Cobalt Blue (album)

Cobalt Blue
Studio album by Michael Brook
Released	1992
Label	4AD
Producer	Michael Brook
Michael Brook chronology
Hybrid (1985) Cobalt Blue (1992) Live at the Aquarium (1993)

Cobalt Blue is an album by the Canadian musician Michael Brook, released in 1992.^[1][2] Brook supported the album with a North American tour, playing some shows with John Cale.^[3][4] The album was reissued in 1999, with an additional disc of live material.^[5]

Production

The album was produced by Brook.^[6] Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois contributed to the album; Eno cowrote one song.^[7][8] Eno also helped Brook to rearrange some of the material after it had been recorded.^[9] "Skip Wave" was influenced by Indian sitar music.^[8] Brook employed his infinite guitar, which prolongs notes.^[10] He played a Tōkai Gakki guitar with a scalloped neck.^[11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
The Buffalo News	[13]
DownBeat	[14]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[15]
MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide	[6]
Windsor Star	B+[7]

Trouser Press called the album "a grown-up alternative to Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells or an intelligent reappraisal of new age music (if such a thing is possible), this evocative dreamscape evaporates if observed closely, yet makes fine background music."^[16] The Windsor Star stated that "the frustration grows as you realize each 'tune' is made of layers of synthesized textures that seem to lead nowhere."^[7]

The Waterloo Region Record determined that "its unrelenting moodiness begins to wear thin by about track three, the hypnotic 'Red Shift', and by the ninth or 10th number the whole thing has become a kind of John Cage meets muzak."^[17] The Dallas Morning News deemed Cobalt Blue "eerie, atmospheric and beautiful."^[8] The Buffalo News likened it to "mood music for U2 fans."^[13]

AllMusic wrote that the album "possesses a depth and complexity which standard ambient recordings lack."^[12]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Shona Bridge"
2.	"Breakdown"
3.	"Red Shift"
4.	"Skip Wave"
5.	"Slipstream"
6.	"Andean"
7.	"Slow Breakdown"
8.	"Ultramarine"
9.	"Urbana"
10.	"Lakbossa"
11.	"Ten"
12.	"Hawaii"

References

1. "Michael Brook Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
2. "Albums — Cobalt Blue by Michael Brook". Melody Maker. Vol. 68, no. 22. May 30, 1992. p. 30.
3. Levesque, Roger (10 Dec 1992). "Inventing musical hybrids". Edmonton Journal. p. D4.
4. Carroll, Tomm (December 25, 1992). "Hail to Cale". Daily Breeze. p. E8.
5. Jacks, Kelso (Oct 25, 1999). "Record News". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 60, no. 640. p. 15.
6. MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 2000. p. 115.
7. Jones, Owen (26 Sep 1992). "Record Review". Windsor Star. p. F2.
8. Gubbins, Teresa (October 4, 1992). "Cobalt Blue, Michael Brook". The Dallas Morning News. p. 10C.
9. Maestri, Cathy (December 11, 1992). "Brook makes infinite guitar music". The Press-Enterprise. p. AA10.
10. DeVault, Russ (November 27, 1992). "Night Beat". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. B4.
11. "101 Forgotten Greats & Unsung Heroes". Guitar Player. Vol. 41, no. 2. Feb 2007. p. 75.
12. "Cobalt Blue". AllMusic.
13. Ploetz, Elmer (January 22, 1993). "Instrumentals traditionally get lost in the shuffle...". The Buffalo News. p. G33.
14. Andrews, Jon (Feb 1993). "Liquid architecture". DownBeat. Vol. 60, no. 2. p. 47.
15. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE. p. 855.
16. "Michael Brook". Trouser Press. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
17. Randall, Neil (1 Oct 1992). "Cobalt Blue Michael Brook". Waterloo Region Record. p. C9.