Brian Eno – Ambient 4: On Land

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle ‘Brian’ Eno’s Ambient 4 is possibly the most “human” ambient album ever made: comforting and serene, like sex, but also unchallenging and sterile, like sex with a dead person. Eno’s use of “instruments” like sticks and stones as well as recordings of frogs and insects give the album an organic feel that departs strongly from the electronic noodlings of his previous band, Genesis. I picked up the album last weekend from a library and recently listened to it in a car in the early morning. This is perhaps the best way to appreciate ambient works: Ambient 4, like most in the genre, merely floats.

It’s been said that Eno’s ambient albums are shapeless, but I think motionless is a better description: Ambient 4 never moves beyond a crawl, it enters your stereo as more of a sensation than a sound. As Eno says in the liner notes: “Everything that happens is a part of the landscape”. Notions of space and distance become blurred.

All things considered, though, Ambient 4 is not a masterpiece. Though it’s high on atmosphere and masterfully produced by Brian Eno of ‘Viva La Vida’ fame, it lacks the mood and mystery usually present in his work. Ambient 4: On Land is what its subtitle implies: background muzak to listen to in mundane situations, such as driving your car off of a cliff. Though the “human” aspect of the album gives it a unique feel it also limits its template; these pieces lack the beautiful melodic structure and pace of, say, Side 2 of Eno’s Before and After Science, or Toto’s ‘Africa’. Only “Tal Coat” breaks the placid flow of the album, and not in a very successful way.

In other words, this is good stuff but it lacks that extra dimension that classifies all great music. It’s still a solidly interesting listen for Eno fans, though.

Star rating: 3/5 stars

Bobby Slick