BRIAN ENO

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NO PUSSYFOOTING (1973)

released by Fripp/Eno

(reviewed by Robert Grazer)

HIGH POINTS: The Heavenly Music Corporation.  LOW POINTS: None.

So early in the 70s, even before Eno’s first solo album, he teams up with none other than Robert Fripp of King Crimson to create an ambient record containing two side-long tracks. Now, I might be wrong in assuming that this was the first ambient Eno album, but if it was, he sure got off to a great start. Forty minutes on non-musical adventure and relaxation, I love it. All sorts of weird sounds going on, and quite frankly I’m not entirely sure how they do all of the effects here, but what does that matter? It sounds real good. And I've actually been surprised how much I've been listening to this thing lately. It seems like I've been putting it on more than most of my other albums. Whether or not this is true I’m not sure, because I usually use this album to help me drift off to sleep or simply to relax rather than to listen to, but that’s what it’s here for.

At least, I've been listening to “The Heavenly Music Corporation” a lot. Such a peaceful, relaxing see of synth and guitar. Actually I've noticed that the tone Fripp uses sounds sort of like the one he takes out in “Prince Rupert’s Lament,” my favorite section of "Lizard,” my favorite King Crimson song. Whether or not this is just some KC thing that I’m not familiar with (as there is still plenty of King Crimson I haven't yet gotten) I’m not sure, but listening to the beautiful while of the guitar for 21 minutes becomes so peaceful and calm. I love it. A lot. Hell, on the whole I'd say that “The Heavenly Music Corporation” is even better than Thursday Afternoon, which really says something, since few records have absorbed me quite the same way as that one.

Unfortunately “Swastika Girls,” while not bad, is far less memorable than side one. It’s much more dissonant, less peaceful, less structured. Not something that I can easily get used to. And not something I can get used to or lose myself in. Therefore it defeats the purpose on ambient music, and even with such a great first side I have to take points off. Still, though, it is an interesting listen, one that does manage to keep me more or less amused when I put it on, but not quite amusing enough for me to put it in half as much as I do side one.

No worry, though, No Pussyfooting is worth it even if only for “The Heavenly Music Corporation.” That’s such a great song there. If you can even call it a song. Don’t be scared away because this isn't music. It’s an amazing look into ambient sound, and certainly worth the fifty cents I paid for it. It makes me want to look even deeper into Eno’s ambient work. Maybe you will too. But I'd still get it after Thursday Afternoon, just because that one is an even more extreme look at Eno’s ambient side.

OVERALL RATING: 7

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HERE COME THE WARM JETS (1974)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Baby's On Fire, Dead Finks Don't Talk, Cindy Tells Me, On Some Faraway Beach, Needles In The Camel's Eye.  LOW POINTS: Blank Frank.

Although he had collaborated with Robert Fripp on No Pussyfooting on a mostly ambient album just a few months earlier, it was only with this album that Brian Eno fully established himself as a solo artist.  But what a strange album to 'establish' yourself with.  If I had to pin down the actual style, Eno is trying to go for here, it would probably be something like experimental glam rock or something like that.  But I really don't know - there are instances where the sound is driven by loud, charging guitars, piano melodies, and really weird, frequently hilarious characterizations in the lyrics, but there's so much more to the sound than just that.  Just listen to the bizarre way he manipulates the instruments to get odd sounds and tones out of them. Add to that the clear instances of quirky pop songwriting, other tracks that are meant more as repetitive mood pieces, and you've got yourself something extremely interesting going on here.

Seriously, I'm at a loss to even really nail down the sound here, but whatever it is, it's excellent stuff, especially since Eno's primary talents - creating great melodies and moving the listener with extremely well-placed chord sequences - are still here in abundance.  Even the material in a less complex vein, like the opening "Needle In The Camel's Eye", manage to truly captivate - this one in particular, despite the vocals being quite buried in the mix, has a simply breathtaking anthemic tone, thanks to the simple, but really, really engagingly powerful, guitar riff and infectious melody.  The closing title track is also deceptively simple, based on just a couple repeating riffs, with vocals not even coming in until close to the third minute of the song, but it's cool anyway.  Although he doesn't actually sing it, I can never resist yelling out 'here cooooome the warm jets...' followed by assorted, completely random, lyrics to the distinct main melody while listening to it.  And the idea of having the drums sounding like they're playing a completely different song than the rest of the instruments is strangely effective.

