Long before electronica or New Wave officially existed, there was Eno. Considered the godfather of ambient music, Brian Eno has enjoyed a prolific career as both a composer and collaborator with the likes of David Bowie, the Talking Heads and the Velvet Underground. Yet it was probably Eno's 1975 classic Discreet Music that gained him his notoriety, but more importantly, created an entirely new type of music that "needed to be heard, not listened to."

Ambient music exists even now as somewhat of an ambiguous class of composition. Fleeting, formless and free-flowing, ambient music is termed aptly; it generally lacks any form of discernable meter, relying on the listener's (or "hearer's") willingness to allow it to happily exist only in the background of his setting.

Discreet Music is exactly that, and is thus appropriately named. Viewed by many ambient music purists as the definitive introduction to the genre, Eno's work garners its appreciation through pure simplicity. The album is divided into four separate tracks: A titular one and three of Eno's variations on Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

The title track of the album is the most arresting. The 30-minute magnum opus maintains a spacey beauty throughout, best played with the volume at a minimum and in the solitude of a comforting room. The first few moments of Discreet Music are barely audible, the tone building gradually like the rumble of distant thunder. As the melodies softly emerge, the core of the piece is exposed - a symphonic layering of winds, echoes and flutes. This first track is representative of Eno's early experiments with what he calls "environment-conscious" music.

For art enthusiasts, Discreet Music is the musical equivalent of James McNeill Whistler's "Sea and Rain: Variations in Violet and Green." It evokes a loneliness of the comforting variety, conjuring up images of gentle tides and gray beaches. The reflective nature of Eno's brand of music definitely makes it best in times of solitude.

The next three tracks - "Fullness of Wind," "French Catalogues" and "Brutal Ardour" - are all superb reconstructions of classical composer Johann Pachelbel. All three variations contain the baroque splendor of the original compositions, but Eno's mixing is clearly evident. The notes are blurred slightly, rendering them more atmospheric in nature. Eno's alterations make the Canon more appropriate for a quiet lounge rather than a concert hall. But then, this is the aim of ambient music.

Perhaps the most striking feature of Discreet Music as a whole is the malleability that it provides for the listener. There is no prescribed emotional state one must adopt in order to appreciate Eno's work. Hope, sorrow, detachment and elation are all acceptable under the auspices of ambient music. Discreet Music also works wonderful remedy for insomniacs. Functioning as a voiceless lullaby, it soothes the consciousness, nullifying worry and erasing stress.

Discreet Music is avant-garde minimalism without pretension. Brian Eno's presence in the music community has been significant. His influence is far reaching and emulations of his effects have appeared in the works of progressive artists such as Pink Floyd and Talvin Singh. With his discreet melodies, Eno became the first artist to produce silence from sound, thereby singlehandedly creating an entire genre of music.