Selected Ambient Works 85–92

I didn't expect to like this and I really didn't, but not as much as I'd thought. It was rather boring to me, but I suppose it wasn't bad background noise. 2/5

Quite frankly, this album and perhaps all of Aphex Twin are too smart for me. I don't pick up on the intricate time signatures, the mellowed out drum and bass backing to allow the sound to always have a thumping heartbeat, or even the general vibe brought to the table by its simplistic yet thoroughly crafted beats. However, I do at least respect it. It may sound like the soundtrack to a PlayStation racing game, but that can be a good thing! So, when I say it isn't my thing, I recognize completely that it is at the fault of my own patience and musical tolerance, rather than any outright flaw with the album. However, I do still think there are issues worth addressing, such as the length. The album suffers from 90s-itis, which means it must be double the length of a (now) standard album for the sake of filling out a CD, and while this does fit electronic music better than most genres, it can still feel like this collection of stoned club bangers are stretched to their limit for the sake of the ethereal ambiance, and it makes it so most tracks don't feel like they fit in a day-to-day lifestyle. Once again, an unfair critique, I realize, but I often think songs should be something I want to come back to, and I struggle to think of a reason on why I would return to Xtal over Pulsewidth, and even if I were to put on the whole album for one amazing session of "testing my new speakers," what effect does the album bring to the table that one singular track off this album doesn't pull off instead? There are differences between songs; tracks like Hedphelym offer an obviously more sinister tone than simple, floaty tracks like I, but I still think at the end of the day this album is something praised on influence and standards more than being something truly fantastic in it of itself. I'm obviously talking out of my ass, I know nothing about IDM, but when looking at its contemporaries from later in the decade, I see so much improvement and style injected into the genre that this comes off as hollow and aged. In my opinion, better than what others were doing in 1992, but save for a couple tracks and moments, this doesn't seem like an album worth returning to in full. So, what your main takeaway here should be is that I'm saying there is no reason to return to this album, yet this is my second time listening in full in the last year. Says something about the pull this album gives off, huh? Whatever, I'm an idiot, now bugger off. luv u

Surprised how much I like this, though the later works do have a sort of low, tension inducing noise that I don't really appreciate.

Classic album. While I am a bigger fan of Selected Works II, this one is still a great listen from time to time. 4.5/5

I love the guy. Very interesting album he has better songs but this is one of his best “albums”

I like this kind of electronic ambient stuff. It can't exactly reach the highs of other albums in terms of impact and merit, but I really dig it.

This is great for just ambient vibes, which is what I have been feeling recently. Aphex is great for this vibe and I really enjoy this collection of songs.

Yeah, no

Dieses Album führt den Hörer in ein spannendes Ambiente aus Trance, Techno und Synthy. Es ist ein ausgewogenes Werk aus verschieden Facetten, die jedoch leider manchmal ins Schrille abschweifen. Eine Wiedererkennung einzelner Songs drängt sich nicht auf. Gib mir Sonne, einen Strand und einen Cocktail.. dann ist dies ein passendes Werk.

Though his best work was still to come, this is an impressive debut. I wouldn't say it's timeless, but it definitely holds up much better than most electronic music from the same time period.

Background music? 1.77.

Not perfect but feels wrong not to give it a 5. Changed my brain when I first heard it

we are the music makers. and we are the queefers of queefs.

Really enjoyed this album, added to my frequent rotation, especially for when I’m working, ideal background music.

Oh no, not some more fucking electronica. Have I not suffered enough listening to this garbage already? With an album title like that, I am not optimistic of the contents of this record.

Apparently everyone sweats Richard D. James (and this record in particular) because, as the name suggests, this is a subset of music he wrote between 1985 and 1992, meaning the earlier songs would have been written when he was 14 years old. Ok, that's cool, but it's not like he wrote a fucking symphony at that age. He pushed some buttons and spliced soundbytes together.

Anyways, on to the record. As I thought, this is the dullest, most bland elevator music imaginable overlaid with a strong drum beat. I will give Aphex Twin props, at least it has a beat, unlike some other electronica I've listened to on this generator. So, one can infer that, at 14 Richard was smarter than some of these "artists" in this genre, so good for him!!

The spacey sounds that most of these strung out bastards seem to enjoy are alive and well on this record. Green Calx sounds like aliens who are involved in a gun fight with all the laser noises and boops and beeps.

This shit lulls you into a trance. As background music it gets a pass, but to sit and focus on this would be almost impossible. 9 minute songs where they establish a beat, then nothing else happens, just repeat the same beat loop 500 times and call that a song. Awful.

I wish I knew why electronica artists as a group decided to make their shitty records over an hour long. I don't want to listen to this shit for 10 minutes, let alone an hour. Listening to gorilla's bang would be audibly better than this album.

Favourite songs: Pulsewidth

Least favourite songs: Hedphelym.... Probably others as well, but it all ran together into a boring mess that I've already forgotten about.

1/5

Ah mikä nautinto! Suorastaan upottavaa konemusaa genrensä mestarilta. 5/5

Ik ben fan van elektronische muziek, maar dan wel het minste van ambient. Je kan er niet zoveel goed of slecht mee doen. Het is vaak prima op de achtergrond en verder springt er weinig uit. Dat geldt ook zeker voor deze variant. En dan geldt voor mij de standaard bij platen met een continue kwaliteit, maar weinig extra's: 3 sterren.

Los van de waardering van de plaat, veel kudos voor de inspiratie die AT anderen heeft geleverd, met deze plaat, maar ook met later werk.

It's been a long time I was this impressed with an album on first listen.
I have always been aware of Aphex Twin, but never really listened to him. Until now. And it has opened up a whole new world of music.

Maybe not all songs are of the same quality of Heliospan, Schottkey 7th Path or Ptolemy, but reading up I certainly see even more how genre defining this work is and where later Radiohead during their Kid A era got their inspiration.

This is going to be played a lot more in the coming months and years.

Pure background music, at best. It's not offensive or anything, but it's not something I would ever plan on putting on again.

The standout tracks just about overcome some horrible midi sounds.