And there's also neat quirky pop masterpieces here, too!  Especially "Cindy Tells Me", a song kind of in the same vein as The Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning", with a gorgeous little charm in the piano pop melody and backing harmonies.  And that 'some of them lose...' refrain (with the weird echoey guitar noises in the background) really gets to me.  Just a beautiful tune. And to a slightly lesser extent, so is "Some Of Them Are Old", a fine mix of dreamy pop in the sung parts with atmospheric slide guitar and other assorted noises in the lengthy instrumental middle.  As for "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch", now that one's just oddly catchy - the glam rock-ish melody is one of the more infectious things on the album, plus it's complemented well by some humorously exaggerated vocal tones (especially at the chorus - 'you have to make the choice between the paw-paw negro blowtorch and meeeeeeEEEEEE...') and some odd synth sounds in the middle.

The more 'out there' side of the album is a little more uneven, especially the Fripp collaboration "Blank Frank", which is definitely my least favorite song here.  Not that it's awful, as it has a somewhat catchy rhythm, but the melody isn't very attractive, and I just don't like the attempts at making it even more ugly than it is with noisemaking in the middle.  On a similar note, "Driving Me Backwards" creates a bit of an unattractive effect with its' slooooow and repetitive two note piano melody and drawn out singing.  If the main vocal melody to the song didn't get under my skin so much, I'd be really annoyed, but fortunately, I have to admit the song's good. And thankfully, this experimentation does produce my favorite here in "Baby's On Fire", which might seem a little bleh at first, but once you get used to it, this is a really interesting song.  I personally love the almost futuristic atmosphere it has, plus the way Eno's exaggerated vocal approach and lyrics that actually take the song's title literally merge with it.  And the bulk of it is taken up by a crazy but fully appropriate and perfectly breathtaking Fripp solo, or at least I'm assuming it's Fripp.  It rules, whoever's playing it.

Of course, Eno's more laid back side isn't completely unrepresented here.  "On Some Faraway Beach", the one song on here probably constructed as a simple mood piece, driven by a couple very simple piano and synth melodies and an extremely underproduced sound that really manages to work in creating an otherwordly mood (this even before the vocals and backing harmonies come in).  And finally, did I mention how much I love "Dead Finks Don't Talk" yet? That one's probably the best combination of the odd and more accessible sides of this album - the smoothly brilliant piano line that it's based on allows for Eno to become somewhat theatrical in his almost spoken-word style delivery of the strange lyrics (particularly the hilarious 'oh you headless chicken...' passage).  There's also such neat subtleties as the goofy 'ah ah ah ah ah's right before the guitar solo and the 'deep-voiced' spoken introduction to the third verse.  Oh, and that 'I failed both tests...' bridge melody?  Damn, now that's a great uptempo hook right there.  Quite a few intriguing moments in this song for sure, and a lot of the album's full of cool stuff like this.  An experimental, yet oddly accessible, near-masterpiece.

OVERALL RATING: 9

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TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN (BY STRATEGY) (1974)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: The True Wheel, Burning Airlines Give You So Much More, Third Uncle.  LOW POINTS: None.

I have to admit - the first time I put this album on, it was a very underwhelming, disappointing experience coming off of Here Come The Warm Jets that almost put me to sleep in several places.  The big problem with the first impression of the album is this - as compared to the previous album's load of catchy hooks and really unexplainable sound, there's only like, three, maybe four immediately memorable melodies on the entire thing, and the overall tone really isn't all that intriguing at first.  When the songs are midtempo, they seem almost routine.  When they're slow, they seem drawn out and boring.  When they're fast (which is admittedly rare), they seem overly repetitive.  But luckily, repeated listenings to this effort bring out more neat melodies as well as integral nuances in the songs that seemed almost unnoticeable before.  So it does turn out there are a good amount of interesting twists and experiments here - they're just not as immediate.

