Relaxing
My favourite music for relaxation and/or meditative states of mind. Music for Airports is never intruding and uses soothing sounds rather than melodies. More minimalistic than most new age music of today.

good ambient music
I am an acupuncturist and I am always looking for mellow ambient music to play for people in the treatment rooms. This one is great.

Ambient 101: The creator
Ambient music started here, and the term was coined by Brian Eno with this album. Considering that Eno was talking about how this kind of music could easily be ignored and hang in the backround might make you want to call it muzak (which isn't music in any shape or form). It's not the case, because Ambient music has emotion, it has thought, it can be listened and makes you feel good (at least this album does). It enchances the moods of cerain things, it makes subtle emotions come out more. In purpose, it is used in different ways than the most common way music effects people. In contrast, muzak isn't even heard and most people don't even realize it's going through the speakers, they feel the way they did when the blanket of muzak hit them, nothing happened to them.

Considering this is the first ambient album ever, one might take a wild guess and consider it to be a bit primal. It kind of is, as it does seem a bit TOO basic because the ambient concept has evolved a lot since this album. But despite that, the music stands out great and does fine without the notion of being the first of it's kind. That's not the reason it's a good record. It's got good music, that seems basic, but still great to listen to, and still one of a kind. And it does seem to fit in with airports, although I don't really care for airports, but most people don't.

The four compositions are still chill to listen to, and I notice a lack of warmth when tearing off the headphones after listening to a bit. It's noticeable when you turn the music off and on. The first composition is a long, warm track, with a twinkly piano that loops and adds nuances, and despite the obvious pattern, it works from beginning to end. The next track is a chorus of voices that fade in and out. The next adds piano to the voice. The last is done with a warm synth.

Like Airports? I think this album would appeal to you. But I don't, and I liked it. There's not much else to say about this guy. Give or take.

7.0/10

Brian Eno - 'Ambient 1: Music For Airports' (Astralwerks)
Ha-ha! Really get a big laugh out of that patron who put on a one-star review of this CD reissue - asking 'what is this stuff, Chinese water torture?' No, Bubba! It's clearly ambient bliss for most of us. Originally released in 1978 - has it really been thirty years now since this electronics / ambient classic had surfaced? Two tracks here that I got the most out of was the sixteen-minute soundscape piece of brilliance "1/" and the twelve-minute "2/2". Line-up: Brian Eno-synthesizer & piano, Robert Wyatt-piano, Christine Gomez & Inge Zeininger-vocals and the late great Konrad Plank-engineer. Definitely recommended.

Early work that helped define the genre
First done as an installation piece for the Flughafen Tegel in Berlin in 1983, where a number of sonic installation pieces were being done at the time, the piece doesn't really have a beginning, middle or end. Neither do you have to *listen* to it to get it. The tones sit in the background, intelligent configured, but not invasive. Ready for you when you are ready for them. Nice.