалуй нет

I can't give anything David Byrne does a 1, but I was really tempted.

This was pretty weird, as expected.

Uhh ja uhmm oke. Doe mij maar talking heads

Mostly noise tbh

So annoying

It's primarily revered for pioneering use of samples, which incorporates music and speech from around the globe and the cinematic production. Fair enough. But the reality is, this is a hodge podge of ideas thrown together with no semblance of cohesion or central purpose. Art for art sake could be the argument for it. Again fair enough. But if it doesn't motivate or move me to dance or cry or laugh or anything, then what is the point? Maybe it's a new genre - Robot Pop

How many Brian Eno albums do we have to listen to. Seems like every month it's another one. Get it, he was influential throughout the ages, but then so was influenza! What to take away from this album. Too many buttons, too many ideas no coherant thought, down the rabbit hole of his mind, again for the millionth time. Not that interesting but what I am interested in, is did he manage to pay his mortgage with this fluff or did he have wealthy parents? In other words I know no-one ever, who has bought a Brian Eno Album!

This album has some really catchy music and production and could easily be a 4 or 5. Unfortunately too many tracks having these annoying and repetitive sound clips mixed in that get very agitating.

Eno and Byrne. I expected it to be weird and outside my comprehension. It was. It was more engaging than I had expected in some songs. Particularly like the bass guitar.

mir zu elektronisch oder zu "abgespacet" ... oder ich rauche zu wenig

I knew it was going to be weird, and it was.

Not sure I was a fan.

2+

A few classics but he is a tough hang for an album that isn’t thriller

To be fair I didn’t get past the first two because I felt like I was losing my mind

Man man man. Prima dat je een of andere exorcist opneemt hoor. Maar daaronder zit dan een jaren 80 muziekje met een geluidje hier en een geluidje daar. En samen telt het op tot niets... Hebben we het niet eens over de jengelgeluiden zoals op Regiment...1,5 ster.

Eno en Byrne samen, dat staat garant voor avant-gardistische gekkigheid. Gek doen omdat het kan, niet omdat het lekker klinkt. Kunst, omdat het moet. Kunst met een grote K. De muziek is experimenteel, qua geluiden en de samples die erin gebruikt worden. De basis van het middengedeelte is wel lekker funky, fijne baslijntjes en soms een Nile Rodgers achtig gitaartje. Het geheel wordt rijkelijk versierd (of ontsierd zo je wil) met tingeltjes, tangeltjes, synths, en alles wat Byrne en Eno maar in de studio konden vinden. Af en toe zitten er wel hele gave geluidseffecten bij moet ik toegeven. Op het einde gaat het rariteitenkabinet weer meer en meer storen. Gekke geluidjes, irritant gejengel uit het Midden-Oosten, teveel Eno ambient rommel. Voor het funky middenrif zou ik nog best een 3 kunnen geven, maar het geheel is mij te experimenteel. Zou ik dit liever luisteren dan Frans Bauer of Joni Mitchell? Ja, dat wel.

Well, I can't say that this was *exactly* what I was afraid of when I saw an Eno-Byrne album, but I definitely was afraid of the general theme of pretentious sounding art that doesn't really connect at all musically...this might as well be most of the other electronica tracks I've encountered on here: they all just sound like half-songs to me

Just really boring

Eh. 2/5

Gave it a start. Couldn’t finish. Need to be significantly altered to enjoy this.

I liked all the Talking Heads albums this this thrown at me, I liked the Eno album too, so logic dictates I should like this. I did not.

Liked some of it but not most

Esperava mais, que fosse capaz de aproveitar as camadas da sonoridade africana.

1.5/5

I couldn’t get into this It felt like a soundtrack for an experimental art flick 1.5

I thought this was really creative! Would I listen to this again? Probably not. Did I enjoy it? Kind of…?

I really don’t know what to say about this album. Like it definitely isn’t for me. It’s far too obtuse and artsy for my liking. A lot of it just comes off as noise. Given the talent here I’m not even mad at the songs because they SOUND good I just don’t like HOW they sound if that makes sense?

Menudo monton de ruido tu, la orimera es en David Brayne que es de una cansó que venia en el windows Xp (creo) prou mareante pa un divendres de mati (va a ser que no)

I liked this but thought it was a bit boring overall. I felt like the songs bust kind of meandered around in existence with no real purpose or direction. Cool concept with fun moments.

