Structures from Silence

Structures from Silence
Studio album by
Steve Roach
ReleasedJuly 15, 1984
Recorded1983–1984
StudioTimeroom, Culver City, California
Genre
Length58:27
LabelFortuna
ProducerSteve Roach
Steve Roach chronology
Traveler
(1983) 		Structures from Silence
(1984) 		Quiet Music 1
(1986)
Alternative cover
Remastered edition, 2001.

Structures from Silence is the third studio album by American ambient musician Steve Roach. It was released on July 15, 1984 by Fortuna.

Recording

The title track, Structures from Silence, took Steve Roach a few months to compose. He would play the song using an Oberheim OB-8 and Oberheim DSX sequencer day and night, adjusting it until it sounded right to him. Finally, he went to a recording studio and recorded the song in a single 30-minute long pass, using his own gear along with a second OB-8 as well as a Lexicon 224 digital reverberator.[4]

Release

A remastered version of this album, with a different cover, was released in 2001 by Projekt.[5]

A 30-year anniversary edition was released by Projekt in 2014. The album was remastered in 24-bit/96 kHz from the original analog mixes.[5] There is both a single-CD edition, and a 3-CD deluxe edition that includes two bonus discs created in 2013. Both editions use the original cover art.[5] The remastered original album (but not the two bonus discs) was made available as 24-bit/96 kHz digital downloads.[6]

Video release

In 1987 a VHS video titled Structures from Silence was released. It featured imagery created by Marianne Dolan set to the album's title track. This video was also released on laserdisc under the title Space Dreaming.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Alternative Pressfavorable[8]
Musique Machine[9]
Qfavorable[10]

In late November 2014, Steve Roach was selected as Echoes Radio's #1 Artist[11] and Structures from Silence was voted as the #2 album.[12]

Fact listed Structures from Silence as the tenth best album of the 1980s, calling it a "thoughtful, slow-paced study in synthesizer" and one of the most important ambient albums of all time.[13] They listed the 2014 reissue as the fourth best reissue that year, commenting that "it's a perfect time to return to this classic album – still spellbinding, three decades on."[2] In 2016, Pitchfork listed it as the 33rd best ambient album of all time.[14]

Track listing

All music is composed by Steve Roach

No.TitleLength
1."Reflections in Suspension"16:39
2."Quiet Friend"13:15
3."Structures from Silence"28:33

30th anniversary bonus discs

Disc 2: Suspension and Reflection
No.TitleLength
1."Suspension"28:36
2."Reflection"30:24
Disc 3: Below and Beyond
No.TitleLength
1."Beyond"32:11
2."Below"39:47

Personnel

Per liner notes.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Borghi, Matt. "Review: Steve Roach — Structures from Silence [Fortuna]". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "The 20 Best Reissues of 2014". Fact. The Vinyl Factory. 2 December 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  3. ^ Listed in "A Classic Space Music Countdown to Liftoff: 10 Essential classic space music albums, counting down from 10 to 1" Time Warped in Space by Echoes Radio producer and host, John Diliberto Archived 2007-04-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ Steve Roach. "Structures from Silence - recording methods".
  5. ^ a b c d Roach, Steve. "Steve Roach: Structures From Silence". Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  6. ^ "Structures From Silence". Spotted Peccary. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  7. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Review: Steve Roach — Structures from Silence". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  8. ^ Burbey, Mark (November 2001). "Review: Steve Roach — Structures from Silence". Alternative Press. Retrieved October 7, 2018 – via Steve Roach.
  9. ^ Batty, Roger (18 September 2014). "Steve Roach – Structures From Silence–30th Anniversary 3CD Edit Review". musiquemachine.com. Musique Machine. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  10. ^ Black, Johnny (February 1998). "Review: Steve Roach — Structures from Silence". Q. Retrieved October 7, 2018 – via Steve Roach.
  11. ^ "25 Icons of Echoes". Echoes. 27 October 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  12. ^ "25 Years of Echoes". Echoes. 19 November 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  13. ^ "The 100 Best Albums Of The 1980s". FACT Magazine. 24 June 2013.
  14. ^ Beta, Andy (September 26, 2016). "The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time". Pitchfork. Conde Nast. sec. 33. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  15. ^ Structures from Silence (liner notes). Steve Roach. Projekt. 2014. PROJEKT302.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)