I'm particularly looking at the stretch of those last four songs on side one as something that really might not grab at first.  All of them are over five minutes long, and all appear to be a little underdeveloped and a bit hard to attach distinctive ideas to once you're done listening.  For instance, "The Great Pretender" almost goes out of its' way to be a bit ugly with its' textures and overly lethargic with its' tempo (plus the inappropriate ending), but once the actual melody and flow to it grabs you, it's all of a sudden a neat song.  Then you might notice how engaging the slow marching melody of "Back In Judy's Jungle" can be once it sticks in your head (I particularly love the guitar breaks after the 'and this is the sound that they heard...' line), and how much singable power "Mother Whale Eyeless" has with its' dynamic melodies in spite of being a little overlong and sometimes boringly midtempo.  And "The Fat Lady Of Linbourg" has a slow, slightly doomy vibe with appropriate horn breaks that works.

But what stuff on here does have the potential to immediately attract?  Well, there are two songs on here in particular that strike me as the most memorable and fun, and also the most well-written as a whole.  The opening "Burning Airlines Give You So Much More" is probably by far the most accessible, as it's got an equally awesome majestic guitar riff and first rate melody, plus the dreamy chorus is certainly the most gorgeous moment here.  There's also the incredibly catchy pop singalong "The True Wheel", which alternates between a chorus of backing vocalists singing 'we are the 801 / we are the central shock' and Eno beginning each verse to a breathtaking uptempo effect, and there are a couple other engaging melodies here as well (the 'uh oh...' bits) and a really neat one-note repeating riff later on.  These dynamics make it probably my favorite song on the album, but between these two, it's a great competition.

Oh, and there's one more song that turns out to be a big highlight in the end - "Third Uncle" might not seem like much at first with its' repetitive guitar line and melody, but come closer to it, and it'll get you going.  Both those features (and the soloing throughout) are insanely addictive, and realize how ahead of its' time the song actually is - doesn't it sound almost exactly like something that would come out of the New Wave scene?  "China My China" also uses minimalism effectively, with essentially another one note riff over a catchy melody, and while it's nothing that great, it does its' job well, and the important thing is that it has a typewriter solo over dissonant guitar backing, which is easily the coolest part of the song.  The delicate lullaby tones of "Put A Straw Under Baby" also create a wonderful diversion from the rest, and the closing title track even points the way to a more 'ambient' future, with its' relaxing atmosphere and repeating chanting, even if this particular effort in the area is less moving and hypnotizing than future work.  Fine stuff as a whole, and not a truly weak song on here.  Sure, there's only a couple truly excellent ones, and the pace of side one may get a bit tiring, but otherwise, this is another strong Eno album.  If you don't shut it off permanently after the first listen, that is.

OVERALL RATING: 8

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ANOTHER GREEN WORLD (1975)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Golden Hours, St. Elmo's Fire, The Big Ship, In Dark Trees, Becalmed, Everything Merges With The Night, I'll Come Running.  LOW POINTS: None.

To put it quite simply, this is one of those albums whose musical content really lives up to its' title.  Another Green World is considered to be one of Brian Eno's defining moments and finest works, and this is something I can't disagree with at all.  The general underlying concept here is that the album is meant to be a 41 minute escape to the peacefulness of nature - the 'other' green world -  from the cold-hearted, greedy reality of the outside one, at least from my understanding.  This is conveyed by a combination of nine extremely relaxing instrumentals portraying the atmosphere of the song title in question through the use of ambient synths, electronic elements, and understated electric guitar (sometimes played by Robert Fripp), which really make up the meat  of the album, and five 'pop' oriented tunes, most of which have an unspeakably gorgeous, melodic quality about them.

Despite the presence of the poppier songs on here, though, this is a listening experience for a really quiet area (preferably an isolated one) meant to be taken in one listen straight through in order to be able to experience the entire journey.  And what an overwhelmingly breathtaking one it is, beginning with the opening "Sky Saw".  Even though it may be presented as one of the 'pop' songs on here, the overwhelming features are the instrumentation and atmosphere rather than the vocal melody - it really conveys a majestic and yet somewhat foreboding aura in its' 'chain-saw' like guitar part that almost feels like it's scraping the clouds in the process (there's also an abundance of neat bass work too).  It's also fascinating how the closer "Spirits Drifting" ends the album on a note that's far removed from the opening track's slight ominousness, as it's about the calmest thing on here, working perfectly as great backing music.

