Critical reception

The first album of ambient music to become popular – and later recognised as the "first deliberately 'ambient' recording" – it was initially dismissed by critics, audiences and some of Eno's peers alike, bewildering some of the former. It only became more favoured by the 1990s, having "entered the modern musical canon".

Blandness was a very common critique in the initial reviews, a possible by-product of its unvarying and populist conception, wrote Szabo. In another contemporary review for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau wrote that "these four swatches of modestly 'ambient' minimalism have real charms as general-purpose calmatives. But I must also report that they've fared unevenly against specific backgrounds." He later called it "a bore". In a 1979 interview with Eno for Musician, critic Lester Bangs described Music for Airports as having "a crystalline, sunlight-through-windowpane quality that makes it somewhat mesmerising even as you half-listen to it," and recounted a personal experience in which the album induced him into a dream state featuring Charles Mingus.

PopMatters journalist John Davidson was enthusiastic in a retrospective review, deeming Music for Airports a masterpiece whose value "can only be appreciated by listening to it in a variety of moods and settings. Then you are likely struck by how the music allows your mind the space to breathe", Davidson wrote, "and in doing so, adapts itself to your mood". AllMusic reviewer Linda Kohanov stated that "like a fine painting, these evolving soundscapes don't require constant involvement on the part of the listener [...] yet the music also rewards close attention with a sonic richness absent in standard types of background or easy listening music." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the effect of the compositions as "sheer weightlessness." In a positive review, Pitchforks Grayson Haver Currin wrote that "to hear Music for Airports as more than a background balm, these four tracks remain wondrous and transformative, able to rearrange the air in a room." In September 2016, Pitchfork named the record the best ambient album of all time.

The album has been recognized as a seminal and influential release, an icon of the genre and Eno's discography. J. D. Considine wrote in The Rolling Stone Album Guide that the record defined the ambient aesthetic while providing a name for the genre. Chris Richards of The Washington Post wrote that it "taught an entire generation of musicians to consider music as a texture". Reflecting on the album, Jon Caramanica called it the best of Eno's work which shortly followed Roxy Music. Artists such as Pauline Oliveros, Riley and Harold Budd would expand on Eno's style of ambient music, which would feature prominently on his following albums; Music for Airports acted as a genesis for Eno and collaborators exploring the style, such as in the numbered Ambient series (1978–82). His conception would soon become more mallable and less reliant upon locations. Clinics and hospitals have used the albums to soothe patients. In 1998, Bang on a Can performed the album live, favouring a "technicolour style".

Track listing

The track labelling refers to the album's first release (1978) as an LP, and so the first track means "first track, first side", and so on. The CD pressing adds 30 seconds of silence after every track, including "2/2".

The album's back cover features four abstract graphic notation images, one for each track, representing their structure and instrumentation.

Personnel

  • Brian Eno – synthesiser, electric piano, vocals
  • Christa Fast – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Christine Gomez – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Inge Zeininger – vocals ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Robert Wyatt – acoustic piano ("1/1", "1/2")

;Recording

  • Brian Eno – producer, engineer
  • Dave Hutchins – engineer ("2/1", "1/2")
  • Conny Plank – engineer ("2/2"),
  • Rhett Davies – engineer ("1/1")

;Design

  • Brian Eno – cover art

;Recording Location

  • London ("1/1", "1/2", "2/1")
  • Plank's Studio, Cologne ("2/2")

Release history

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Country

!Label

!Cat. No.

!Media

!Release date

|-

|US

|Polydor

|AMB 001

|LP

|1978

|-

|France

|Polydor

|2310 647

|LP

|1978

|-

|Canada

|GRT

|9167–9835

|LP

|1978

|-

|Italy

|Polydor

|2310 647

|LP

|1978

|-

|US

|Editions EG

|EGS 201

|LP

|1981

|-

|UK

|Editions EG

|EGED 17

|LP

|1983

|-

|UK

|Editions EG, Virgin

|EEGCD 17

|CD

|Aug 1990

|-

|US

|Editions EG

|EEGCD 17

|CD

|Aug 1990

|-

|UK

|Virgin Records

|ENOCD 6,<br />7243 8 66495 2 2

|CD

|2004

|}

Certifications

See also

  • Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror
  • Ambient 3: Day of Radiance
  • Ambient 4: On Land

Notes

References

  • Interview on Ambient 1: Music for Airports
  • Liner notes of initial American release