The Ship (Audio CD)

In my opinion, the best tracks are Tracks 1 & 4 ("The Ship" and "I'm Set Free,") Tracks 2 & 3 ("Fickle Sun" and "The Hour Is Thin") don't really hit me as much. Track 2 has some very sinister, brooding orchestration (which would scare a little child under his/her bed) and Track 3 reminds me of something that might have appeared on "Drums Between The Bells" with its Spoken Word accompaniment. On the title track, I'm attracted to the various oceanic sounds of buoys clanging in the night and other sound effects. "I'm Set Free" is a GREAT WAY to end this rather curious beast with its quiet sense of celebration. It's 50/50 for me. It's no "Lux" nor is it a "Small Craft On A Milk Sea." This time out, we get a musical score/soundtrack as opposed to a strictly Ambient album," however, what Ambience there IS, it's in all the right places.Finally, I'm angered by the fact that this is the U.S. "Deluxe"...Read more

1 - The opening scene: an oceanic view, no humans involved, no figures in the landscape. Not yet. Things slowly unfold after minutes – the here and now will maintain the ineluctible quality of the long, faraway gone throughout. Life – what’s left of it – slowly awakens. The Ship drifts further off, with Brian Eno’s deep voice announcing what’s going on, delivering a Sisyphus / Lazarus job giving its best to stand the test of stoicism. This is the rise and the fall and the wash and the fade. Sooner or later other voices will gather around within earshot – via the ether, megahertz radio chatter: ghost voices, disembodied intonations reassuring themselves they are alive. A crack-up, a falling apart, in comes another poorly dimmed world.2 - The tone changes from the first moment on „Fickle Sun (i). A tour-de-force without parallel among Eno’s works. These 17 minutes observe everything turn to dust and rubble. If it...Read more