The Pearl (album)

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: August 1984 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Abandoned Cities1982Lovely Thunder1986studioThe PearlBudd_&_Eno's_The_Pearl.jpgHarold Budd and Brian EnoAugust 1984Grant Avenue Studio, Hamilton, OntarioAmbient42:59Editions EGTemplate:UblHarold Buddx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

The Pearl is the second collaborative studio album by Harold Budd and Brian Eno, released in August 1984 by Editions EG and produced by Eno and Daniel Lanois in Hamilton, Ontario. The Pearl is similar to Budd and Eno's previous collaboration, Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror (1980), consisting mostly of subtly treated piano textures, but with more pronounced electronic treatments and nature recordings. The album has been well received by music critics, and is considered by some as a landmark work in ambient music.

Production

The Pearl was recorded in Hamilton, Ontario in 1984 by Harold Budd, Brian Eno, and Daniel Lanois.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The trio shared a house during the recording sessions and worked on the record seven days per week. The music was recorded over two weeks, and then it took 8-12 months to finish production and decide which tracks worked best together.<ref name=":0" /> The group had no set approach to working beyond looking for and capturing unique moments; such as "Lost In The Humming Air", on which Budd improvised to humming noises by Brian Eno played on a Yamaha CS-80 and recorded in one take.<ref name=ES&CM/> In the case of "Dark Eyed Sister", Budd recorded it at a small studio beforehand and sent to Eno to develop further; this, according to Budd, was the "extreme version" of how they worked.<ref name=ES&CM/> Eno made most of the decisions on aesthetics, spending hours working solo and recording pieces at different speeds.<ref name=":0" /> Pianos in the studio included an acoustic piano, as well as Yamaha and Rhodes electric pianos.<ref name=":0" /> For treatments, the group used a Yamaha DX7, CS-80, Casio CT-200, Casiotone 202, a Sequential Circuits Pro One, AMS digital delay, Eventide Harmonizer, and an EMT 250 plate reverb.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=ES&CM>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Comparison with Ambient 2

Budd believes both Ambient 2 and The Pearl are similar in terms of sounds and timbres, and those similarities were conceived even during the onset of production.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The former album was produced effortlessly, and the duo thought they could produce similar music again with ease.<ref name=":3" /> However, production on The Pearl was more challenging.<ref name=":0" /> Budd attributed this to naivety as a musical duo for Ambient 2, and explained that their musical language had matured since then, making production more difficult for The Pearl.<ref name=":0" /> In this sense, Budd believes The Pearl is more "cohesive" and "focused" than Ambient 2.<ref name=":0" /> He feels the conflicting emotions and "artful confusion" in the music make it more complicated and therefore more interesting to listen to.<ref name=":3" />

Critical reception

Template:Album ratings Contemporary reviews were positive. Electronics & Music Maker felt The Pearl had more unity than Ambient 2, and enjoyed the peculiar mix of Eno's melancholia and Budd's optimism.<ref name=":3" /> Sound on Sound described how the album generates oceanic imagery, such as galleons at the bottom of the sea, waves on a deserted beach, and fish swimming silently.<ref name=":0" />

Retrospective reviews have also been positive. Ned Raggett, writing for AllMusic, stated that "The Pearl is so ridiculously good it instantly shows up much of the mainstream new age as the gloopy schlock that it often is".<ref name="Allmusic" /> Robert Christgau wrote that "These eleven pieces are more circumspect and detailed, and while they do slip into decoration they're the most intellectually gratifying (and emotionally engaging) music Eno's put his name on since his first Jon Hassell LP".<ref name="Cheistgau" /> A more critical review from Uncut described The Pearl the as "overly tasteful abstraction that eventually proves tedious" and a decorative, "musical equivalent of a lava lamp".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Ambient 2 and The Pearl are often discussed together by critics in retrospect as landmark works in ambient and both Eno and Budd's repertoire.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014, The Guardian wrote that the albums earned them the title "godfathers of ambient".<ref name=":1" /> All About Jazz called the albums "some of the most beautiful music to come out of the early days of the genre".<ref name=":2" /> Q wrote that The Pearl built upon the sounds in Ambient 2, and described it as "slow motion cocktail jazz through a padded wall and earmuffs"<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Pitchfork described Budd and Eno's collaborations as evoking tension "between gentleness and threat, between intimacy and uncertainty, between the thrill of a hint and the human desire to see the whole picture".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personnel

• Brian Eno – composition, production
• Harold Budd – composition
• Daniel Lanois – production
• Russell Mills – cover art, design
• Christina Birrer – photography

External links

• Template:Discogs release