In between those two tracks, however, are where the real meat of the album lies.  It may be dominated by the atmospheric instrumentals, but I'll tell you what, these are some of the most gorgeous and well constructed ones I've ever heard.  "The Big Ship" is probably my favorite of these, with an incredible slow-moving main theme played on synthesizer that manages to not only perfectly convey its' title, but make its' point known through the amazingly moving chord sequences.  "In Dark Trees" is a close second, though, as it creates a dark yet eerily beautiful vibe so the listener can easily get lost in a forest.  The title track's construction is also pretty brilliant - it may be a little short, but that simple electric guitar part accented by organ and piano makes for a perfect side closer, and "Becalmed" just floors me in the way it has a depressing and cold piano sound, yet it's strangely uplifting, relaxing and beautiful at once in its' atmospheric construction.

The other instrumentals aren't quite as shattering as the ones I just mentioned, but that's mostly because their themes aren't as memorable - they're still quite interesting and relaxing while they're on.  Of the rest, the interlude piece "Over Fire Island" probably stands out the most as a fabulous combination of fast-moving fretless bass work, synths and strange noises.  "Sombre Reptiles" has a strange, indescribable atmosphere generated by guitar and peruvian percussion, electric elements and unnatural sounds, "Little Fishes" is almost funny in how its' 'underwater' vibe sounds disjointed instrumentally (between the piano, organ and strange noises) in a neat way, and "Zawinul/Lava" is just a nice piece of slowly building percussion, bass and piano.

But enough about the instrumentals (as great as they are) - the other four 'pop' tunes (besides "Sky Saw") are all among Eno's best.  On the surface, "Golden Hours" may have fairly meaningless lyrics, but you wouldn't know it from the vibe of the song - way the spare 'choppy' organ, guitar (courtesy of Eno and Fripp) and viola sound (courtesy of John Cale) combines for a totally breathtaking melody produces a true masterpiece that's probably my favorite on here.  There's also something about Eno's vocal tone that really makes it come alive.  And on the other side of things, on "I'll Come Running", it's completely funny and genius how his repetition of the line 'I'll come running to tie your shoe...' (an utterly stupid lyric by itself) becomes thoroughly addictive.  Plus, the piano and vocal melodies both rule mercilessly in their beauty and memorability, especially the fast one right before the refrain ('ah ha, one day you'll see these dreams will pull you through my door...')

Another one of my absolute favorites in this vein is "St. Elmo's Fire", probably the most gorgeous pop-oriented piece on here, especially with both Fripp and Eno's awesome guitar work (particularly the soloing!), the quirky synth/piano-led instrumentation in the verse, and of course, the first-rate verse melody and awesome harmonized chorus ('in the cooooooooool August moooooon....').  I also love the acoustic/piano beauty of "Everything Merges With The Night", the most understated song on here, and another beautifully meaningless one.  Incredible melodies, and I can hardly think of a more appropriate way to end the vocal portion of the album.  Basically, this may be the most perfect example of background music merged with pop that I've ever heard - some of it might not be too striking at first (there are a few pieces I initially found hardly memorable at all), but if you're one of those listeners who's always listening for the most moving chord sequences and moods, Another Green World is a quintessential album in that respect, and an absolute classic.

* OVERALL RATING: 10 *

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DISCREET MUSIC (1975)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Fullness Of Wind (maybe).  LOW POINTS: no one "song" specifically, but the boredom is really apparent throughout.

Ah, now this is some hardcore ambient shit.  So hardcore, in fact, that I'm really, really at a loss as to actually review this.  Another Green World may have suggested said style in its' numerous instrumentals, but on here, that kind of approach is taken to the extreme.  It's probably even extreme enough for me to call it Eno's first pure ambient work as a solo artist - basically, what we have here is thirty minutes of background music that's only a slight notch above silence in terms of actual progression and atmosphere (the title track), and a whole side dedicated to three atmospheric variations of a classical piece (Pachelbel's "Canon in D Major")  Quite honestly, this is probably the first album I've ever heard that, after at least four listens, I still have no clue how to rate, and everyone knows album ratings are meaningless anyway.  This one, though, is almost like actually rating noises made around the house.  I'm dead serious.

