HAROLD BUDD & BRIAN ENO: AMBIENT 2 - THE PLATEAUX OF MIRROR

Though Brian Eno seems to have done minimal work on this material, this is among the best ones that were released under his mark, under his thoughts and designs or, least to say, under his production. In a formal way, the two artists succeed into creating a work of great quality and of really impressive scales regarding the style and the cohesion. Being a second project under the probably most prominent set of works Eno made, the Ambient volumes, The Platteux Of Mirror does not only preserve the characteristics that makes the set and the compact concept one of blistering performance, but also evolved the state of play to an ever greater moment of ambient delight (that if you consider a relation with the precedent "Ambient" album; then again, even if we consider the evolution of Eno's music up to this point, constant improvements seem to have reached their climax; or, better said, one climax among others), perfectioned the glitches and misappropriate details that described the first one from the set and managed to impose greatly in a meadow and a knowledge where most of the works are, by definition, a reasonably high standard. All I'm implying is that this one, above all, should be close to the (or even in the) quintessential works of ambient that Brian Eno brought up to reflection and up to an appreciation. I love this expression very much and I consider it, through many aspects, one of intuitive appearance and one of keen touch within mastered keys.

Music belongs to Harold Budd, another important name in the ambient artists echoes (or, if he is not strictly into the genre, he sure does impose very much through his performance) and, why not, in the music itself. Brian Eno seems to have done only polish work and sound rendering, being more acknowledged as the producer rather than the artist (better situation anyway than in Ambient 3, where he is strictly a producer, does getting very shallow credits- Ambient 3 is actually a pseudo-reference of Eno, at least the way I see it) Funny references speak of Budd sending his music by mail to Eno's workshop.Still the impression works for me up to a main collaborator project. Harold Budd will make another album in the future with Brian Eno, The Pearl, one that will reach the same valences of great, impeccable, impressive side of imagination and of perception. Overall the two statements that exist, but most importantly Plateux Of Mirror, denote how Budd is an important artist among the collaborators or the musical friends of Brian Eno (at how euphorically great the works done with Budd, I would certainly place him among Fripp, among Bryne, among such that emit, in a modest way, attention and applauds).

The wonder of Ambient 2 is the minimalist that creates the powerful atmosphere. Where Ambient 1 slightly falls into a disambiguate fluoridation and where Ambient 4 more than slightly fails to impose at all, this one give the main pulse and the interesting definition: small, short and simple, but magical. The repertoire is made of concise matter, stretching to moments, to themes, to different and individual portraits. All united under the same qualitative undiminishable standards and under the pleasant look into a musical enlightening experience. Reaching such scales with such a short call is another phenomenon of doing something masterfully with resources that looks rather rudimentary. A stickler for promptness is Eno. But even more, an artist going on for clean crystal attributes. Think it may too much of a raised value, in condition that appear very accessible? Well I couldn't agree more on dense, epic-sized, intense moments of ambient composition being more of an ideal than the rest. Still not many make it to the deserved spot. This one does, with aplomb.

The Plateux Of Mirror means music, emotion, improvisation beyond the reality, ambient personification of the voiled refined force that creates surroundings, motion and dreams. The experience is wonderful, tempting (once entered the game) and inspiring. Quality here becomes just a background for confidence. Impression takes over and portrays a perfect world of lights, of distant echoes, of shivering bliss. It's a wonderful world, one surreal, one of utopia in the stress of the heart's constant beat. Ambient becomes not rule, but support. Expression becomes not essence, but sole symbol and connection with what's left of reality. Peaceful piano works, in a mood that settles on subtle tranquility and distilled scenery. Diverse colors, stratified nuances. For the passive, for the passing, for the "pasting". A message that needs of course to be understood, but leisure, as a burden of context is totally out of the subject. Rich emission, grand scapes, mastered idioms.

Highly recommended, if we've reached this point of speaking of final words and remarks. Three main reasons, the album being a main reference for an Eno experience, being a masterwork done by great artists of the style and of the caricature and splendid music, shaped nice, yet exploring the beyond that is always out there, to be deciphered, are the ones you should just know as to enjoy and assure yourself of an enchanting, styled musical wave. Above the best works, and absolutely among the important points of view. Five stars mean more than a full success. They mean the grand thought resumed to a complete session of acknowledgement. And I'm gonna go eccentric, onto five stars. I like this. And I find it lovely. Do enjoy. .

