DISCREET MUSIC

"Discreet Music" can be easily considered the most important and first Ambient album ever, making in this way Brian Eno a precursor of the genre. Completely different from the previous albums, this one goes in atmospheres that the artist was yet to explore. Everything here is electronic, there are no other instruments. Even the orchestral pieces are computer made. Minimalism becomes the main influence, and so very few notes are played, and the ones that are played repeat themselves in specific patterns during the songs, with slight modifications every time. This huge step towards the unknown was made by Eno not really in studio, but when he was in the hospital, paralyzed. A friend of his gave him a classical music record to keep him company, but the record player in the room was so bad that the music had to be at a very low volume, giving it the exclusive use of creating an atmosphere, and not destined to be listened to carefully. "Musique d'ameublement" Erik Satie called it, forty years before this release, when he too was experimenting with classical music.

"Discreet Music" is an at times (like in the title track) beautiful portrait of cold, deserted lands illuminated by a pale, dusky sun. Or at least, that's what I like to imagine it, since not all the album is like this; In fact, exclusively the title track can give you this wonderful fantasy. The other three songs of the album are all orchestral, and all of them are Variations on the Canon in D Major, all very similar to each other. These songs, in my opinion, ruin the album, and do not deserve to be in the same album as "Discreet Music", frankly one of the best Brian Eno songs ever. These three songs are all delicate, gentle, but very sad sounding. Their main problem is that it goes too far; there are almost all too long and repetitive, and they would have been breathtaking tracks if the artist had shortened them.

Anyway, the album maintains good levels, and there is definitely a nice and harmonious equilibrium. 3.5 stars seem sufficient.

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