See, while playing in the background (duh, that's what background music is for), this stuff will work fine.  Also, if you listen to the 'epic' that is the title track on headphones without even really paying attention to it, it creates quite a nice effect.  But if you give it your full attention and try to rate it objectively, it seems like one of the most boring and pointless things ever.  What does it sound like?  Simple.  Some atmospheric three note keyboard melody played verrrrrrrrrry slooooooooooooooowly for over a half hour with little or no variation on the main theme.  Are you convinced of its' main purpose yet?  Good, because not concentrating on it is the only way I can listen to it, considering if I try to pay attention, it's difficult for me not to think of what a great multi-part epic could accomplish in the same time frame.  So the first side of the album is one big peaceful nothing.  What am I supposed to rate it - a 5?  A 2?  A 10?  I'm still lost.

And I would be really scratching my head if the following side didn't accomplish anything.  Fortunately, the classical variations, while taking the same kind of nondescript repetitive atmospheric approach as before, at least have more beauty in them.  Particularly the first one, "Fullness Of Wind" - he gets such a majestic, expansive production sound for that beautiful repeating orchestral melody that it's nearly worth the entire 9:57 or so that it runs.  It really brings to mind vivid pictures of the sky, and if it were less overlong and more developed, maybe it could have been a classic.  "French Catalogues" takes a more elegant and pleasant approach to the style (particularly in the intro) and "Brutal Ardour" is... pretty much more of the same kind of stuff that sounds pleasant but just..... drifts... away.  Really, this album is more of a side experiment than a real followup to Another Green World (even if it was released just one month after), so you shouldn't treat it by that same standard.  A decent, relaxing soundtrack, but really nothing more.  Remember: the rating really is pointless here.  In this situation, it's an approximate guess.

OVERALL RATING: 6

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BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE (1978)

(reviewed by Nick Karn)

HIGH POINTS: Julie With..., Here He Comes, Kurt's Rejoinder, By This River, Backwater.  LOW POINTS: None.

Another Green World might have shown Eno's ambient and pop sides at the height of their powers, but it was here that he arguably achieved a perfectly flowing balance between the two, with more emphasis on the latter side's basic song structures.  Of course, this hardly means Before And After Science is commercial in the least, since this is Brian Eno we're talking about here.  In fact, the listening experience as a whole is dominated by one of the most interesting vibes I've ever heard on an album - the first half predominately features uptempo numbers in which a strange mix of instruments play off the melodies and lyrics in a manner that truly creates the feeling of some scientific genius at work in his lab putting these pieces together.  The second half, meanwhile, is considerably lighter, but it still manages to create a unique, timeless vibe to its' mood in completely different ways.

The first three tracks on here in particular have very little to do with the basic perception of what Eno's music is like.  Take the opener "No One Receiving": this is essentially an almost danceable, funkish number that would be pretty ordinary except its' distinguished by excellent melody (I particularly like the 'in these metal waaaaaaays...' chorus), futuristic lyrics, loud and 'echoing' synthesized percussion in the verse, and synths.  "Backwater" is by far the closest to upbeat pop of the set, but Eno still gives it great quirks and interesting as hell musical ideas to make it far from conventional.  This one is pretty much an upbeat piano pop song embellished by some guitar, a brass section(!), and really really clever lyrics. "Kurt's Rejoinder" is even more of an odd curiousity, as its' fascinating groove that begins with analogue delay bass interplays off of one of the most wildly entertaining and unforgettable fast melodies known to man - the constant movement of the song is almost like the musical equivalent of a ball wildly bouncing off severall walls at high speed.  It's really neat!

"Energy Fools The Magician", though, probably has more to do with the typical Eno sound (if he actually has one, that is), as it's a more relaxing, peaceful instrumental with a majestically beautiful synth part as its' most memorable feature, plus some excellent basslines here and there. Maybe it's a prelude to the atmosphere on the second side?  But in any case, it's appropriately followed by the craziest number on the whole album in "King's Lead Hat", with all sorts weird metallic sounds popping out to go along with loud clattering rhythms.  The effect is musically quite intriguing - the chorus might be just a little bit ugly in its' presentation, but no matter, the melody is again bizarre but yet extremely catchy, and the lyrics... well I'm not sure about them.  The song title is supposed to be an anagram of "Talking Heads", though, whatever direct references Eno makes to them is anyone's guess.  Good stuff.

