It’s already established that I bought the $80 OMD deluxe box for “The History Of Modern.”
Likewise the $100 deluxe box for Brian Eno’s new album, “Small Craft On A Milk Sea.”
When I graduated college in 1985, I bought myself a graduation present that was another Eno box. This time on vinyl only. EG Records released a box called “Working Backwards: 1983-1973” which featured all of his solo albums up to that time. None of his collaborative albums were part of this set.
Brian Eno: Working Backwards 1983-1973 Boxed Set of 10LPs + 1 EP
Disc 1: Here Come The Warm Jets
- Needles In The Camel’s Eye
- The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch
- Baby’s On Fire
- Cindy Tells Me
- Driving Me Backwards
- On Some Faraway Beach
- Blank Frank
- Dead Finks Don’t Talk
- Some Of Them Are Old
- Here Come The Warm Jets
Disc 2: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
- Burning Airlines Give You So Much More
- Back In Judy’s Jungle
- The Fat Lady Of Limbourg
- Mother Whale Eyeless
- The Great Pretender
- Third Straw
- Put A Straw Under Baby
- The True Wheel
- China My China
- Taking Tiger Mountain
Disc 3: Another Green World
- Sky Saw
- Over Fire Island
- St. Elmo’s Fire
- In Dark Trees
- The Big Ship
- I’ll Come Running
- Another Green World
- Sombre Reptiles
- Little Fishes
- Golden Hours
- Becalmed
- Zawinul / Lava
- Everything Merges With The Night
- Spirits Drifting
Disc 4: Discreet Music
- Discreet Music
- Fullness Of Wind
- French Catalogues
- Brutal Ardour
Disc 5: Before & After Science
- No One Receiving
- Backwater
- Kurt’s Rejoinder
- Energy Fools The Mountain
- King’s Lead Hat
- Here He Comes
- Julie With…
- By This River
- Through Hollow Lands (For Harold Budd)
- Spider And I
Disc 6: Music For Films
- Aragon
- From The Same Hill
- Inland Sea
- Two Rapid Formations
- Slow Water
- Sparrowfall (1)
- Sparrowfall (2)
- Sparrowfall (3)
- Alternative 3
- Quartz
- Events In Dense Fog
- ‘There Is Nobody’
- Patrolling Wire Borders
- A Measured Room
- Task Force
- M386
- Strange Light
- Final Sunset
Disc 7: Ambient 1 – Music For Airports
- 1/1
- 1/2
- 2/1
- 2/2
Disc 8: Ambient 4 – On Land
- Lizard Point
- The Lost Day
- Tal Coat
- Shadow
- Lantarn Marsh
- Unfamiliar Wind
- A Clearing
- Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960
Disc 9: Apollo Atmospheres + Soundtracks
- Under Stars
- The Secret Place
- Matta
- Signals
- An Ending (Ascent)
- Under Stars II
- Drift
- Silver Morning
- Deep Blue Day
- Weightless
- Always Returning
- Stars
Disc 10: Music For Films vol. 2
- The Dove
- Roman Twilight
- Matta
- Dawn, Marshland
- Climate Study
- The Secret Place
- An Ending
- Always Returning I
- Signals
- Under Stars
- Drift Study
- Approaching Taidu
- Always Returning II
Disc 11: Rarities EP
- Seven Deadly Finns
- The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)
- Strong Flashes Of Light
- More Volts
- Mist / Rhythm
The box bait was the release of the “Music For Films vol. 2” album, which was only available there as well as the “Rarities” EP. The latter had two non-LP A-sides but missed much rare material that could have been there. The last three tracks, however, were previously unreleased cuts available only on that EP. Apparently, much [but not all] of the tracks from “Music For Films vol. 2” eventually saw commercial release in 2005 on the “More Music For Films” CD, which sported very similar cover art to the box LP of 22 years earlier. The running order was appended with more tracks taking the playlist up to 21 tracks from 13.
Brian Eno: More Music For Films US CD
- Untitled
- The Last Door
- Chemin De Fer
- Dark Waters
- Fuseli
- Melancholy Waltz
- Northern Lights
- From The Coast
- Shell
- Empty Landscape
- Reactor
- The Secret
- Don’t Look Back
- Marseilles
- The Dove
- Roman Twilight
- Dawn, Marshland
- Climate Study
- Drift Study
- Approaching Taidu
- Always Returning (II)
Since I had long wanted his solo records, this made purchase convenient and for the $85 or so it cost at the time, it was fair market value, especially considering the selections of music only in this box. There remain about 10 cuts that are still only available in this box. All of the instances I see of it selling on the web suggests the cost of buy-in was a good investment since the going scale is $200-400 currently.
Tomorrow: The all time winner in the “Now How Much Would You Pay?” sweepstakes.
How much of the Eno boxed set did you already own? If one had the 45’s, it seems that the exclusive tracks were all ‘ambient’ in nature…
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@ronkanefiles – Aha! I previously owned none of Brian Eno’s recordings – with the exception of a bootleg EP of the two singles. And I desperately wanted all of his “pop” records and also liked his “ambient records” so this was a no-brainer from my point of view. A total win-win situation.
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Then I suppose it made sense to get the box, if you had none of ’em.
I like the Eno pop albums better now than I did then.
I still prefer Phil Manzanera records…
RK
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If you like the Eno you may want to try out Harold Budd or some of Hector Zazou’s releases.
Budd did an album with Andy Partridge called ”Through the Hill” that I listened to pretty relentlessly the first year that I had it.
Not to mention Sylvian’s ”Gone to Earth” – an album from my desert island top five list.
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