Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks

This is an ambient classic, composed by Brian Eno almost twenty years go and played by Eno, his brother Roger and Daniel Lanois. Whilst the web teems with exalted reviews, I'm a little less enthused about the music. The first half is, however, particularly fine, with gossamer textures brooding over vast and lifeless lunar spaces. Most fans of this album reserve their most ecstatic hyperbole for An Ending (Ascent) as a particularly fine track. It's cute but really not that special: an undulating series of chords with vague hymnic undertones. Too short as well to transport the listener into the groove. This delicate atmosphere is then suddenly punctured by incongruous country-and-western recollections (with Lanois on steel guitar). Frankly, it's hard to bear. Luckily the final two, longer tracks reconnect with the bleak atmosphere of the first half. As with all ambient, mood is everything. Given the right setting - night and sunrise experienced from a cosy bivouac on the summit of the Matterhorn, maybe - this kind of music could have a memorable impact ...