I remember buying this on my 17th birthday in 2007 and since then must have listened to the songs Blue Calx, Parallel Stripes, and Rhubarb at least once everyday since then...
Its these three (but especially Rhubarb) that to me have become the soundtrack to just about every emotion harvested within me since that time. Some of the most pure and sincere music you will ever hear. Not to say the rest of the album isn't as good, but its worth getting if not just for these three songs alone...
Incredible stuff :)

To date, I have yet to hear an ambient track that can surpass the haunting beauty that is track 3 from disc 1 (otherwise known as "rhubarb"). "Isolation Part 1" by Pulusha came close, but the understated pads and delicate chords are about as close as one could come to complete ambient bliss. It is sad, it is melancholic, and it is just brilliant. Also look out for track 8 from disc 2 ("Lichen") which is similarly essential.

Really nice and "freakish" soundscapes. Most of the time without a slice of beats. When those are present, they are subtle and do not distract from the drones, piano or melodies. When the record end the perfect record companion to play next is Leo Anibaldi - Void (CAT 031 CD). It spices things up because of the industrial beats on some of the tracks but this is a sort of continuation, a darker one. Like an industrial version of SAW II.

Easily my favorite Aphex Twin album, and the release that got me into ambient music. IMO most of RDJ's stuff is technically impressive, but the shock of innovation wears off with repeated listening. This album is the exact opposite - the focus on woozy, minimal production and repetitive melodic snippets gives the album a lot of staying power, and it doesn't sound dated at all. Lots of variety, too: the mood ranges from blissed-out washes of synth to dark, brooding soundscapes that wouldn't sound out of place in a horror movie soundtrack. Some tracks have beats, but most don't. You have to be really patient to get into it, but that should be a given. "Cliffs" (Track 1) is probably one of my favorite songs ever. A nearly flawless album. If Monet made ambient music it would sound a lot like this.

The Beatles followed up the baroque ornateness of Sgt. Pepper's with the stark balladry and straightfoward rock of The White Album. In some respects, the same effect is achieved by Richard James here. SAW 85-92 was an enormously successful album encompassing several subgenres which helped to break listening electonica into the mainstream. Here, the man returns to the roots of electronica--the influence of Eno, of course, is present ("Rhubarb" sounds like it could have been an outtake from On Land), but one can also discern inspiration from La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Wendy Carlos, Morton Subotnick, later Stockhausen, Otto Luening, early Kraftwerk, and early Tangerine Dream within the groovess.

At the time, SAW V2 was malinged by critics and the public, and with the ascendancy of the more rhythmic trance and breakbeat it likely will be for years to come. As somebody else pointed out, SAW 85-92 already sounds very dated and a product of its period; this recording constantly reveals new textures to me.

Most probobly Aphex Twin's most minimalistic work, it is a cerebral adventure with little foundation. It is truly an album meant for the patient, or at least those who think they can appreciate ambient music. Make sure you get the Warp release, which has the extra song "Hankie", which I unfortunately missed out on.

In my time as i have fallen further down the spiral of IDM, i have yet to come across something so beautiful as this. RDJ has out done himself and has created a masterpiece that anyone will agree, is without a doubt some of the most compelling and gorgeous soundscape excursions. As in such case: I was sitting in my house one night around christmas, only thing on was the lights from the tree (dim white lights) and the display from my CD player. I was sitting in solitude, just thinking. My brother walks in high as a kite from smoking blunts all night. I dont acknowledge him, but keep listening. He stood in the doorway not turning on any lights, not saying a word for 3 full tracks. At which point he utters "what the fuck is THAT." Him being a thug and only hearing rap all day, this was new to him. He bought a copy the next day.
It has something for everyone.
btw...the Spawn Animated series from HBO a couple years back....the ending credits. find it. :)

Aphex Twin, in all of his guises (AFX, Caustic Window...) has always amazed me with his aural textures and his talent at making truly intelligent music.

This is most decidedly true for SAW II, ambient at its spooky best (this is true ambient, very little percussion, if any, is used on these tracks). It starts off with "Cliffs", where you genuinely feel like your in the Rockies in the blazing sun, staring out over the Grand Canyon. That leads into "Radiator", both claustrophobic and wide-open with its bell-harmonies.

"Blue Calx", the only track that has a definite name, is by far the best track on the album; haunting synth-strings over a very simple time-keeping rhythm; simply amazing.

This is truly 21st century classical music; never once does this album give away that it is, in fact, an electronic album.

Definite highlights include 1:1 ("Cliffs"), 1:2("Radiator"), 1:3("Rhubarb"-absolutely beautiful), 1:9("Tree - a piece of music you only thought you'd hear in your nightmares), Blue Calx, 2:2("Parallel Stripes"), and 2:8("Lichen").

