Belladonna (album)

For the Stevie Nicks album, see Bella Donna (album).

Belladonna
Studio album by Daniel Lanois
Released	July 12, 2005
Recorded	Toronto, Canada
Genre	Ambient, experimental
Length	36:46
Label	Anti-
Producer	Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois chronology
Rockets (2004) Belladonna (2005) Here Is What Is (2007)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100 [1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
All About Jazz	[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B [4]
Mojo	[5]
Pitchfork	3.8/10 [6]
PopMatters	8/10 [7]
Q	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Stylus	B [10]
Uncut	4/10 [11]

Belladonna is an all-instrumental album of ambient and experimental music by Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Daniel Lanois. ^{[12] [13]} It was released in 2005 through Anti- and features Lanois on the pedal steel guitar. ^{[12] [13]}

One track on the album, "The Deadly Nightshade", had earlier been released on a 1996 album by Geoffrey Oryema as "LPJ Christine", although the version on Belladonna is without Oryema's vocals.

Reception

A review in Billboard magazine said Lanois "returns to a cinematic beauty that serenely kindles the imagination". ^[14]

Track listing

1. "Two Worlds" - 2:03
2. "Sketches" - 4:24
3. "Oaxaca" - 2:50
4. "Agave" - 1:59
5. "Telco" - 3:34
6. "Desert Rose" - 1:52
7. "Carla" - 2:02
8. "The Deadly Nightshade" - 4:06
9. "Dusty" - 1:39
10. "Frozen" - 3:17
11. "Panorama" - 3:01
12. "Flametop Green" - 2:27
13. "Todos Santos" - 5:32

Personnel

• Daniel Lanois - pedal steel guitar
• Malcolm Burn - keyboards, guitar
• Aaron Embry - piano, guitar
• Brad Mehldau - piano
• Bill Dillon - guitar
• Daryl Johnson - bass
• Brian Blade - drums
• Victor Indrizzo - drums
• Gilbert Castellanos - trumpet
• Michael Dessen - trombone
• Adam Samuels - audio mixer

References

1. "Reviews for Belladonna by Daniel Lanois". Metacritic . Retrieved November 9, 2025.
2. Theakston, Rob (July 12, 2005). "Belladonna - Daniel Lanois". AllMusic . Retrieved November 9, 2025.
3. Georgievski, Nenad (August 22, 2005). "Daniel Lanois: Belladonna". All About Jazz . Retrieved November 9, 2025.
4. [It's] like the closing music for a very sad rodeo. [22 Jul 2005, p.78]
5. Whereas Eno's purest ambient music has such an organic abstractness the listener stops thinking about what is actually producing the sounds, Lanois favours guitars, which links his music more to established styles. [Jul 2005, p.110]
6. Deusner, Stephen M. (August 21, 2005). "Belladonna - Daniel Lanois". Pitchfork . Retrieved November 9, 2025.
7. Hamilton, Pierre (July 20, 2005). "Daniel Lanois: Belladonna". PopMatters . Retrieved November 9, 2025.
8. What it needs is some incident--a clanging glockenspiel, say. At least that would liven up proceedings a bit. [Aug 2005, p.129]
9. "Daniel Lanois - Belladonna". Rolling Stone . July 28, 2005. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
10. Inskeep, Thomas (October 27, 2005). "Daniel Lanois - Belladonna". Stylus Magazine . Retrieved November 9, 2025.
11. The tunes are so fragmentary, it resembles a '60s hi-fi demonstration disc. [Jul 2005, p.89]
12. Durchholz, Daniel (July 22, 2005). "Daniel Lanois ; Belladonna (Anti-)". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved September 16, 2025– via ProQuest.
13. Cleveland, Barry (January 2006). "Belladonna". Guitar Player. Retrieved September 16, 2025– via ProQuest.
14. Ouellette, Dan (July 16, 2005). "Belladonna". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2025– via ProQuest.