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Brian Eno - Brian Eno &  David Byrne: My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts CD (album) cover

BRIAN ENO & DAVID BYRNE: MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS

Brian Eno

 

Progressive Electronic

3.88 | 184 ratings

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tarkus1980
Prog Reviewer
3 stars Recorded before Remain in Light but released afterwards, Bush of Ghosts is the last time in Eno's career that we see him innovating on a really large scale (all his albums afterwards are at most minor variations on already established techniques and styles). The basic idea behind all of these tracks is this: loop a few samples of somebody talking or preaching or chanting or whatever, and lay it on top of an army of percussionists and bassists playing various "ethnic" rhythms. Rhythm-wise, at least, this sounds a TON like Remain in Light (which makes sense, of course), and overall this has influenced countless electronica artists (some better, some worse) to do basically the exact same thing that this album does.

I have to admit, this album sounds really freaking cool, but unfortunately my enjoyment is tempered by the fact that the formula starts to get old for me about halfway through. This album is all about sound, not "music" per se, and when the sound is all essentially based around the same idea, it's very difficult for me not to get tired of it after a while. I've seen this compared to Peter Gabriel's Passion, but that's a bit of a rough comparison, if only because Passion sounds (to me, anyway) like honest-to-goodness real music, and stirs real emotions within me, whereas this definitely does not. It's yet another science project, and while it's a science project of the highest level (I'm giving it a very good grade, after all, because I really think it deserves it), it's another one of those albums that I have to tip my hat to more than I really "enjoy."

Regardless, if you can't get sucked in by the grooves of "America is Waiting" or, say, the awesome rhythmic preacher rantings of "Help Me Somebody" (to just name a couple of examples), there's something not quite right with your ears. If you're going to own only one sample-based album, this is most certainly the one to have.

tarkus1980 | 3/5 |

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