Search - Harold Budd & Brian Eno :: Pearl

Probably the best Budd/Eno team-up album of all time

Brad Torgersen | Seattle, WA, USA | 07/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even more than "Music for Airports" and "Plateaux of Mirror", this album is the definitive collaboration album from the Budd & Eno archives. A groundbreaking classic of the ambient genre, this disc just gets better with time, especially in an era when the New Age and ambient genres have been overrun with imitators and dilettantes.



Subtle, gorgeous piano and synthesizer work features throughout, with a richness and emotion that is hard to find on other ambient albums. When it comes to "relaxation" tunes, this one has the field beat, and I've spent many an evening, in bed, under the stars, with my wife or alone, letting the quiet, spare beauty of this disc spirit me away from the troubles of the everyday world.



Anyone seeking to find the roots of true ambient should look no further. Budd & Eno were doing it long, long before most others, and they were doing it with a style and a gentle grace that has come to typify their collaborative efforts."

The greatest ambient recording ever

Zap Rowsdower | San Diego, CA United States | 01/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though it's over 20 years old, this still remains one the best recordings in the ambient genre. In my opinion, it is THE greatest. Period.



If you're new to the genre, this is the place to start.



If you already own this disc, I suggest listening to Budd's collaboration with John Foxx ("Translucence/Drift Music"), as it comes very close to approximating the sound of "The Pearl"."

Brilliant impressions of sound

a writer | USA | 05/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Without a doubt, the ambient label originated with Brian Eno. In this classic collaboration with Harold Budd, sounds from seemingly random spheres of life are distilled in connected pieces. These tracks are like a good walk in the woods on an autumn morning. Blurred textures, softly colored tones and a meditative pacing all give this album the impression of Nature itself, only more vibrant and well-defined.



The best element for me is "A Stream with Bright Fish," which opens with a coolly evocative synthesizer tone and beautifully sparse piano notes. You can practically hear the small currents and splashes of water, dappled sunlight and refracted images of silvery fish. Messers Eno and Budd haven't synthesized so much as tuned in to the atmosphere of the world just outside our everyday world. It's worth every shimmery moment."