| The Pearl | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1984 | |||
| Studio | Grant Avenue Studio, Hamilton, Ontario | |||
| Genre | Ambient | |||
| Length | 42:59 | |||
| Label | Editions EG | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Harold Budd chronology | ||||
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| Brian Eno chronology | ||||
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| Harold Budd andBrian Eno chronology | ||||
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The Pearl is the second collaborativestudio album byHarold Budd andBrian Eno, released in August 1984 byEditions EG and produced by Eno andDaniel Lanois inHamilton, 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.
The Pearl was recorded inHamilton, Ontario in 1984 byHarold Budd,Brian Eno, andDaniel Lanois.[1] 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.[1] 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 aYamaha CS-80 and recorded in one take.[2] 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.[2] Eno made most of the decisions on aesthetics, spending hours working solo and recording pieces at different speeds.[1] Pianos in the studio included an acoustic piano, as well asYamaha andRhodes electric pianos.[1] For treatments, the group used aYamaha DX7, CS-80, Casio CT-200, Casiotone 202, aSequential Circuits Pro One,AMSdigital delay,Eventide Harmonizer, and anEMT 250 plate reverb.[1][2]
Budd believes bothAmbient 2 andThe Pearl are similar in terms of sounds and timbres, and those similarities were conceived even during the onset of production.[3] The former album was produced effortlessly, and the duo thought they could produce similar music again with ease.[3] However, production onThe Pearl was more challenging.[1] Budd attributed this to naivety as a musical duo forAmbient 2, and explained that their musical language had matured since then, making production more difficult forThe Pearl.[1] In this sense, Budd believesThe Pearl is more "cohesive" and "focused" thanAmbient 2.[1] He feels the conflicting emotions and "artful confusion" in the music make it more complicated and therefore more interesting to listen to.[3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| Robert Christgau | A−[5] |
| Tom Hull – on the Web | B+ ( )[6] |
Contemporary reviews were positive.Electronics & Music Maker feltThe Pearl had more unity thanAmbient 2, and enjoyed the peculiar mix of Eno's melancholia and Budd's optimism.[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.[1]
Retrospective reviews have also been positive. Ned Raggett, writing forAllMusic, stated that "The Pearl is so ridiculously good it instantly shows up much of the mainstreamnew age as the gloopy schlock that it often is".[4]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 sincehis first Jon Hassell LP".[5] A more critical review fromUncut describedThe Pearl the as "overly tasteful abstraction that eventually proves tedious" and a decorative, "musical equivalent of alava lamp".[7]
Ambient 2 andThe Pearl are often discussed together by critics in retrospect as landmark works in ambient and both Eno and Budd's repertoire.[8][9][10] In 2014,The Guardian wrote that the albums earned them the title "godfathers of ambient".[9]All About Jazz called the albums "some of the most beautiful music to come out of the early days of the genre".[10]Q wrote thatThe Pearl built upon the sounds inAmbient 2, and described it as "slow motion cocktail jazz through a padded wall and earmuffs"[11]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".[12]
All tracks are written byBrian Eno andHarold Budd.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Late October" | 4:42 |
| 2. | "A Stream with Bright Fish" | 3:55 |
| 3. | "The Silver Ball" | 3:23 |
| 4. | "Against the Sky" | 4:46 |
| 5. | "Lost in the Humming Air" | 4:02 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dark-Eyed Sister" | 4:39 |
| 2. | "Their Memories" | 3:52 |
| 3. | "The Pearl" | 3:08 |
| 4. | "Foreshadowed" | 3:47 |
| 5. | "An Echo of Night" | 2:26 |
| 6. | "Still Return" | 4:19 |
| Total length: | 42:59 | |
