Another Day on Earth

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Another Day on Earth
Studio album by
Released13 June 2005
Recorded2001–2005
StudioBrian Eno's Wilderness Studio,
Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK
GenreAmbient
Length46:50
LabelHannibal
ProducerBrian Eno
Brian Eno chronology
The Equatorial Stars
(2004)
Another Day on Earth
(2005)
Beyond Even (1992–2006)
(2007)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic71/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
The Guardian[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Mojo[6]
The Observer[7]
Pitchfork6.1/10[8]
PopMatters7/10[9]
SpinA−[10]
Uncut8/10[11]

Another Day on Earth is the twenty-second solo studio album by Brian Eno, released on 13 June 2005 in the UK and Europe through Hannibal Records, and on 14 June 2005 in the US. The album predominantly recorded and mixed on Macintosh software, using Logic Pro, over a period of four years.

Overview[edit]

"Bottomliners" and "Under" were first worked on about six years previously, on a DA88, the latter songs' drumming being supplied by Willie Green. On the former, and on the ballad "And Then So Clear" he pitch-shifted his voice up an octave, using the gender-changing function on a Digitech Pro Vocalist creating a vocoder-like effect. His studio features a selection of hardware including a Lexicon Jam Man loop sampler and an Eventide H3000 Harmonizer.

The album is actually built around the "And Then So Clear" song. He says "... In one day, actually, I pretty much finished it ... I liked it so much, and I thought, how I am going release this song, and I thought, I have to write some others."

On the title track he repeatedly cut up the main phrase, so that "the listener had little windows on it." Similar "cut-up" methodologies were used for the lyrics of "This," in that he used his computer to generate some of the words.

"Under" is a nearly-identical version of a song that was on the unreleased 1991 album My Squelchy Life, which was released in 2014 as a bonus disc with a reissue of Eno's 1992 Nerve Net. It was also included in the Cool World soundtrack album.

For the ambient-style "A Long Way Down" Eno manually synchronised his vocals with an out of time keyboard melody, and on "Going Unconscious" he went back to using Koan generative music software for the textural background.

The distinctions between songs and instrumentals which contain vocals are deliberately blurred, particularly on the track "How Many Worlds": "There's just enough voice in there to make you hear it as a song, making it a bluff, a deceit."

The final track on the album, "Bone Bomb", was inspired by a newspaper story about a Palestinian girl who becomes a suicide bomber.[12] The title refers to a point made by an Israeli doctor that when a suicide bomber detonates, the bomber's bones become shrapnel, adding to the destruction.

Track listing[edit]

All songs written and composed by Brian Eno, except where noted.

  1. "This" – 3:33
  2. "And Then So Clear" – 5:49
  3. "A Long Way Down" – 2:40
  4. "Going Unconscious" – 4:22
  5. "Caught Between" (co-lyrics by Danny Hillis and Eck Ogilvie-Grant) – 4:25
  6. "Passing Over" – 4:25
  7. "How Many Worlds" (co-lyrics by Michel Faber) – 4:47
  8. "Bottomliners" – 3:59
  9. "Just Another Day" (additional music composed by Peter Schwalm) – 4:21
  10. "Under" – 5:19
  11. "Bone Bomb" – 3:09
  12. "The Demon of the Mines" (Japan only bonus track) – 4:40

Notes[edit]

Track 7 published by Opal Music, London (PRS) [in N. America & Canada by Upala Music Inc (BMI)], 2005.
Tracks 8 & 9 published by Opal Music, London (PRS) [in N. America & Canada by Upala Music Inc (BMI)] and Editions Outshine / BMG-UFA, 2005.[13][14]
Brian Eno appears courtesy of Opal Ltd.[15]

Personnel[edit]

  • Vocals, multiple instruments – Brian Eno
  • Keyboards – Jon Hopkins
  • Guitar – Leo Abrahams, Steve Jones
  • Violin – Duchess Nell Catchpole
  • Piano, Synthesizer – Peter Schwalm
  • Drums – Willie Green, Peter Schwalm
  • Loops – Brad Laner, Brian Eno, Peter Schwalm
  • Effects [Occasional Signals] – Dino
  • Effects [Splutters] – Barry Andrews
  • Spoken vocals – Inge Zalaliene (track 4), Aylie Cooke (track 11)
  • Mastering – Simon Heyworth
  • Artwork by [Design & Layout] – Sarah Vermeersch
  • Photography [Back] – Qin Siyuan
  • Photography [Front], Artwork By [Cover Design] – Brian Eno

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Another Day on Earth
Chart (2005) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[16] 190
Italian Albums (FIMI)[17] 53
UK Albums (OCC)[18] 75
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[19] 32
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[20] 13

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Another Day on Earth by Brian Eno". Metacritic.
  2. ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r744667
  3. ^ In a pop world where everything feels amped up, who could have imagined that this once-chilly music could sound so comforting. [17 June 2005, p.79]
  4. ^ "CD: Brian Eno, Another Day on Earth". TheGuardian.com. 10 June 2005.
  5. ^ A fascinating look at planet Eno. [10 Jul 2005]
  6. ^ Mojo (Publisher) (Jul 2005, p.102) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Woozy, hypnotic and human, this is perhaps Eno's most personal record to date..."
  7. ^ "Brian Eno, Another Day on Earth". The Observer. 22 May 2005. Archived from the original on 2 November 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Brian Eno: Another Day on Earth". Pitchfork.
  9. ^ Brian Eno: Another Day on Earth < PopMatters
  10. ^ [A] cosmos-goosing masterwork. [Jul 2005, p.104]
  11. ^ "Uncut November 2022". The Observer. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Eno's Evolution". The St. Petersburg Times. 3 June 2005. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
  13. ^ Discogs - Another Day On Earth Digipak, Europe
  14. ^ Discogs - Another Day On Earth Digipak repress, Europe
  15. ^ Discogs - Opal Records
  16. ^ "Lescharts.com – Brian Eno – Another Day on Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Brian Eno – Another Day on Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Brian Eno Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  20. ^ "Brian Eno Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 July 2022.

External links[edit]