Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition)

This is not only the best ambient album ever made, it is, in my opinion, the greatest album of all time. That's right, the Beatles can go to hell, Richard James made the best album of all time in his bedroom with homemade, solder-burned synthesizers. I realize that there are few people who will agree with me, but the level of melody, mood, and creativity shown in Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2 is unmatched in recorded music.The music on SAW2 touches something deep within our psyche and provokes an irresistible reaction. I've played the album for friends and they've said things like "this music makes me want to kill myself" or "listening to this music makes some bad acid trips I've had look like a kindergarten birthday party", but the point is that it stirred up strong feelings. When is the last time someone said that about a Katy Perry album? You could say "well, Hitler stirred up strong feelings too, that doesn't make him good" and you'd be right, but Hitler didn't write music as far as I know and he thought that Wagner was the pinnacle of musicianship, so that shows you what he knew.I admit that I wanted to kill myself the first time I heard this album too, but for some reason I kept listening to it. When I heard some of the songs I felt really strange, like I was in a dream and I knew something bad was about to happen and I was trying to wake up but I couldn't. Then I realized that I loved it. Maybe I'm the victim of musical Stockholm syndrome, but this music that used to make me feel terrible now makes me feel wonderful because it used to make me feel terrible. I listen to it all the time and have for over ten years and it never gets old. There are no stupid lyrics to screw up the perfection of the melodies, and no one is better than the Aphex Twin at twisting knobs to make a synth sound like a dragon eating its young, robots having sex, geese flying into a jet turbine, someone farting on the bottom of the ocean, the android boy you created to replace your lost son having a malfunction in his voice chip while he tries to tell you how much he loves you, and the sound of your wife destroying the android son in paranoid fear by melting him in the incinerator after luring him in there with the lie that it is a spaceship that will take him back to God. Buy this album and join in on the fun of resisting the urge to murder yourself in hopes that one day Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2 will enrich your life as much as it has mine.

Great

wonderful music and the cd case is pretty nice too. love aphex twin and def recommended!! <3

Richard D James aka Aphex Twin is one of the greatest musical geniuses of modern times. With great albums like "Selected Ambient Works 85-92", "Drukqs", and my personal favorite, "I Care Because You Do", "Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2" doesn't fit in with these others. However, that is not a bad thing as this is a unique album in itself. Yes, there are no beats (for the most part) on this double album, but James makes it work like no one else could. The first disc has the more experimental stuff and weird stuff on it. Track #4 will scare you out of your wits while Track #9 sounds like it should have been a part of "The Shining" (Kubrick's version) soundtrack. Track #11 sounds like an alien autopsy. Disc 2 has the more beautiful tracks including the only really "named" track (all of the tracks are nameless but have pictures except this one) in "Blue Calx". The most beautiful of them all is the last one or the "b+w stripes II". Whenever I hear this track, I think of myself flying.This is a great album but it takes patience to listen to. Don't give up on it after one, two, or even three listens. Also, make sure that you have plenty of time to kill in listening to this and preferably on headphones. If you are new to Aphex Twin, I would not recommend this album; however, if you enjoy the music of Richard James, then you will have to pick this album up eventually. And you will not be sorry in doing so.

Perfect for what it is. I could listen to this on repeat all day and feel like I'm not really listening to anything but background noise.

Right from the start, Selected Ambient Works Volume 2 is a strange, challenging listen. Richard D. James has never had qualms about straying from the norms of ambient/techno/electronic music, but this album's length and weirdness make it nearly inaccessible at first. Aphex Twin defies rhythms and hooks on most of the songs. What's incredible about an album this vexing is that it still manages to trap you. For me, the songs that initially caught my attention were the atmospherically eldritch tracks "Grass," "Tree," "Grey Stripe," and "Spots." During my first listen, I guessed - correctly - that these tracks would become enduring favorites. It took more time to appreciate other tracks. Soon, I found myself wondering how I had ever managed to resist the tranquil beauty of "Rhubarb," "Parallel Stripes," and "Lichen." It took more time yet to appreciate the straight-up bizarre tracks "Radiator," "White Blur," and the maddening "White Blur 2." New listeners will most likely warm to groove-laden selections like "Weathered Stone," "Blue Calx," and perhaps even the oddly catchy "Window Sill." These tracks feature some of the album's sparse percussion and are as close to being "catchy" as the songs get. While this album isn't an easy listen, it's always a rewarding one. Once its caught your attention, you realize you wouldn't want to hear it any other way.