This is fragile & very nostalgic ambient New Age music. It consists in mellow, slow, very echoed piano notes and in some delicate & floating keyboards sounds giving an atmosphere of ethereal softness, like if you were floating on a cotton cloud. There are outstanding tracks, like "First light" and "Not yet remembered". On "First light", the piano notes are extremely sustained and echoed: it gives a serious feeling of nostalgia and regrets: the effect is really addictive. On "Not yet remembered", there are outstanding vocal arrangements that sound like human choirs; the piano notes are very pure, loud & sustained, so that the track is very intense; the voices and the hypnotic piano give an extreme feeling of nostalgia, loneliness and lead to recollection. The track "Arc of doves" is so delicate and mellow that it gives you the feeling that you gently hold in your hands a new born bird. The other tracks are less predominant, but still deserve a careful listen.

Music for thought.or for releasing them.

On the second title in the Ambient series Eno is joined by pianist Harold Budd. The material here is more composed and elegant than some past work like Discreet Music but I'm not certain it's necessarily more effective than that title. It is most certainly enjoyable, relaxing minimalist music. It consists primarily of the slow, brooding, distant piano work of Harold Budd and the treatments of Brian Eno. Whatever Eno is doing to the piano has the effect of softening up the sound-there is no edge-it sounds like a thick damp quilt has been placed over each speaker. And it works, it's a wonderful sound. This is instrumental music than could be useful in many ways. I used to use this album for meditation proving to me it is useful in letting go of thoughts. But it could also be used as "music for thinking" because it seems to aid concentration as much as it aids relaxation. Thus you could say the music works as background music or as active listening music. It certainly provides fertile ground for mental imagery and encourages reminiscence. Slow and far away, dreamy and ever so soft piano notes will literally slow your heart rate and make your eyes turn glassy..in a good way! My favorite track is probably "Not Yet Remembered" which stands above the rest by injecting some wordless vocals to augment the piano and give the track a more developed feel. For some folks the ambient Eno albums will make them pull their hair out in boredom, for this is music that makes Popol Vuh seem like headbanging fare. It requires a listener looking for a contemplative experience, willing to be as patient as Eno is. For those listeners this would be highly recommended, especially to those who love to lay in the dark with the headphones and float away. This will provide the necessary transport to all places unknown. 3 ½ stars.

The nice thing about Eno's "Ambient" series is that each volume offers a different take on the same idea. In the second, he teams up with minimalist pianist Harold Budd to explore the ambient possibilities of the piano. The music is quite similar to their other collaboration "The Pearl," but here Eno's contributions are far more evident than on that better known album. As usual, Eno's main "instrument" is the studio, adding mesmerizing reverbs (NOTHING like your standard PC reverb plugins) and dreamy synth washes that hover in the background just beyond conscious hearing. It's enough to separate this album from the immense sea of new age knockoffs. Budd's piano is at times dangerously close to Wyndham Hill for me, but it is always saved by Eno's creative treatments.

It's always tricky reviewing ambient albums, because you can't point to highlights, catchy melodies or instrumental virtuosity. It all comes down to mood, and this disc in certainly relaxing. However, making relaxing music is child's play and not sufficient to warrant praise. What sets this (and most of Eno's ambient work) apart is the fact that it is rewarding when actively listened to, as well as when used for background music. With that in mind, I can easily award this album four stars, as it is certainly a requisite for anyone interested in the genre, and a shining example of the style.

Second album in Brian Eno historical Ambient series. If on Ambient 1 Eno collaborated with excellent Canterbury rock artist Robert Wyatt on piano (plus female wordless vocals on some songs), second Ambient album is collaboration with American minimalist jazz/contemporary composer and musician Harold Budd.

If by its sound this album's music is very similar to Eno's Ambient debut, atmosphere is very different. The main reason for such difference is what is a second musical component besides of Eno's ambient electronics.

On Ambient 1 second most important part of total sound is Wyatt's acoustic piano - very characteristic aerial,slightly melancholic but obviously jazz rock rooted sound. Shortly, ambient 1 by it's atmosphere is strongly rock-ambient-al sound.

There, on Budd's collaboration with Eno (or Ambient 2) that second music's component is classical minimalist piano, and being very similar by sound , this album is very different by its atmosphere.

I really like that music almost as much as Ambient 1, but possibly the problem for me this album isn't so emotionally different, in fact it all sounds as one long composition, with very minimal variations.

