Back Selected Ambient Works Volume II German Selected Ambient Works II Spanish Selected Ambient Works Volume II Finnish Selected Ambient Works Volume II French Selected Ambient Works Volume II HE Selected Ambient Works Volume II Italian Selected Ambient Works Volume II Korean Selected Ambient Works Volume II Portuguese Selected Ambient Works Volume II Romanian Selected Ambient Works Volume II Russian
| Selected Ambient Works Volume II | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 March 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1992 – 1993 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 156:42 (CD) 166:53 (LP/MC) 184:53 (Expanded Edition) | |||
| Label | Warp | |||
| Producer | Richard D. James | |||
| Richard D. James chronology | ||||
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| Aphex Twin album chronology | ||||
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Selected Ambient Works Volume II (abbreviated as SAW II[1]) is the second studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Richard D. James under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 7 March 1994 through Warp Records. Following James's ambient techno debut Selected Ambient Works 85–92, Volume II features purely ambient music. James was inspired through lucid dreaming and likened the album to "standing in a power station on acid."[2]
Most of the tracks on Selected Ambient Works Volume II were untitled and represented with abstract photographs and pie charts. Fan-named, unofficial titles are still widely used today.
The album received mixed reviews upon release; critics mainly criticised its largely beatless composition and the repetition throughout. The record entered the UK Dance Albums Chart at No. 1 and UK Albums Chart at No. 11.[3][4] Retrospective reviews of the album were more positive, and have described its major role in the evolution of ambient music and electronica. In 2016 Pitchfork picked Selected Ambient Works Volume II as the second greatest ambient album of all time, after Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports. It was James's last ambient album. A remastered and expanded reissue of the album was released in October 2024 with two bonus tracks.
- ^ Richardson, Mark (25 April 2014). "Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume II". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
- ^ Toop, David (March 1994). "Lost in Space". The Face. Vol. 2, no. 66. p. 54. ISSN 0263-1210.
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