Brian Eno Albums Ranked

Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle EnoRDI (/ˈiːnoʊ/; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is an English musician, record producer, visual artist, and theorist best known for his pioneering work in ambient music and contributions to rock, pop, and electronica. A self-described “non-musician”, Eno has helped introduce unique conceptual approaches and recording techniques to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music’s most influential and innovative figures. From the 1970s onwards, Eno’s installations have included the sails of the Sydney Opera House in 2009 and the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in 2016. An advocate of a range of humanitarian causes, Eno writes on a variety of subjects and is a founding member of the Long Now Foundation. In 2019, Eno was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music. Here are all of Brian Eno albums ranked.

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8. Discreet Music (1975)

“I’m usually pretty good with ambient and such, but I just find the title track, well, dull. The rest is pretty interesting neo-classical type stuff, but that opener is just the same motif repeated quite a bit. I’m ok if it’s slow, but I need some progression. I felt like I hadn’t gone anywhere in half an hour. And maybe that’s the point, but it didn’t really jive with me.”

7. Ambient 4: On Land (1982)

“This music treads an uneasy path between sublime and unsettling. Genuinely makes you feel like you are in all sorts of different outdoor terrains. Alone. Excerpts were used in Scorsese’s Shutter Island and that gloriously grisly YouTube cartoon, Salad Fingers.”

6. Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (1983)

“A pleasant listen. The country-inflected tunes are too odd to be enjoyed on my first listen, but I think it will be worth coming back to. Just having Ending (An Ascent) makes it worthwhile though. It’s so simple, but so beautiful too.”

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5.Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974)

“Incredibly consistent. Every single song is a highlight. Strange new sounds on every track. Unpredictable structures. So soft and gentle sometimes (Taking Tiger Mountain, The Fat Lady of Limbourg), so rocking other times (Third Uncle, Burning Airlines Give You So Much More). The vocals are much more melodic on this record compared to Here Come the Warm Jets. Total genius.”

5. Before And After Science (1977)

“I knew nothing about Brian Eno until I heard “By This River” on Nanni Moretti’s drama, “The Son’s Room”. It has stuck with me ever since. The album is equally brilliant. Great ambient music from the pioneer of the ambient genre. One of the many, many highlights of his long career.”

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3. Ambient 1: Music For Airports (1978)

“Its simplicity is often what leaves Ambient 1 so overlooked and overcriticized; yes, the album is sparse, but this is exactly where its impact lies; there’s no worth in comparing it to the complexity of jazz or prog since the entire manifesto of ambient is to do more with less. With tracks 1/1 and 2/1 being piano and vocal driven respectively, the third track combines the two elements to create a stunning harmony between the classical piano keys and the synth-laden vocals.”

2. Here Come The Warm Jets (1974)

“A brilliant debut from Brian Eno. The warm jets sounds more like his recently departed Roxy music than the ambient sounds he would be more renowned for. It is really, a glam rock record, full of great songs. A thoroughly enjoyable album.”

1. Another Green World (1975)

“This album was so influential, it’s not even fair. Synthpop on “I’ll Come Running”, ambient on several tracks, furniture music on “Another Green World”, even some jazz influences on “Sky Saw”, and tracks like “The Big Ship” I can only describe by the term synth-rock – a genre we saw again in the ‘90s with Radiohead and blur.”