There one can hear what later became one of the biggest problem in all ambient-related music: being of rhythmless, structureless music by it's nature, it is extremely difficult to attract listener's attention for a longer. In fact it's only possible when musicians are of highest calibre and are able to play such music on the edge of emotional/emotionless border, with big personality added. Too often artist fault in this, then their music become just background audio wallpapers. Happily, this album still has it's position on the real Ambient music side.

I still prefer Ambient 1, but this Budd-Eno collaboration is almost same good.

My rating is 3+ rounded to4.

The famous Ambient saga continues, started, with "Ambient 1:Music For Airports" and ended, with "Ambient 4: On Land", by Brian Eno. In the two middle albums, including the album I'm about to review, he asks for external help: in this one Harold Budd performs the songs. In the following "Ambient 3", Laraaji does all the work, while Eno produces.

"Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror" continues with that style that already was starting to develop in "Discreet Music", and reached it's peak with "Ambient 1:Music For Airports". That style, or better calling it genre, is known as ambient music, which gives a part of the title of this album. Only this time, it's bleaker than ever; minimalism is the main influence, like in "Discreet Music", the music has a very low volume, and sure does create an atmosphere, sometimes very effectively, sometimes less. The moods aren't sad sounding like in "Ambient 1", but still very melancholic and distant. The instruments, unlike the 1975 album, are a little less monotone; there's an electric piano played by Budd, with different arrangements by Eno. Sometimes other instruments come along, for a brief period of time.

It's difficult to truly understand what Budd and Eno tried to give to us with this album; a, nostalgic, bleak journey through deserted rural landscapes, like the cover would suggest, or just a collection of relaxing, but evocative and sometimes a little disturbing songs? It is nice to think about the first option, since I love interpreting an album as a sort of trip, like the one I had with almost all the albums I have listened to.

Not all the songs are good, but the ones that are would definitely be "First Light", a perfect summary of the rest of the album, the ethereal bleakness of the title track, the wonderfully limpid atmosphere that is created with "An Arc Of Doves", or the very similar to "First Light", "Failing Light", that ends the album, like if the album was a representation of one full day.

A good album, there is no doubt in that, and even though the structure of the album is more than good, the songs don't always deliver emotions, like in the near perfect masterpiece "On Land" or in the previous one "Ambient 1". But still, I would give it a try. 3.5 stars.

Thank you Mr. Eno for introducing me to Budd.

I had always thought of this as more of an Eno album than a Harold Budd album, but he was given first billing and once you delve into Budd, you realize that Harold is the driving force behind this music and deservedly gets top billing on the album.

In the end this is one incredible collaboration. If there is one ambient album everyone should have, this is it. Some may consider ambient music boring. But this one is rich if you have the patience to sit down and listen and immerse yourself in it. Toss aside your chains of metal and relax in the warmth and coldness of this music.

First Light. The title of the opener really fits. It starts out subtle and builds just like the early morning sun. Has to be solo Budd with Eno treatments until near the end where Eno compliments the solo piano with some synth.

Steal Away. A simple and beautiful solo piano piece. Which takes you away to..

The Plateau Of Mirror. Eno dominates this track, though I don't think domination is the best word to use when it comes to ambient music. The best adjective that comes to mind for this one is shimmering.

Above Chiangmai. Floating in air above an ancient Thai city. High above the mountains.

An Arc of Doves. I can see them in my head. Reminds me of a nice warm spring day.

Not Yet Remembered. I forgot what I was going to say about this one. Oh, how about haunting. There is some vocals without words. I don't know if this was Harold or Brian or someone who didn't get credit.

The Chill Air. Brrrr. Say no more.

Among Fields of Crystal. Another chilling piece. It's really weird how the titles on this album fit with the tracks.

Wind in Lonely Fences. Desolate.

Failing Light. Your day on the Plateau comes to an end much as it began. The sun slowly retreats.

Eno's concept of ambient is that it is music that can be either listened to intently or ignored and indeed you can with this album. Best not to do the latter.

What a day it was.