A skip on this one honestly. It was loud and really annoying at parts. The random noises weren't cool and just got plain jarring to the point I was begging it to just end so I wouldn't have to listen to it anymore.

Not sure i get it

Them boys cookin. I don’t know wtf they were supposed to be cooking but this is aight (2.5/5)

A weird, experimental work that uses repetitive grooves to showcase oddball vocal samples, to lackluster results. In a way, this album is a precursor to sample-based music genres like instrumental hip hop, trip hop, sound collage, and plunderphonics, but does not fully capture the dynamic sound and composition of future albums in this vein. The percussion is interesting in an academic fashion, and there are respectable bass, guitar, and key riffs littered about, but any admiration quickly fades in the first minute of a song as the groove is repeated without change or derivation. The samples are interesting and sometimes chopped for variety, but do little to improve upon the tedious backing tracks. This album may have been groundbreaking upon release, but has since been surpassed by much more interesting and beautiful records. Stand out tracks include "Help Me Somebody" and "The Jezebel Spirit".

For every one thing cool about each song there are 50 things which are extremely annoying. Ok, Brian, David... If you want to have a playdate with one another and funk around on some new early 80s mixing/sampling tech, that's fine - but as an album it comes off as lazy. While saharan beats not often heard in 80s western music underpin many of the tracks, they are muddied to the point of being imperceptible. The moments where I start to groove with polyrhythm are almost immediately ruined over and over :( I can't help but feel like one 12 minute song with less noise, perhaps building off of Very Very Hungry, would have been a better application of effort. Favorite track: "Very, Very Hungry" Favorite track to get abducted to (by aliens): "Come with Us"

Some truly putrid tracks, but mostly decently listenable. I would call it a failed experiment, but I didn't truly hate it.

Two brilliant creators. It didn't work for me. Probably needs a dedicated listen. In my spare time.

Some good grooves; however, in general, a bit too experimental for me.

no more brian eno pls. i like david byrne but even he can’t make me like this

When reaching for music to enjoy this wouldn't be it. They seem to want to be more artistic than musical and it's kind of tedious.

Pretty experimental. Not much of this that I actually enjoyed listening too.

Not a Brian Eno fan

Couldn't get through it.

Tough album to rate. Very unique and creative but nothing really stood out. Some could make cool soundtracks

Experimental, noodley album. Nothing too exciting. Too long and boring to ever go back to. There were a couple bright spots like Solo Guitar w/ Tin Foil, Jezebel Spirit, and Mea Culpa. Probably a 2.5 here, rounding down based on length.

2*

Sample noodling in its earlyish days. Occasionally grooves but it’s more experimental than musical. Notable for what it helped pioneer but not for its own musical merits.

This album was like The Postal Service only when it was Ben Gibbard’s turn to record vocals he phoned it in and just recorded himself flipping through channels on the tv. There’s some really interesting music on here. It’s just ruined by pointless samples. Just because something was “innovative” does not mean it was a good idea. I have nothing against sampling, when done right it can be very cool. This was not very cool.

2/5 - I did not gel with this

I think this was talking heads before they became talking heads. Not a bad album but their sound still needs some development at this point I think. High 2.

I love David Byrne and Talking Heads, and I've heard Brian Eno in interviews and he always sounds very interesting. But this was just a bit too experimental for me, a bit more of a noisescape than anything else.

I like David Byrne, but this was a little too esoteric for me. Did not enjoy. Two stars just because of his influence.

- what duh - i get the concept. i don’t like listening to the concept

A very strange album of instrumentals, samples, loops. I wasn’t crazy about it but more listens might change that.

Instrumental and airy album. Not a big fan of the music but I can appreciate the art.

the kind of experimental music that gets boring really fast

Weird as hell

honestly what even was that? 2/5 (because there were some fun sounds and percussion in there)

ja weiiss ich nich… it‘s interesting

nah, nöd min gschmack

The aspects of Eastern and African music were neat to hear, but even given that, a lot of this album was a bit of a slog. There's definitely a lot of avant-garde inspiration at play here that I'm sure influenced artists throughout the 80s and beyond. This was also an example of sampling in music long before sampling was popular or common. Overall, though, I wouldn't say this album did too much for me. It's higher than a 2, but I wouldn't say it's a 3.

