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Selected Ambient Works Volume II
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<p><i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> (abbreviated as <i>SAW II</i>) is the second studio album by the British <a href="/facts/Electronic_music/zfGNfUvR">electronic music</a> artist and producer <a href="/facts/Aphex_Twin/ryTSws9D">Richard D. James</a> under the alias of Aphex Twin. It was released on 7 March 1994 through <a href="/facts/Warp_Records/lUUBogG7">Warp Records</a>. Following James's <a href="/facts/Ambient_techno/K3awlY1o">ambient techno</a> debut <i><a href="/facts/Selected_Ambient_Works_85%E2%80%9392/os1zsTHP">Selected Ambient Works 85–92</a></i>, <i>Volume II</i> features purely <a href="/facts/Ambient_music/QNnE3krK">ambient music</a>. James was inspired through <a href="/facts/Lucid_dream/gBM42ISY">lucid dreaming</a> and likened the album to "standing in a <a href="/facts/Power_station/vYeVY1fD">power station</a> on <a href="/facts/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide/o5qq0grH">acid</a>." </p><p>Most of the tracks on <i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> were untitled and represented with abstract photographs and <a href="/facts/Pie_chart/SmWhvWpM">pie charts</a>. Fan-named, unofficial titles are still widely used today. </p><p>The album received mixed reviews upon release; critics mainly criticised its largely beatless composition and the repetition throughout. The record entered the <a href="/facts/UK_Dance_Singles_and_Albums_Charts/pNGwFE6r">UK Dance Albums Chart</a> at No. 1 and <a href="/facts/UK_Albums_Chart/h1hyzP13">UK Albums Chart</a> at No. 11. Retrospective reviews of the album were more positive, and have described its major role in the evolution of ambient music and electronica. In 2016 <i>Pitchfork</i> picked <i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> as the second greatest ambient album of all time, after <a href="/facts/Brian_Eno/rMN10pwo">Brian Eno</a>'s <i><a href="/facts/Ambient_1:_Music_for_Airports/ywfcdVU8">Ambient 1: Music for Airports</a></i>. A remastered and expanded reissue of the album was released in October 2024 with two bonus tracks. </p>