This miraculous album provoked multi-level personal transformation in my life over the course of several years in the early 1980s--musically, spiritually, and even creatively. This album contributed to the broadening and expansion of my perspectives beyond Earth, "reality," and self, and into my own creative potential as both thinker, writer, and musician. This album provided me with my introduction to Brian Eno which then incited a desperate and frenzied search among a vast back-logue of his earlier creations and collaborations (a search that seems on-going as I am ever-surprised to find to this day Eno appearances or connections from the 70s and 80s). In retrospect, Brian Eno has been one of the top three or four artists to have led me to other artists that I now cherish and love. What Eno and Budd accomplished here, on "Plateaux of Mirror," was the full and complete arc of time--of a day, if you will, of something of a complete circle which opens with "First Light" and it's fleeting touches with the day's first beams of light using single piano notes, spaced sometimes seconds apart, flitting at the listener from an octave on the piano far above, but sometimes nearer to earth, nearer to hand-held, nearer to sleep, and then each song takes us through ordinary events and moments of a typical day on Earth, among nature, helping us to notice here-to-fore sights and moments we normally take quite for granted, and then ending the album with a return to the form and sounds of the opening song yet somehow more subdued, less immediate and less tenable. The notes from the piano seem to be floating away, receding, shimmering etherically as the light does at sunset and dusk. The effect is to me, to this day, one of the most amazing and masterful renderings of real life through art--of the emotional content of six-dimensional "physical" reality--that I've ever-EVER--encountered. It is an accomplishment that I can call nothing short of miraculous.

In 1979 and 1980, the majority of Brian's time and energy went into making Talking Heads one of the most interesting studio bands on earth, so it's understandable that he wasn't able to work on a proper solo album during this period. However, he did find time to collaborate with one Harold Budd, a minimalist composer of some renown in his own right, and apparently Eno was considered to have had sufficient input that it was deemed appropriate to dub this the first successor to Music For Airports in Eno's Ambient series. The formula for the tracks is fairly simple and consistent - Budd plays minimalist, but nonetheless clearly developed piano melodies over Eno's synths - but it's very pretty from almost start to finish, and a definite improvement over Ambient 1 (this is a very high *** as opposed to a low ***).

I think that the biggest key to this album being superior to 1, as blasphemous as it may sound, is that Eno isn't the primary composer on these songs. With so much of his life force being spent on his Talking Heads work, this wasn't really a time when he would be especially able to balance his experimental side and his "real" music side in the way that usually set him apart from the rest of the pop music world, and I kinda suspect that if his 2nd entry in the Ambient series had been another true solo album, it would have been more of 1. Here, though, by outsourcing the actual meat of the project to somebody else, he was able to avoid spreading himself too thin, and the result was a perfectly enjoyable album.

I have absolutely no intention of even attempting to go through this album track by track; I can suffice to say that the songs are (a) mostly pretty as background music and (b) quite evocative of their titles, meaning that actual imagery can be dug up while listening to it. I would point out, though, that "Not Yet Remembered" is absolutely gorgeous, not so much for the very simple (and pretty derivative, though nice to listen to anyway) piano melody but for the effect of Eno's otherworldly synth-harmonies that are laid on top starting a little more than a minute into the piece.

This review is short, yes, but please make no mistake; the world needs more ambient (or whatever you want to call this) albums like this, with this kind of otherworldly beauty surrounding my ears and making the world calmer and lovelier. I can't give it a higher grade because, well, it's hard for an ambient album to get a higher grade than this from me, and this isn't the very best ambient I've ever heard, but it's up there. And it goes without saying that if you're one of those New Age music people, you should be all over this.

The second in Brian Eno's ambient series - and the second of Harold Budd's albums produced by Eno - sees Budd performing his sparse, minimalist piano pieces with production, sound treatments and very mild contributions by Eno. As Eno explains it, he essentially created a sonic space within which Budd performed - in other words, Eno creates the context, but it's Budd who is in the spotlight. Budd's gentle and soothing piano tones create an effect entirely consistent with the declared aim of Eno's Ambient series - as with its predecessor, this is music which you can listen to intently, or which you can allow to blend seamlessly into the background as you desire.

On the whole, it's another excellent entry in this series, which may not be to the tastes of all prog fans but will appeal to those interested by the ambient experiments of Eno, Tangerine Dream and others.

Sounding very much like the quiet parts of 'Bladerunner', when Harrison Ford sits moping about at his piano with a glass of whisky surrounded by old photos. Plinky plonky heavily reverbed and sustained piano is the order of the day.