I get why this was groundbreaking and I like both Eno and Byrne but this was not an easy listen. Not my style

I guess this was an ambient album? I generally don’t like ambient music. It wasn’t bad, but I just didn’t get it

Musica muy peculiar, difícil de escuchar. Aunque interesante experimentación muscial, se siente desde sus entrañas la apropiación que conlleva. 2/5

Wat een bizar trippy album is dit. Van Brian Eno van Roxy Music en David Byrne van Talking Heads. Dit album gaat echt alle kanten op, maar om nou te zeggen dat het een lekker stukkie muziek luisteren is... Dit album is pure chaos en opzich vind ik het interessant, maar denk niet dat i kdit nou vaker op zou zetten. Ik denk dat het mij iets te experimenteel is en dan kom ik uiteindelijk uit op een schamele 2 sterren, iets wat ik heel jammer vind want ik vind het wel echt tof dat er iets anders word geprobeerd!

Not really for me, but it sounded well put together.

21 Based on this scale: 1 - 0 to 19 2 - 20 to 39 3 - 40 to 59 4 - 60 to 79 5 - 80 to 100 More interesting than compelling, this album is more famous for its importance and influence than for its aesthetics.

- this is literally goofy ah music - the weirdest mix of sounds and lyrics - regiment is literally a groovy beat with a croaning lady over it - it’s at least interesting to listen to - chaotic neutral

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts really wasn't anything to write home about. Usually I don't mind the electronic/psychedelia type of sound however Brian Eno this time round really didn't do it for me. Best: The Carrier Worst: Mea Culpa Note: Had to listen to the Carrier on YouTube Music as it was unavailable on Spotify.

OK, so Eno & Byrne sampled like there's no tomorrow, and therefore one can argue they paved the way for others to follow. But it's not a good album, nor is this good music. P.S. I wonder if the curators here have picked albums to also commemorate the end of mass sampling, courtesy of the record companies' waking up and using copyrights to stop it from happening.

This sample-heavy album is not nearly as musically intimidating as some of the other vocal-less albums on this list, while still being varied enough to steadily hold my interest in the first half before slowly losing me towards the finish line. That being said, I don't think there's much on the bone here, and nothing that would really make me want to listen again. Highlight: Mea Culpa Lowlight: Mountain of Needles Surprise Hit: Moonlight in Glory

I listened while drawing. Background music and not so enjoyable imho.

Rollo patatero.

If there's one word for this, it's boring. You can hear aspects of both of their styles peeking through, but I'm just not crazy about how ambient it was. Oh well. The original album cover is kinda cool. My favourite song was Help Me Somebody.

The Bush of Ghosts is stuck in the Bardo for me. Too experimental to be called music to my ears.

They’re interesting soundscapes but I can’t imagine ever wanting to listen to it again

I've listened to a few Eno albums on this 1001 journey and thoroughly disliked them all. This is a little better as you hear the Byrne/Talking Heads ideas nearly making it through the tosh.

No. Me gusta la portada, pero eso es todo.

Mostly just easy listening with some sound bytes sprinkled in. Not my favorite though.

Not my thing.

Alkoi melulla, josta oli kyllä melodia ja idea havaittavissa, mutta ei makuuni tarpeeksi. Tuntuu silti siinä mielessä vaatimattomalta, ettei luota omaan oletettuun virtuoottisuuteensa vaan yrittää luoda jotain tiettyä sanomaa. Mutta en saa siitä kiinni.

Groundbreaking and influential in its use of samples, which makes it interesting from an academic point of view. It is, though, quite boring from a 'having to listen to it all the way through' point of view. Rating: 2/5 Playlist track: The Jezebel Spirit Date listened: 26/07/23

Before Tom Wamsgams and Greg Hirsch, there was Brian Eno and David Byrne. Yup, these guys are the original disgusting brothers and, by God, they got stanky on this ol thang. The album sounds like what AI would generate if it were trained on Eno and Talking Heads. It sounds like a musical representation of a description of a musical representation of a description of a song. It sounds like they recorded an album, cut it into chronological pieces, and randomly shuffled those pieces all around. Is it interesting? Yes. Is it pleasant to listen to? Not really. 2 stars (one for each of these legends)

Je suis sincèrement désolé Brian

sure grandpa lets get you to bed

'Regiment' and 'Help me somebody' - yes. Rest of the album - no.

