EnoWeb sometimes hears from people who have heard a small sample of Brian Eno's music and wish to know more about him, or want to know what album to get next. If you're one of these people, welcome – we'll do our best to help you get acquainted.
Who is Brian Eno?
Perhaps best known as a musician and producer, he's also an artist,
professor and thinker. Music-wise, even if you haven't heard any of his own
records, you may have heard his production contributions to albums by rock
legends U2, David Bowie, Coldplay or James. In other media, his music sometimes appears
in films, television programs and commercials.
What kind of music does he create?
We've tried all the airy-fairy descriptions we can think of, but it
narrows down to this: 1. Songs. 2. Instrumental or ambient pieces. 3.
Unclassifiable.
What Eno albums would you recommend?
Always a tricky question, this one, as answers are highly subjective.
EnoWeb reckons that there are two "benchmark" albums which give a good
indication of the rest of Brian's output. One is Another Green World,
which has songs and instrumentals. The other is Apollo: Atmospheres and
Soundtracks, which has a selection of ambient pieces.
What then?
This should do for starters. Remember, these are only suggestions, and
the best way to explore Brian Eno's music is to obtain one or two of his albums
and get to know them.
| If you particularly like... | You may also like... |
| Another Green World | Before And After Science; Taking Tiger Mountain; After The Heat |
| Another Green World's songs | Taking Tiger Mountain; Here Come The Warm Jets; Before And After Science; Wrong Way Up |
| Another Green World's instrumental pieces | Music For Films; Apollo; Evening Star |
| Apollo | Music For Airports; The Plateaux of Mirror; The Pearl; Thursday Afternoon; The Shutov Assembly |
| Apollo's atmospheric pieces (e.g. "The Secret Place", "Matta") | On Land |
| Apollo's beatier pieces (e.g. "Silver Morning", "Deep Blue Day") | The work of Daniel Lanois, including song albums Acadie and The Beauty of Winona |
| The dark madness of Taking Tiger Mountain & Here Come The Warm Jets | Nerve Net; My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts |
| My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts' collage of cultures | The work of Jon Hassell, including City: Works of Fiction, Dressing For Pleasure; Fourth World: Possible Musics |
| The Plateaux of Mirror; The Pearl | The work of Harold Budd, including The White Arcades and Luxa |
I heard some music by Brian Eno in a film. Is it available on
an album anywhere?
| Name of movie | Music can be found on the following album: |
| Trainspotting | Apollo; Trainspotting Soundtrack |
| Velvet Goldmine | Here Come The Warm Jets |
| Heat | Heat Soundtrack; The Drop |
| For All Mankind | Apollo; Music For Films III |
| Sebastiane | Music For Films |
| Neverwhere | The Drop |
| Traffic | Traffic Soundtrack; Apollo |
| Million Dollar Hotel | Million Dollar Hotel Soundtrack |
| La stanza del figlio (The Son's Room); Y Tu Mama Tambien | Before and after Science |
| Me and Earl and The Dying Girl | Another Green World |
| The Lovely Bones | Small Craft on a Milk Sea; Taking Tiger Mountain |
What's the aim of EnoWeb?
EnoWeb was established in 1993, in the very early days of the World Wide Web, making this one of the Internet's longest-established web-sites on any topic. It began as a means of archiving some Eno-related information that had been gathered by early adopters of the Internet, and developed from there with an approach that might be summarised as "having fun taking something seriously". Brian Eno has never been interested in running his own web-site, so EnoWeb fulfils the role of providing news and information about his work and career. This site was created by Malcolm Humes and handed over to Tom Boon in 1996/97, since when Tom has tried to smuggle in jokes wherever possible.
Where can I find out more about Brian Eno?
EnoWeb might be a good place to start... Try our FAQs.