Harold Budd / Brian Eno With Daniel Lanois – The Pearl

I only paid 25 USD for mine and I almost feel ripped off. It's one of the absolute worst sounding pressings in my collection. For the money these are going for, just get the new(ish) CD; it sounds incredible. Get a cassette for that matter. I'm not even joking when I say a VG cassette of this sounds much better than a NM LP.

When 2020's reissue please please please please thank you !

These albums need to be re-cut from aaa source to a new jvc supervinyl or virgin vinyl because these eg pressings all have noise in them and this is a stellar album!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully we will see a re-issue of this by abbey road or someone

stellar album with amazing soundstage and separation vinyl a little noisy but nothing flagrant.

German and greece 1984 pressings have front and back artwork flipped.

Among my favorite ambient records. This music would be equally at home on Deutsch Gramaphone. When Budd and Eno work together there's just a magic present. Right there with Ambient 2 by the same two composers. A must have.

Fantastic composition from budd and eno. This will evoke emotion from any listener. Some of the best ambient music I have ever heard.

Some of budd and Eno’s best work. Yeah as others have said, the eg pressing has some pops in there regardless of how mint your copy is. Unfortunate but it’s all we got (pretty sure eg pressed all of these)

Don’t let it discourage you - this is an amazing album and the record should be cherished

This album by Brian Eno and Harold Budd reminds me more of being back in Vietnam than any piece of music I’ve ever heard.  I feel enticingly wrapped in giant green leafed plants that give off a palatable heat, where sunlight shifts and splinters into a thousand different variations and hues, where the shades of green are so varied that it’s impossible to take any of them for granted, where the ground is so moist and full of life that you can actually squeeze the moisture out between your fingers, and where, if you listen quietly, for even the shortest amount of time, there is a rhythm and harmony that both floats in and vibrates all around you.  These are fragile moments, moments that go almost unconsidered until you realize that they’ve passed ... but if you lay still, and let your mind float down stream, all of the splendor will wash over you again, like a warm summer rain, in a matter of seconds.

The Pearl is beyond electronic or classical music, and because it is so ethereal, can certainly not be classified with the genre of soundscapes.  Yes the layering is rich and thick with texture.  But these textures are so precariously balanced with nature, that it often feels as if these two men have set up their instruments and equipment to capture and play along with the ever changing faces of nature ... in her most remote and unexplored regions.

Instinctively I want to check my weapon, to make sure all is in order, that I have not lolled myself into a hypnotic sense of complacency, because sadly, beyond the beauty found here lies the real world.  

Ahhh ... aren’t memories funny things?

Review by Jenell Kesler

Harold Budd plays piano here, but the album is dominated Eno's production. It is very much in the spirit of his "Ambient" series. Quiet, slow soundscapes create a rich atmosphere of melancholy. I only wish some of the tracks were longer. Essential work if you're into this type of music.