Search - Brian Eno :: Drop

Disappointing

M. Bergeron | Colchester, VT United States | 06/18/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"As a major fan of Eno's work, this came as a major disappointment upon it's release. At the time of it's release, he was contibuting/experimenting with Sseyo's Koan software, where one sets certain parameters to a intrument voice and the ware will generate music within those parameters. In fact, there was a set of "Eno pre-sets" you could buy from the company that you could plug in and you would have a ever-changing Eno soundtrack. That's what The Drop sounds like. It comes off as a phoned-in, by-the-numbers collection of uninspired Koan experiments. In fact, I came up with (arguably) more interesting sounding things playing around with a demo version of the software myself. Save your money, go the the Koan website and download a demo of the software yourself and come up with about the same thing.

This was the first release of Eno's that I was disappointed with and sadly, not the last. This marked the first in a long string of seemingly uninspired work from somone who at one time guaranteed a "Wow" on every release. A real shame."

Inconsistent.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 07/06/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In his career, Brian Eno has covered a lot of ground. mostly in the instrumental vein, and he rarely repeats himself. As such, it is the case that sometimes there will be material that just doesn't work well (or at all) with a given listener as Eno pushes in new directions. For many (including myself), "The Drop" is one of those pieces. Consisting of 16 brief experiments and one extended work (and augmented on this reissue by two bonus tracks), mostly outside of the vein of ambient and rather experiments with looping, I have a hard time viewing most of this material as anything but a failure.



The unifying element here seems to be looped backgrounds over which theme-driven keyboard lines (that sound at least in part improvised) are played. Each track presents a different style, and nearly all of them end before they get anywhere. Some of them are interesting (pointless keyboard study "But If", bass-driven "Boomcubist", Morricone-tinged "Dutch Blur"), but by and large, its an exercise in irritating keyboard sounds ("Belgian Drop", "Out/Out"), unnervingly obnoxious samples ("Block Drop", the mind-numbing "M.C. Organ") and what sounds like unfocused and pretty much pointless keyboard excursions ("Cornered", "Blissed"). And in at least one case, all three of these manage to be true ("Rayonism").



The extended piece on the record ("Iced World") actually works out ok, but it FEELS like a half hour long piece. One of the great things about Eno's longform composition is that the pieces never feel as long as they are.



The remaster certainly sounds good enough, although the liner notes are nonexistent (its a one-sheet "booklet"). The album is augmented by two bonus tracks that are pretty much in the same vein as the rest of the album.



In short, "The Drop" is not essential Eno material. Its the kind of thing you get if you're a completionist, anyone else should look elsewhere."

Drop It

Jay Murphy | Landover Hills, Maryland United States | 08/29/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A bit different than most of Eno's work, most of "The Drop" utilizes looped beats over which Brian lays various melodies with various synth tones. The closest this album comes to ambient is "Iced World" which also incorporates a rhythm loop. Eno has never released a truly bad album- this one is just a bit mediocre by his usual standards. If, like me, you're an Eno completist, you'll want this CD. If not, I'd advise you to start with "Discreet Music" or "Thursday Afternoon"."