Track Listing

1. Wind On Water
2. Evening Star
3. Evensong
4. Wind On Wind
5. Index Of Metals
6. Index Of Metals
7. Index Of Metals
8. Index Of Metals
9. Index Of Metals
10. Index Of Metals

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19970 in Music
• Released on: 2008-10-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

CD Description
Two years after their first recording NO PUSSYFOOTING set the standard for ambient music, Fripp and Eno reconvened for another round of subtle, inventive instrumental pieces. While the format is much the same as on the previous album (cycling tape-delayed guitar loops over ambient synth backgrounds), there's further refinement of the approach. Taking the minimalist mantle much more literally, there's much less movement in these pieces, and it's that stasis that makes the delicate sonic tapestry all the more compelling.
Where NO PUSSYFOOTING was relatively visceral and hard-edged, EVENING STAR is much gentler, often practically bucolic. The increased connection to the natural world is seen on titles like "Wind on Water" and "Wind on Wind". The highly processed synth and guitar tones often take on the aspect of natural elements themselves, such is the warm, organic quality of EVENING STAR.

Customer Reviews

A long way from the Court of the Crimson King
Fripp and Eno's second album was a change from the fractured tones of No Pussyfooting. It is effectively an introduction to Eno's forthcoming Ambient music, with repeating tape loops of Frippertronics and Eno's gently entwining synths. These then have beautiful strands of Fripp's mellow and relaxed guitar lines drifting over the subtle background. The first few pieces (Wind On Water , Evening Star and Evensong) are very early "chill out music", but the final suite, "An Index of Metals" has loops of guitar distortion built layer upon layer into a much harsher tone. Fripp's distinctive guitar tone echoes some of the quieter parts of King Crimson - and Eno is, well, Eno...

What used to be side one of the LP still lulls me into a state of bliss!

Bliss
I am a longstanding Robert Fripp fan. I came to this album when I was in my final year at school (1979). For me, it will always be linked to listening to it with my school pals on casette tape when we went on a trip to the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland and stayed in a caravan. We set up a bonfire in the dark, on the beach, and played this music. Bliss!

An Absolute Classic
Side 1 of this album is shorter tracks with a more harmonic and mellow feel. One you may recognise as the theme music for Melvyn Bragg's "The Southbank Show". But the classic piece must be "An Index of Metals" which is 28m 45s long. It has never been followed because it is a unique track. The harmonics are much more menacing and imaginative. I once had 20 Cambridge students round to my dorm. I somehow got all of them to lie still on the floor and listen to this track in its entirety. They all cooperated and were all, to the very last one, completely blown away by the experience. As such, this album is as significant as anything Mozart has ever produced. It is a milestone in music.