Brian Eno, David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts

WONDERFUL but ... THIS reissue falls because...

wonderful but it FAILS because of the reticence to include the orginally LATER deleted Qu'ran track....

this is a HOLY song and you can't let fundamentalists HIJACK the sacred. well, they can't but it was a corporation that ultimately cowered here.

a shame.

otherwise, 99.9% great album.

see the work eno did with jon hassel! August 15, 2008

Astounding

This music is astounding, sublime, wonderful, violent, surprising, mesmerizing, subtle, groundbreaking...you get the idea. Most wonderful. January 15, 2008

A favorite album made even better.

I purchased "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" when it came out on vinyl in 1981. I first heard it at a party and was immediately drawn to it. At the time, it was one of the most innovative albums I had heard. I have probably played this album more times than I have played any other; it is burned into my brain. When it was eventually released on CD in the late 1980's, the sounds was somewhat cleaner (no vinyl crackle and pops), and overall sounded much like the original vinyl. That release added "Very Very Hungry" as the last cut, which was not on the original vinyl. An interesting note is that Qur'an was still cut #6 on that release, and it was later self-censored on the 1990 CD release, and on this new remastered CD. "Very Very Hungry" was moved to cut #6 to replace Qur'an.

This remastered edition has remarkably better sound quality. It is a real pleasure to hear one of my favorite albums sound even better after all these year. As others have noted, some of the songs have a few short sections restored, and there are 7 new cuts. The new cuts are interesting historically, but perhaps since I know the old album so well, the new cuts seem disconnected from the rest of the album.

The included booklet includes many pictures and details about the production of the album which were not in any previous edition. The whole package is a great re-release. December 22, 2007

in the Bush of Ghosts

I think I ought to counter the effusive responses here and put in my opinion, for what its worth. Yes, this album does sound ahead of its time, and yes, there is some beautiful music on here. But first of all, this re-issue muddles the track listing of the original album (to its detriment), and further, the album is not quite as consistently brilliant as everyone here makes out, especially with an extra "side" of bonus tracks.

The opening track, America is Waiting, I can't help comparing to the opener on Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet, which was clearly influenced by its scratchy-funk-meets-TV-sermoniser cut-up. But whereas PE's track was brutally, discordantly funky, Eno and Byrne's version just sounds disjointed and a little bit lightweight- I guess its not easy for middle-class white boys to sound too damn funky. Anyway, things really get going with the beautiful Mea Culpa, (the original album opener) with its subtle, multi-tracked world-music percussion, which builds slowly and satisfyingly. Then comes the album's highlight, Regiment, with its funky, proto-trip-hop bassline set against strangely moving African vocals, and a slightly askew sample. Great stuff. The next two tracks don't do anything for me; Jezebel Spirit is often singled out as a highlight, but for me, the dated-sounding 80s slap-bass just sounds a bit lightweight.

Side 2 is the best side. No more dated slap-funk bass, and the emphasis is shifted less towards funk, and more towards polyrhythmic and percussive textures. Very, Very Hungry has a very interesting staccato rhythm, but the highlight of this side is wistful The Carrier, with its plaintive vocals once again married perfectly to Eno and Byrne's sampled soundscapes. Mountain of Needles is also beautiful, an almost completely ambient track which depends for its effect on its glistening percussive timbres. This was originally the album closer, and rightly so, as its understated textures and blissful ambience serve to cleanse the palette. Unfortunately, becuase this is a re-issue, we have another "side" of bits and pieces to get through, which, like most re-issued bonus tracks, are mostly unmemorable, although Two Against Three and Number 8 are culled from the original.

There's some impressive stuff, here, undoubtedly, and the influence of Eno's "non-musician" approach is clearly everywhere, but for me this is just too "difficult" an album to be completely enjoyable: nonetheless, it comes recommended. November 28, 2007

Classic

This is a classic recording. I really like it. If you like Eno or Talking Heads, you will like this one. September 10, 2007

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