After that weird entry, we hit the calm second side with the considerably poppy "Here He Comes", one of my absolute favorites here.  The vocal melody ('here he comes... the boy who tried to vanish...') is one of the most striking moments on the whole album, and the atmosphere of the song is just gorgeously dreamy, from the subtle guitar lines to the lyrics, plus the instrumental breaks are perfectly constructed to take your breath away, as if you're slowly flying over a high mountain while listening to it.  The positively haunting "Julie With..." is even better, with extremely eerie and hypnotizing moog and guitar touches in the intro and opening verses.  It doesn't hurt that the lyrical images are awesomely intriguing as well (particularly the opening 'I am on an open sea, just drifting ...' verse).  The way it shifts from a more heavenly sounding, uplifting chorus gives it an incredible contrast (love that guitar line that comes right after it, too), yet it still manages to flow seamlessly into the verse.

By this time, the album really relaxes into quieter mode, and there's one more gem within this stretch in "By This River", a collaboration with Achim Roedelius and and Mobi Moebius.  It's definitely the least complex song on the album, as it mostly builds its atmosphere and embellishments and one piano line, but what a beautiful and relaxing one it is, especially when it's countered with an equally beautiful vocal performance and melody.  As for the last two tracks, neither "Through Hollow Lands" or "Spider And I" captivate me as much as I'd like, but the former instrumental one is actually quite a pleasurable listening experience while it's on in its' atmospheric beauty despite being unmemorable in the long run, and even though the melody isn't as strong as the others, "Spider" has an interesting early Floyd-ish vibe in the vocal intonations Eno pulls off here (Syd Barrett come back from the dead?) to go along with playful lyrics and mandatory majestic keyboards.

So what's my final take on the album?  Well, this is a pretty special, one-of-a-kind experience in terms of sound, a seamless combination of pop and ambient elements like nothing else Eno's attempted before or since, with several shattering moments to be found within.  Pretty damn close to being an all-time classic as one of the finest moments of the New Wave era - probably the only reason I don't give it the full 10 is that it doesn't have quite as many overwhelmingly resonant moments as his previous masterpiece, even though the overall melodic quality of it is probably superior by just a bit.  Nevertheless, even if the overall masterful flow and atmosphere of Another Green World moves me a bit more than this one, be sure to get both, as they are extremely recommendable and unique gems in popular music.

OVERALL RATING: 9.5

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THURSDAY AFTERNOON (1984)

(reviewed by Robert Grazer)

HIGH POINTS: Thursday Afternoon.  LOW POINTS: None.

Forget everything you've heard about this album (other than it's 61 minutes of mostly random, but pleasant piano notes), because it probably isn't true. Why do I say this? Because Thursday Afternoon is simply the best album ever made. Er, nah, it's not, but I was incredibly surprised by how good this, supposedly Eno's ambient masterpiece, which people will still call nothing but boring, really is. It isn't boring at all if you use it as background music, or as a great piece to go to sleep to, or even just sit back and relax. Well, yeah, if you want slow relaxing background music you might want to rush out and purchase an Opeth album (which, of course, can good for more than just background music), but this is mighty good for it as well.

I must admit, though, I wasn't able to make it through the whole thing the first time I tried. I played it for a few minutes, got bored, skipped to twenty minutes in, saw that it was the same thing, skipped to 50 minutes in, same thing. It isn't hard to dismiss this as nothing different that the first couple minutes of King Crimson's infamous "Moonchild" jam. But I didn't see it the right way at first. This is supposed to be a painting of sound, an illustration of a Thursday afternoon. It kinda feels like a flashback in a movie, or a dream. A peaceful dream. That's what it's supposed to do. And that's what Thursday Afternoon does. And that's why I like it. It's interesting how well random notes on an electric piano with a steady background synths can sound. And 61 minutes may not seem so long after all.

It goes without saying that this album isn't for everyone. Over an hour of what most may call 'ambient crap' can be unlistenable if you're not in the right mood. This can (and probably will) be an extremely tedious experience for those who are just seeking quick pop songs. Those are certainly good, yes, but make room for everything from The Beatles to this. Make sure that you're in the right mood, and take this piece quietly. It's not really rock, and it's not really music, but it is really good, enough to earn a low 8 (or an extremely high 7). Make the decision whether you want to try this out or not. It may be well worth your effort. And if all that doesn't work get The Master And The Musician instead.

