Line #20 Music/ApolloAtmospheresAndSoundtracks


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/apollo_atmospheres__soundtracks_8362.jpg]]
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3	''Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks'' is the ninth studio album by British {{ambient}} musician Music/BrianEno, released in 1983 through EG Records & Creator/PolydorRecords in the UK and Editions EG in the US. The album is best known for the singles "Silver Morning", "An Ending (Ascent)" and "Deep Blue Day". The album was originally intended for a documentary about the Apollo moon landings called ''Film/ForAllMankind'', but was released five years earlier than the film. The reason for this was that the initial test screenings weren't very enthusiastic and thus the makers decided to delay the project and rethink things over. It was eventually released in 1989 and received an Academy Award nomination for ''Best Documentary''. Despite all that the soundtrack has probably reached more people than the film.
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5	The album notably makes heavy use of the Yamaha [=DX7=], an FM synthesizer introduced the same year that would become a popular instrument throughout the remainder of the decade, arguably becoming ''the'' definitive 80's synth by 1991. While the [=DX7=] was mainly used for its less-than-accurate presets-- whose omnipresence in the 1980's music scene still define public perception of the instrument as well as '80s pop/rock music as a whole to this day-- Eno manually programmed the synth himself to obtain the specific kinds of sounds he wanted out of it, later publicly releasing instructions for how to recreate the album's patches in a 1987 issue of ''Keyboard'' magazine. Given that the [=DX7=] is notoriously difficult to program (hence why most musicians stuck to the presets), this is a pretty impressive feat. Eno would continue to use the [=DX7=] on records he produced for bands such as Music/{{U2}} and Music/{{Coldplay}}.
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7	!!Tracklist
8
9	[[AC:Side One]]
10	# "Under Stars" (4:25)
11	# "The Secret Place" (3:27)
12	# "Matta" (4:14)
13	# "Signals" (2:44)
14	# "An Ending (Ascent)" (4:18)
15	# "Under Stars II" (3:15)
16	# "Drift" (3:03)
17
18	[[AC:Side Two]]
19	[numlist:8]
20	# "Silver Morning" (2:35)
21	# "Deep Blue Day" (3:53)
22	# "Weightless" (4:28)
23	# "Always Returning" (3:49)
24	# "Stars" (7:57)
25	[/numlist]
26
27	!! Atmospheres and Tropes:
28	* {{Ambient}}: A classic album from the TropeMaker himself.
29	* BookEnds: The first track is titled "Under Stars", the central track "Under Stars II" and the final one "Stars".
30	* ConceptAlbum: Because it was all composed for a specific documentary about moon exploration in space.
31	* CultSoundtrack: The music was originally meant for a documentary film about the Apollo moon missions: ''Film/ForAllMankind'', but due to lukewarm audience reactions the project was delayed. The album came out in 1983, while the film only got an official release in 1989.
32	* EpicRocking: "Stars", which takes 7:57 minutes.
33	* {{Instrumental}}: All tracks are instrumental.
34	* InTheStyleOf: "Silver Morning", "Deep Blue Day" and "Weightless" were inspired by country and western music.
35	* LighterAndSofter: All the tracks on the album from "Drift" onwards are lighter than the NightmareFuel of the first half of the album.
36	* MinimalisticCoverArt: The moon surface.
37	* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: "The Secret Place", "Matta", "Under Stars II"... all have a creepy, haunting feel to them.
38	* NonAppearingTitle: All tracks are instrumental, thus have no lyrics.
39	* OneWordTitle: "Matta", "Drift", "Stars".
40	* RecordProducer: Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
41	* ShoutOut:
42	** "Deep Blue Day" was used in ''Film/{{Trainspotting}}''.
43	** "An Ending (Ascent)" was sampled in "Hear Me Out" by Frou Frou. It has also been used in ''Film/Traffic2000'' and ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' (2002).
44	* SpaceIsSlowMotion: The album was originally composed for a documentary about the moon landings. Many of the tracks have a slow, dreamy sound quality to them. One track is even named "Weightless".
45	* StandardSnippet: "An Ending (Ascent)" is used a lot for scenes with sad moments, calm, contemplative scenes and scenes taking place in space.

Context Music / ApolloAtmospheresAndSoundtracks