Music for Films | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1975–1978 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:39 | |||
Label | EG | |||
Producer | Brian Eno | |||
Brian Eno chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 7.8/10 [2] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 6/10 [5] |
Tom Hull – on the Web | B [6] |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Village Voice | B+ [8] |
Music for Films is the seventh solo studio album by Brian Eno, released in September 1978 on EG Records. His third release of experimental electronic material (the others being that year's Ambient 1: Music for Airports and 1975's Discreet Music ), it is a conceptual work intended as a soundtrack for imaginary films, although many of the pieces had already appeared in actual films. It charted at #55 in the UK.
The album is a loose compilation of material from the period 1975 to 1978, composed of short tracks ranging from one-and-a-half minutes to just over four, making it the antithesis of the long, sprawling, ambient pieces he later became known for. The compositional styles and equipment used also carried over onto Eno's work on some of David Bowie's 1977 album Low .
Unlike Eno's later ambient works, Music for Films utilises a broader sonic palette, with Eno's synthesizers and "found sounds" being supplemented by standard studio instrumentation played by other musicians (see Credits).
Originally released as a limited-edition (five hundred copies) LP in 1976 which was sent to a selection of filmmakers for possible inclusion in their work, [9] the commercial Music for Films release was expanded to include a number of pieces for, as Eno put it, "possible use as soundtracks to 'imaginary' films". In fact, excerpts from the album were contributed to the original soundtracks of at least six films:
Film/series | Year | Producer | Track(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Sebastiane | 1976 | Derek Jarman | "Inland Sea", "Quartz", and "Final Sunset" |
Alternative 3 | 1977 | "Alternative 3" | |
Jubilee | 1977 | Derek Jarman | "Slow Water" |
Rock 'n' Roll High School | 1979 | Michael Finnell | "M386" |
Remembrance | 1982 | Colin Gregg | "Aragon" |
A Better Tomorrow | 1986 | John Woo | "Sparrowfall (1)" |
Three further Film albums were released: Music for Films Volume 2 in 1983 (originally only available as a part of the ten-LP box set Working Backwards: 1983-1973), Music for Films III in 1988 (which consisted of work by various artists), and More Music for Films in 2005, which combined tracks from the box set LP along with tracks from the original 1976 limited edition release.
The album has manifested in several forms, featuring different track-listings and track-times.
"Deep Waters" appears in More Music for Films as "Dark Waters". "Dark Waters" is unpublished elsewhere.
Standard edition (1978)
All tracks are written by Brian Eno
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "M386" | 2:49 |
2. | "Aragon" | 1:37 |
3. | "From the Same Hill" | 2:58 |
4. | "Inland Sea" | 1:23 |
5. | "Two Rapid Formations" | 3:24 |
6. | "Slow Water" | 3:16 |
7. | "Sparrowfall (1)" | 1:11 |
8. | "Sparrowfall (2)" | 1:45 |
9. | "Sparrowfall (3)" | 1:23 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Quartz" | 2:02 |
2. | "Events in Dense Fog" | 3:43 |
3. | "'There Is Nobody'" | 1:42 |
4. | "A Measured Room" | 1:41 |
5. | "Patrolling Wire Borders" | 1:02 |
6. | "Task Force" | 1:20 |
7. | "Alternative 3" | 3:11 |
8. | "Strange Light" | 2:08 |
9. | "Final Sunset" | 4:16 |
Total length: | 40:39 |
Country | Release Date | Label | Media | Cat No. | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | 1976 | EG Records | LP | EGM 1 | Promo – 500 copies |
UK/France/Aus | Sep 1978 | Polydor | LP/Cass | 2310 623 | |
US | Sep 1978 | Antilles | LP | AN-7070 | |
W.Germany | 1978 | Polydor | LP | 2344 123 | |
UK | 1978 | Editions EG | LP | EGED 05 | |
US | 1982 | Editions EG | LP/Cass | EGS/EGSC 105 | "New" track order |
Europe | 1987 | EMI | CD | 787189 | |
US | Nov 1987 | Editions EG | CD/Cass | EEGCD/EGEDC-5 | |
2005 | Virgin/Astralwerks | CD | 7243 5 63646 2 2 |
Chart (1978–1979) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Albums Chart | 55 |
New Zealand Albums Chart | 27 [10] |
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Works cited