Meh really didn’t do much for me. The samples were strange and it felt quite disjointed at times

I really wanted to like this, but it just did not hold my attention and was pretty forgettable. Maybe a future listen will change that, but for now it's a 2/5.

Not for me but appreciate the concept

Es un disco rarisimo, como una banda sonora. Cositas de electronica, cositas de musica tribal. No me gustó para nada.

Being innovative, unfortunately, often means that you won't be a master of a particular skill - voice sampling in this particular case. The album seemed dull. To name at least one advantage: I like that cover.

I know, it was innovative. But it does not mean that it is automatically good. It has two enjoyable songs. Despite them this album is all over the place and not good.

alright

Funky out-there background music fueled by David Byrne’s creative whimsy is still just background music at the end of the day

Another high concept art album from legendary assholes. Important in terms of sampling and tracking but not a particularly enjoyable listen. Often sounds like the music from How It's Made

Didn't really care for most of the..... music?.....sounds.

I just don't understand what it is trying to tell me. It's not even so unpleasant, but quite empty

Usually I like Eno's works but that goes more for his straight-up ambient work, especially with Robert Fripp. Also his job as a producer is tremendous. This album is not for me. Some of the later tracks have a nice experimental character to them. Besides that it's not really for me.

Must have done a lot of ecstasy before recording this album.

I want to give this a 1 but I’ll be kind because I understand what it’s trying to do. Still, I kind of disagree with this being classified an album at all. It’s two incredibly talented and creative artists exploring something new. Unfortunately the end result is more academic than enjoyable. Low, low 2.

Huh, onpahan ollut tullut melkosta paskaa viime viikot ja tämäkään ei ole poikkeus. Tämän levyn kuuntelu ei tuottanut edes hetkellistä mielihyvää ja helppo jättää lopullisesti unholaan.

Don’t like, found it to be very grating on the ears

This is my second Brian Eno album, and I greatly disliked the first one. I'm hoping to enjoy this one more. I wouldn't really consider this to be music that someone should listen to regularly. I don't enjoy experimental music like this, but I can appreciate them trying to think outside of the box.

Here I am writing the review 3 days after I listened and I don't really remember what I listened to. That can't be good.

Mostly instrumental/samples, kind of hip-hoppy.

Enorm experimenteel. Maar daar is Eno wel voor gekend. Niet iets dat ik opnieuw zou opzetten

Well that was annoying. 2/5.

I appreciate the experimentalism and the amount of sampling, but I'm sure each song could be better without certain aspects or noises. Overall, it's different. I wouldn't say I really enjoyed listening to it. Fave track(s): Regiment

I feel like this album is rated at like 984 out of all 1001 albums. Who is this for? When do I listen to this album? What purpose does this album serve?

It's mostly a bore

Just an instrumental album with minor vocals but goes on for way too long. Typical Brian Eno work. 4/10.

2, is interesting musically but flat out unenjoyable to listen to and a bit too experimental for my taste.

No me gusta

I am very restless with this album. It irritates me.

Not for me at all.

Listening through hundreds of albums, one of the artists I've rediscovered has been Brian Eno to the point where I definitely consider myself somewhat of a fan. This one might be thrown in the exception pile. I get the concept though - it was probably a *lot* of fun to make, in the same sense (but far far more advanced) as when I first got a 4-track recorder I was making all sorts of weird shit and sounds and I loved it. I seriously doubt I could have sold a copy :D With apologies to experimental music and with a few exceptions, this one doesn't serve as much more than almost an aural equivalent of a whiteboard - trying out ideas that could (or should?) have been left in the garage and further developed. ["Regiment" is an outlier - I really love that groove. But it could or should have been used for a better final product.] Actually.... I could see this as a great repository for *other* artists to use and sample from. Like a sound/sample grocery store. "..ok, gimme some of Mea Culpa, i'll take 16 bars of Regiment, and ... yeah, a touch of Moonlight In Glory. All at 90bpm please, thanks." As a proper "album" though - it's a little disappointing and not that easy to listen to, even as background. 4/10 2 stars.