All the tunes are rather downbeat, but are extremely beautiful in their simplicity. Brian Eno adds some keyboard tweakery here and there but is submerged behind the piano which always takes centre stage. 'The Plateaux of Mirror' is one of those rare instances where the ambience sounds fully developed and final. What's of even more importance is that all the tunes are memorable unlike a lot of ambient recordings.

Harold Budd always had that distinct piano sound that no-one else ever replicated. The whole album sounds like the equivalent of floating on clouds. The sense of space is enormous within the recording. Nothing is allowed to overpower or interfere with the intensely personal sounding piano. Life doesn't seem so bad after all when you listen to Harold Budd.

'Plateaux of Mirror' is probably on a par with the followup 'The Pearl' as the best Harold Budd album. Both are very similar but this is more consistent and easy flowing between tracks. It's also kept to a sensible length with no bonus tracks on the cd version. Some recordings really do have that 'less is more' feel about them.

Recorded a full two years before 'Bladerunner', you've got to ask the question - was 'Vangelis' frantically scribbling down notes while listening to this?

Haunting yet beautiful in a ghostly way and possibly the greatest ambient album ever recorded. I'm off for a good night's sleep now...

The Plateaux of Mirror, compared to Harold Budd's debut effort, is much more stripped down, composed almost entirely of acoustic/electric piano with Brian Eno providing dreamy treatments to round off all of the edges.

This album is severely minimalist in tone with an impressionistic vibe, also being much more classical sounding than the previous jazz-influenced The Pavillion of Dreams. Fortunately, this floating heavenly minimalist piano style is much more fitting for this artist and would later be used on a follow-up collaboration between Budd and Eno. Though the piano and the chord progressions played on this album along with the celestial ambient accompaniment is undoubtedly beautiful in an extreme way, I personally find that The Plateaux of Mirror is far too redundant. The same tone goes on an on and gets old very quickly because there really isn't anything to grasp onto, but for an ambient album it serves its purpose quite well.

Despite the boring beauty of the majority of this album, the last three tracks really stand out because they change up the formula a bit. Although I hear shades of E. Satie all throughout this album, his influence sounds particularly strong on "Among Fields of Crystal", a slow and and mournful like a dirge written for a long lost love, and is accompanied by a slightly more standout ambient soundscape that sounds long and empty like a dark corridor in a large mansion. "Wind in Lonely Fences" is the most purely ambient track that features various klanging from dull bells and other hollow metallic objects with only a faint and moody electric piano melody. "Failing Light" sounds strongly of Eno, mostly like an ambient take from the classic Another Green World where the synths have a special kind of waving quality that is both dream-like and playful.

Though Harold Budd and Brian Eno have crafted one of the most sparsely beautiful and heavenly piano-based ambient albums of all times, having become a classic in the genre, it just doesn't move along quite enough for it to be anything for me other than contemplative background noise. Regardless, fans of minimalist or very laid back impressionist piano will find a lot of enjoyment in The Plateaux of Mirror.

The mere concept and achievement of these first 4 declared Brian Eno "AMBIENT" albums deserves 4 Progarchive stars. The bending of the "ambient" language to all possible, Eno wise, structures and the charisma of getting others in the boat, is just like that, full of merit.

If not as musician involved directly Eno worked as producer only inAmbient 3: "Day of Radiance". by a then, not yet "discovered", talented composer who called himself : Laraaji. As a producer as he did with others in all kinds of music fields. (Ultravox another good example).

This "Ambient 2 - The Plateaux Of Mirror (with Brian Eno) OR Brian Eno "Ambient 2 - The Plateaux Of Mirror" (with Harold Budd) has the kind of who owns the work "biz" hassle, it even has two different cover artworks .

Anyway I would not go deeper into that matter.

The music in this "ambient" is a very good example of how, average piano melodies, which are rich and melodical, but without getting that "easy-sweet" mood, can construct environments, without being protagonic and lead to a perfect transfiguration to unorthodox or non average -piano structures without stop sounding like piano pieces. Amazing!

Mr. Budd can be accused of "over-sweetening" some of his work, but in this work, both members, hold each other tightly and at watch, therefore this communion of minds becomes an undivisible unit in constant awareness of the fact that if they move away from the objective, the magic will dissolve as dust.

Great considering also, that this is not a one hour composition but a different songs one hour album that aims to get the naked "non-corny serious side of piano playing" into a different sonic environment , plus the alway lavish touch of Mr, Eno's well known recording/producing antics... What else can I say. ..

****4 PA stars.