An ABSOLUTE must-have!

SAW2 is excellent sleeping music. A lot of people will probably shun it out because it is true beatless ambient music (contrary to SAW85-92) and because of how lengthy and reptitive the tracks are. The album can envoke lots of different moods and emotions, tracks like "Rhubarb" and "White Blur 1" envoke a feeling of euphoria, where as other tracks sound like a melodic horror movie soundtrack.

This is a massive dissapointment after "Vol 1" and in my opinion one of the weakest Aphex releases, there is definately no need for this to be a double CD. Anyone expecting more of the variety of "Ambient" tracks on Vol 1 will be sorely dissapointed, this set consists mostly of minor low key drones which although interesting to begin with soon become monotonous and unimaginative and I very rarely managed the enthusiasm to listen to CD2. It is Ambient in the original sense of the word i.e. Background sound, I expected more from Mr James. I would love to see him do a Vol 3 more in the spirit of Vol 1, his experiments with Satie style piano compositions on Drukqs indicate that it could be a much more satisfying addition to the "Ambient Works" series.

Quite simply put, the greatest electronic CD that I own, and quite possibly in the top ten over all (this is battling with the likes of Mozart and Bach, mind you.) Not only is this the CD that introduced me to Aphex Twin, it is the CD that launched me into a world of experimemtal, ambient, and IDM sounds. Every once in a while you get something that changes your life, and I can honestly say this changed my life -- and it continues to do so, nearly a decade later. I've listened to this one so many times, sometimes all day long on loop. There isn't a single song that gets old for me.

Another thing is that it does not feel dated, despite using equipment and techniques that are now inferior -- it is almost as if the hissing and sometimes marred samples were all meant to be that way. Ambient Works I has not aged so well, unfortunately. Part of it has to do with the utter atmospheric quality of the tracks. Some of them seem more akin to forgotten wind chimes on a depression era porch out in the middle of Kansas. There isn't ever a feeling that this is electronic, even though it plainly is.

There is no "right" way to listen to this music. I've listened to it in the background with my parents while discussing philosophy; In a hot bath with flickering candles; in the wee hours of the morning writing software; weeping in bed; painting; softly; so loud the walls shake; sitting on the porch; cooking food; making love -- I've done it all, and never has it felt out place. It taints whatever you are doing and enhances it. It is brain food. My best artistic inspirations have unfolded during some of its darkest tracks.

It will creep you out. You'll find yourself madly humming its non-sense sonic riddles during the day. It's ironic, the reason I diverged from my prior listening tastes into the word it opened up was to find more music like it. I've found a lot of stuff I really love as a result -- but I have yet to this day found anything like SAW2, and I doubt I ever will. It used to depress me, but now I don't mind. The original craving for more has been fulfilled by the timeless quality it provides.

Another classic from the Aphex Twin.. I think his best musical period was between 1992 and 1995. At that time his music was very special and mystical. Selected Ambient Works II was the most mystical of all his records and i think one of his best. Music that you have never heard before in that time.. It's like the music on this album is made by an alien lifeform.
Very beautiful, intelligent and dark at the same time and not from this world..

Sipmle yet complicated, happy yet sad...Ambient works Vol.2 absorbds every emotion and can cater for most dreams and visions that can occur when listening to this sort of stuff. In simple terms it can either scare the sh*t from you...or take you to the next level !

Electronic lullabys. There are some really haunting melodies on this one with just the odd uncomfortable sounding track to make sure you're still awake. Highly recommended.

To add a new dimension to this album, play any 2 tracks together (using Turntables or 2 winamps or something) and prepare yourself for amazing results.

This is simply the best cd I own. If there was ever an album that Richard D. James could call his masterpiece, I definitely think this is it.
Each piece exists in its own personal universe, some are very strange and remind one of Alice in Wonderland, and some are very dark and remind one of Hell.
There are a few pieces that, in my mind, do not work and are simply "filler" tracks, but the ones that do work make all other music obsolete. It is simply the most beautiful music I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
(Best tracks: 1:1, 1:3, 2:1, 2:2, 2:8, 2:12)
Buy this if you don't own it already.

The sound of electric lights humming away in a morgue at 4am mixed with various hums, whistles and parp noises to produce the perfect soundscape for anybody who finds comedowns a nightmare and has to try and get a few hours kip or go mad.

But seriously, this is probably one of the more coherant albums put together by Richard D. James and although nothing more than a (challenging) collection of soundscapes it does provide a stunning collection of tracks that can be enjoyed by anyone with an open mind and doesn't stray too far into 'total wierd out territory' that other Aphex Twin releases are prone to do.

I cannot recommend this enough - 21st century classical, experimental chilled stuff and deserves a place in everyone's collection.