Selected Ambient Works Volume II

"SAW II" redirects here. For the film, see Saw II.

Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Studio album by
Aphex Twin
Released7 March 1994 (1994-03-07)
Genre
Length156:42 (CD)
166:53 (LP/MC)
184:53 (Expanded Edition)
LabelWarp
ProducerRichard D. James
Richard D. James chronology
On
(1993) 		Selected Ambient Works Volume II
(1994) 		GAK
(1994)
Aphex Twin album chronology
Selected Ambient Works 85–92
(1992) 		Selected Ambient Works Volume II
(1994) 		Classics
(1995)
Expanded Edition cover
Singles from Selected Ambient Works Volume II (Expanded Edition)
  1. "#19"
    Released: 18 June 2024
  2. "th1 [evnslower]"
    Released: 4 September 2024
  3. "#3 / Rhubarb Orc. 19.53 Rev"
    Released: 2 October 2024

Selected Ambient Works Volume II (abbreviated as SAW II)[1] is a studio album by the British electronic music artist and producer Aphex Twin. It was released on 7 March 1994 through Warp Records. Its title follows James's debut Selected Ambient Works 85–92. Unlike that record, most of the tracks are purely ambient music, without the earlier volume's ambient techno beats. James said the music was inspired through lucid dreaming, and likened it to "standing in a power station on acid."[2]

The record entered the CIN's Dance Albums Chart at No. 1 and entered the Albums Chart at No. 11.[3][4] It was reviewed positively by most critics on release and later placed on various best of the decade lists by publications such as Rolling Stone, Spin, and Pitchfork.[5] 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. An expanded reissue of the album was released in October 2024.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pitchfork33&1/3book was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Toop, David (March 1994). "Lost in space". The Face. Vol. 2, no. 66. EMAP.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MwMar94 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference UKchart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Wren, David; Jacobs, Daniel; Moyse, Scott (2003). "Aphex Twin". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. pp. 35–36. ISBN 1-8435-3105-4. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2020.