Track Listing

1. Pulling Punches
2. Ink In The Well
3. Nostalgia
4. Red Guitar
5. Weathered Wall
6. Backwaters
7. Brilliant Trees

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1747 in Music
• Released on: 2006-05-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful, Literate, Masterpiece
I always consider that David Sylvian should be cast in a similar role to that of Scott Walker. Both turned their backs on what were enormously successful bands to follow their own muse with little real care for commercial rewards. Instead they simply went about creating a distinctive niche from which both are still putting out records which bear little interest in commercial realities and are more artistic statements.

"Brilliant Trees" is where Sylvian began his journey. Here is a record which is steeped in French literature and art from the Paris of the inter-war years of Satre and musical cues coming from jazzy time signtures of ECM, the forth world ambience of Brian Eno, and echoes of a band who coloured a great deal of his music took cues from throughout the 80's, Can.

There is an echo of former group Japan in the opening track "Pulling Punches", which could have easily fit onto the final "Tin Drum" album, but from then on it really takes no interest in anything of his past legacy. The jazzy time signatures of "Ink In The Well" and "Red Guitar" mark them as two of the most distinctive top 40 records of the whole decade. Whilst a good deal of the rest of the album is filled with gentle textures and a quite ambient feel about it. Although this contains faint echoes of Japan it is fuzzier and lacks the clinical feel some of their work contains.

What makes the album for me is some of the contributions from the support musicians. Danny Thompson's double bass sounds as rich and warm here as he did when working with Nick Drake and the solo by Kenny Wheeler on "Ink In The Well" gives the track a really blistering second half. Old collaborator Riyuichi Sakamoto provides some beautiful support throughout but it's the lovely treated trumpets of Jon Hassel which dominate almost all of the second half of this album which cement the move away from pop to a place Sylvian clearly wanted to be. Lyrically intelligent and at times bleak this is a fine record.

Along with "Secrets Of The Beehive" and "Dead Bees On A Cake" this is one of Sylvian's most satisfying and coherent works. After 20 plus years I still return to it. As for the remaster? The sound is brighter and having a hint of hiss all adds to the atmosphere, in my view.

Brilliant ......literally
Brilliant Trees , the 1984 debut album from David Sylvian is one of those moments where an artist completely confounds expectations. There had been hints in Sylvians work with Ryuichi Sakamoto ( who plays keyboards on Brilliant Trees) in 1982 ( "Bamboo Houses") and 1983 ( " Forbidden Colours") and indeed with Japan on the Tin Drum: Remastered album but this albums evocative mixture of jazz, ambient, world music , electronic and rock is truly startling in its complexity and textural depth.
That it is brilliant is not the issue though it is undoubtedly the case , it,s how the depth of the arrangements is allied to melodically rich songs that makes Brilliant Trees such a rewarding listening experience.
The old side one of the vinyl version with "Pulling Punches" , "The Ink In The Well ", "Nostalgia" and most notably the quite superb "Red Guitar" ( a song i never ever tire of hearing - since when has a song as sonically captivating as this made the top 20? - it made number 17 ) is as good a side of music as has ever been my pleasure to listen to. It is just glorious stuff and the only reason side two - "Weathered Wall" ( written with Jon Hassel who plays exquisite evocative trumpet) "Backwaters" and the title track ( again written with Jon Hassell) palls is that it comes after side one . Pretty much everything in rock history would.
Holger Czukay plays French horn and guitar while Steve Jansen ( formerly of Japan of course) provides percussion and synthesisers. Sylvian plays piano, guitar , percussion synths and provides treatments and the whole gives the music extraordinary depth and complexity with huge gradations in the moods and ambience. There is the eternal exotic drift of the middle section of "Nostalgia " set to the dulcet richness of the chorus( of sorts) and it,s this ability to ally such tune -smithery ( "Red Guitar" and "Ink In The Well" -with memorable double bass by Danny Thompson and Kenny Wheelers plangent trumpet- are especially pertinent here) to the multiple layers of instrumentation and the fantastic arrangements that makes Brilliant Trees an eternally sublime album .
It is so good i will not part with my vinyl copy even though i have since purchased this re-mastered CD, which incidentally sounds fine to me. Brilliant Trees is one of those albums that anyone who claims to be serious about music should own. It has a timeless allure ,sounding a revlevant today as it did way back in 1984 . It,s still the best thing David Sylvian has ever put his name too.

Stunningly beautiful
I eagerly await this remastered version of Brilliant Trees having purchased the vinyl on its first release. Prior to this purchase I can recall seeing the LP reviewed on an arts programme and being described as beautiful. This is a rarely heard word when describing music, but on listening to it for the first time it became clear that there was no more apt word. Whilst Nostalgia is, for me, the stand out track, it would be difficult to suggest, by implication, that other tracks are not so good. When listening to the LP back then it transported me to a beautiful, albeit wistful, place and the emotions are no less when listening to it now. I can't recommend Brilliant Trees enough!