OVERALL RATING: 8

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WRONG WAY UP (1993)

released by Brian Eno and John Cale

(reviewed by Joe Friesen)

I'll admit right off that I'm just a total whore for Brian Eno pop. Most people talk about him as an ambient innovator and a great producer... sure, I like his freaky instrumental ambient stuff, and without his studio wizardry, bands like Devo, The Talking Heads and U2 might never have reached the great artistic heights they did. I appreciate those sides of him, but personally, what makes Eno one of my favorite artists is his infallible rock instincts. Trouble is, after he became enamored with the ideas and concepts of ambient music, he pretty much decided he was going to be working in that direction for the rest of his career, eschewing the type of pop songwriting that made his first albums classics. I plowed through his rockin' albums, fell in love with them, and kinda felt sad; yeah, 30 years and roughly seven hundred wildly experimental albums are nice, but jeez, just four proper rock records? I know I'm a cheap whore for my bourgeois rock music and it goes against your artistic instincts, but couldn't ya just throw me a bone, man?

Haha, luckily for me, I ran across this little anomaly, an album most people tend to overlook. Thirteen years and eighty-three thousand experimental albums after Before And After Science, Eno decided to hook up with fellow mad genius John Cale, and together they put together this modest little collection of ten rock ditties, and for guys like me that live for Eno's songwriting and Cale's wonderful viola playing, this is like sweet sweet mana from heaven. Albums like hursday Afternoon and Music For Airports are nice and all, sure, but I don't think they can be seriously regarded as great music. This stuff, on the other hand, is overflowing with the kind of ethereal energy that made his first few albums so great, and that those somewhat lifeless later albums lacked.

And, lucky for me, the humble listener, Eno's songwriting skills haven't atrophied one tiny bit since his glory days. Of course it's possible that they have, and the real songwriting mastermind behind the album is John Cale, but I really don't buy that. Cale was always more of a sonic trailblazer and a glorious viola player and was never a truly great songwriter--though he has penned some damn fine tunes in his time... "Dead or Alive" makes me shiver ever time. And stuff like "Spinning Away" and "Empty Frame" sound too much like classic Eno. Speaking of "Spinning Away"...

WHAT THE HELL!!? YOU GUYS CAN WRITE A SONG THAT UNSPEAKABLY GORGEOUS AND YOU GUYS ARE WASTING YOUR TIME WITH CRAP LIKE Ambient 4: On Land AND Words for the Dying?!! (again, not that there's anything wrong with that!) Quite seriously, that song evokes the kind of atmosphere Eno hasn't come within miles of since "Spider & I" and "St. Elmo's Fire", and I think it can compete with "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Here Come the Warm Jets" for the title of Best Eno Song EVAR, man. Really, c'mon, if you're reading this, it's time to stop drinking in the subtle nuance of my sloppy prose, get yer ass on Soulseek, look up "Eno Spinning Away", download the song, get some headphones, a soda, find a good comfy chair, close your eyes, and let Eno kick your ass like he hasn't done since Another Green World. Yeah, I'm overselling it, but that's what good music critics do!

And the rest of the album ain't to shabby, either! Okay, okay, some of the more downbeat stuff does drag a bit, not every song on the album is an indisputable masterpiece, but this is Brian Eno. Right after this he's going to record about ninety-six-and-a-half billion ambient albums; he doesn't do this stuff very often, so you gotta take what you can get. And, really, I've no room to complain, because the material is all pretty top-notch. "Lay My Love" is pretty, "Been There Done That" and "Empty Frame" are catchy and fun, "Cordoba" is melancholy and sweet. The instrumentation is also pretty synth-and-drum machine-80's-pop stuff, but it's just about the coolest 80's pop soundin' album this side of Peter Gabriel, which is just fine with me. This is pretty much the last we'll be hearing from Brian Eno the rocker, as he'll revert back to ambient goofball right after this. So I say, godspeed senor Brian Peter George St. Baptiste de la Salle Eno, we hardly knew ye.

OVERALL RATING: 9

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