Awful. Two stars cause David Byrne.

I had already heard about Brian Eno's solo work, and this album is what I was expecting. I understand why this is one of 1001 albums to be listened to before dying, but this doesn't make it much better. I like some noise in some songs, but JUST noise is not so good. I'll increase my rate from 1 star to 2 because it's nice to understand some musical tendencies better and, as I said, my expectations were completely fulfilled, even the worst ones.

I have this CD, because on paper it sounds great. Unfortunately, I just did not care for this. The first few tracks are pretty good, though.

Weird

I feel like experimental music is wasted on me...I just don't get it and can't appreciate it. This album very much faded into background music, albeit interesting background music. I feel like if I gave it proper attention (with a certain substance assistance), I would give it more stars.

Experimental music isn't meant to be listened to sober IMO. Thus, listening to this in the AM wasn't a good experience. Lot's of sounds with not much substance. Before I realized I wasn't really paying attention anymore it was over. I guess if you need some sounds in the background this could be for you.

Weird, decent background music.

Mad respect to David Byrne and Brian Eno because they are titans of musical production and artistry. But I just don’t like electronica. I tried, but I’m not into it. Sorry dudes, I prefer Talking Heads and Roxy Music to whatever this is.

Nice jams v pretentious

Bryan fait absolument n'importe quoi pendant tout l'album. Ce dernier possède en effet une boite sonore, où chaque bouton représente un son différent. Il se contente donc pendant 40 minutes d'appuyer frénétiquement sur ces boutons, dans le hasard le plus total. Ceci ne peut donner lieu qu'à un cafouillage incompréhensible.

Not really music, more like a showreel for advanced production techniques. Could be used as background music for some sort of sci-fi movie set in the future, where the director doesn't want the music to distract from the dialogue. Interesting, but only rarely enjoyable, not one I am likely to come back to. Still far from the worst album on this list (*cough* Nico *cough*)

I'm not sure what it is, with the last Bob Dylan album and now this one. My least favorite Eno album and I have been loving his other ones. This one just felt way more frantic and unfocused compared to some of his calmer albums we had. No doubt he has become one of the rising stars of this list for people I didn't know prior, but I'd put this one at the bottom of what we have gotten.

Oh gosh, why?!

2nd Brian Eno album, it better than the the first one, but still not a fan. A few songs are okay to listen to, but for me it would do better on the background.

I don't get Brian Eno, and I don't think I ever will. He makes some nice soundscapes but they are, fundamentally, broing to listen to. High quality background music for sure but I don't think that's really a compliment. Jezebel was a nice track in that it actually had something to attach to, but the rest is just...there.

Wel prima, maar niks bijzodners

I'll be honest, I got quite bored of this and couldn't finish it.

I'm sure this is very important in the history or electronic music and sampling, and there are some interesting soundscapes, but it otherwise is not that much fun to listen to

esse brian já passou por aqui ein..

Experimental instrumental, expected talking heads and it was not.

Interesting but not something I’d want to listen again.

I did not care for the album. It is just a bunch of mixing but not good. I was not familiar with the group or any of the songs. No need to listen.

I love David Byrne. I did not like this

Well, that was interesting. Enjoyed this one more with headphones on and no distractions. Amazing sounds and sampling. Love to hear more. For now, first listen, a strong 2/5.

Love this. But will never listen to the whole album. Will probably never dip in again. great work though!

Listened to this on a plane. Even then, it was too long and experimental for me.

I feel it was a bit too uneven. There were some interesting experiments, and then there were some experiment experiments (e.g. New Feet). I don't know if there is anything here to bring me back.

Meh

Woodshedding music, not interest keeping. Sounds cool I guess

Funk rhythms reminiscent of Remain in Light side 1, but not be as fun. Undeniably clever and technically forward thinking, but not that enjoyable.

Rollo patatero.

Innovative...sure, but no real musical enjoyment for me 2 stars

Just sounds!

Some tracks where pretty nice. Some were pretty bad. Great cover art // Favs: — Score: Strong 2

Not really for me. I can see some value, but it's not my cup of tea.

Muss man schon hören wollen. Experimentell und für seine Zeit sicher avantgarde