Music for Films | ||||
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Studio album by Brian Eno | ||||
Released | October 1978 | |||
Recorded | 1975–1978 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:39 | |||
Label | EG | |||
Producer | Brian Eno | |||
Brian Eno chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Robert Christgau | B+ |
Pitchfork | 7.8/10 |
Q | |
Trouser Press | favourable |
Uncut |
Music for Films is the seventh solo studio album by British musician Brian Eno. It is a conceptual work intended as a soundtrack for imaginary films.
The album is a loose compilation of material from the period 1975 to 1978, composed of short tracks ranging from one-and-a-half minutes to just over four, making it the antithesis of the long, sprawling, ambient pieces he later became known for. The compositional styles and equipment used also carried over onto Eno's work on some of David Bowie's 1977 album Low.
Unlike Eno's later ambient works, Music for Films utilises a broader sonic palette, with Eno's synthesizers and "found sounds" being supplemented by standard studio instrumentation played by other musicians (see Credits).
Originally released as a limited-edition (five hundred copies) LP in 1976 which was sent to a selection of filmmakers for possible inclusion in their work, the commercial Music for Films release was expanded to include a number of pieces for, as Eno put it, "possible use as soundtracks to 'imaginary' films". In fact, excerpts from the album did appear in at least six films, "Sparrowfall (1)" in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow, "Slow Water" in Derek Jarman's Jubilee, "Final Sunset" in Jarman's Sebastiane and Jim McBride's Breathless, and "M386" and "Alternative 3" appear in Rock 'n' Roll High School. "Alternative 3" appeared in Herbert Vesely's Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment (1981), and was also used as the theme tune for the television programme Alternative 3. Two further Film albums were released: More Music for Films, in 1983 and Music for Films, Volume 3 in 1988.
The album has manifested in several forms, featuring different track-listings and track-times.