Track Listing

1. Two Worlds
2. Sketches
3. Oaxaca
4. Agave
5. Telco
6. Desert Rose
7. Carla
8. The Deadly Nightshade
9. Dusty
10. Frozen
11. Panorama
12. Flametop Green
13. Todos Santos

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47404 in Music
• Brand: Dig
• Released on: 2005-07-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

Album Description
When Brian Eno recorded his landmark ambient releases of the '80s and '90s, he transformed our perception of space, music, and performance. His collaborator on those albums, and on subsequent production work with U2, was Daniel Lanois. Lanois took the techniques he developed with Eno and went on to produce career albums for Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, and Emmylou Harris. Now the journey comes full circle on "Belladonna", an instrumental record that captures the often tense emotional dynamics of Eno's pioneering releases. Dense textures evolve into delicate Mexican melodies, capturing the disquieting serenity of American southwest landscapes. This is Daniel's defining moment.

From Amazon.ca
For years, Daniel Lanois has been producing lush soundscapes for his own projects as well as those he's produced. From U2's The Unforgettable Fire to Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball, Lanois's distinct floating-in-the-clouds sound is instantly recognizable to even the most casual listener. Direct comparisons to master producer Brian Eno are not just obvious, they are inevitable; Lanois admits to being Eno's apprentice through the ambient master's instrumental projects in the '80s and '90s. After making a few singer/songwriter discs, Lanois says he decided to go fully instrumental on Belladonna to allow all listeners to "use their imagination and build their own scenario" rather than having the story handed to them. In that, he has succeeded. The focus here is unquestionably on the music--long, languid compositions built largely around pedal steel guitar. Unlike Lanois's previous discs, which included guest performers from Emmylou Harris to Willie Nelson to Bono, no famous friends appear here. Instead, much like the Sling Blade soundtrack (which Lanois penned), this disc remains a dreamy collection best suited to yoga, candlelit baths, and other moments of dusk fading to darkness. --Denise Sheppard

Customer Reviews

Haunting, enigmatic, uplifting
It is a huge relief for Lanois fans to find him active a mere 2 years after the superb 'Shine' album. The wait between that album and the previous solo effort 'For the Beauty of Wynona' was a long 10 years.

For those not familiar with Lanois' career, you can start your journey by knowing that he is a now legendary producer who brought his unmistakable signature to the likes of U2 (Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree and more), Bob Dylan, The Neville Brothers, Peter Gabriel (So) - the list is enormous. He is a longtime collaborator of producer/musician Brian Eno, bringing an altogether more humanist, organic warmth to his productions - nothing sounds synthesised in Lanois' sonic world, everything is alive.

I must admit, I have always been chasing an album from Lanois that rivals his first solo outing 'Acadie', still equal to any album I've ever heard. If you don't know 'Acadie', I cannot urge you enough to seek it out.

If you had ever wished that Lanois would abandon lyrics and vocals and paint an album with melodies and textures, Brian Eno style, then 'Belladonna' will have you in raptures. It's a complex, rich, ethereal thing of beauty with enough detail to keep the most discerning listener happy for months.

At first you might miss the organic warmth of Lanois' voice and his sense of lyrical poetry, but his real contribution to music has always been his unique sound and this album allows us the freedom and pleasure of exploring musical journeys that are rich and beautiful, ranging from ambient soundscapes, soulful New Orleans style melodies, latin refrains and endlessly inventive instrumentation and production. Tellingly, Lanois' old collaborator Malcolm Burn is here, playing a variety of instruments and no doubt contributing ideas to the richly detailed, experimental production. Some tracks, 'Flametop Green' for example are just achingly beautiful, perfectly executed.

If you are familiar with the early works of Lanois and Eno (for example the 'Apollo atmospheres and soundtracks', you'll have some idea of what to expect from this cd, although I find, unlike Eno, Lanois always focuses his work melodically and spiritually. You often feel as if you are in a private church, so overwhelmingly spiritual is the movement of chords and instruments; the depth of sonic atmospheres created on this disc are just astonishing.

Lanois fans have been owed a suite of songs of this quality for some time, and it's been worth the wait. Absolutely essential listening.

The master does it again
If you were ever looking for a metaphor to describe the conundrum of dark beauty and spine-tingling warmth that is the music of Daniel Lanois, then "belladonna" is it: a beautiful poisonous flower revered for its power to heal. Eschewing lyrics as he did for several tracks on his previous album, Lanois gives listeners the chance to "make up their own scenarios" as he puts it. And you will: these songs are tremendously evocative of desert nights, broken hearts, contemplation, vulnerability and moments of human connection. You'll be writing your own Wim Wenders movie in your mind. Pedal steel and feedback are the stars here, but Lanois and his collaborators twist them via Latin and desert country influences to produce a suite of tracks that sound much bigger and richer than you might give the arrangements credit for. These are soundscapes you can disappear into. They're all given the unmistakable Lanois treatment in the mix which could be accurately described as Taoist: I have no idea how he does it, but he consistently conveys a sense of emptiness and overflowing immensity all at once. It's magical.

atmospheric and enveloping
The music is totally different than his other efforts with even more atmospheric emphasis enveloping the listener in each tonal poem (so to speak). The melodic characteristic of each piece is inviting and very accessible due to the seductive sounds especially the pedal steel. Turn the lights out and sip some wine with someone special and engage in lofty conversation. It'll take you there.