BRIAN ENO
Back to the main page

Comment using:
[email protected]
(Specify what name or how much of it you want to see appear, specify what you are commenting about)


Albums reviewed:
1975 - Another Green World (10)
1977 - Before and After Science (10-)

One of the "most perfect" records of all time, and certainly one that ranks among my all time favourite pieces of music; 'Another Green World' is one of those very few albums that transcends its era, its genre, and everything that was around or involved with it. It was 1975, it could have been 2025; this is music that hits something in the soul that is universal, and it does so to an extent I had never experienced before. Take 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' for instance, this is an album I often say is my favourite one although it sure gets competition from 'Another Green World', well 'Lamb''s music is quite nested into its times, it is Peter Gabriel's concepts and folly that are out of time. Another one of my "up there" albums, Peter Gabriel's 'III' ('Melt'), manages to have an effect similar to 'Another Green World' because of the introspection aspect and slick sound it has. But Brian Eno's album sounds SO fresh, even 30 years after. You often say "it could have been released today", well 'Another Green World' takes that statement and makes it 110% true.

Seriously, this isn't rock music, it isn't ambient music, what is it? It IS unique, and for once, the word UNIQUE really makes sense. The first two tracks, while they are very interesting in their own right, are sort of out of tune with everything that comes after. They have Phil Collins on drums, and Percy Jones on bass; this is where fusion band Brand X formed! For me, the trip starts with the magnificent St. Elmo's Fire. This steady song has an incredibly addictive chorus, but it is Robert Fripp's electric guitar solo that brings it up to heaven. Eno ordered Fripp to imitate the randomness of a St. Elmo's Fire... You just hear the guitar buzz growing in the background after the great line "and we saw St. Elmo's Fire spitting ions in the ether..." and it STARTS, it is the most melodic randomness I've ever heard, going up and down and up and down, jumping everywhere, but grabbing your heart... And you think it's over, but it kicks in again. Beautiful solid and simple piano chords, orgasmic guitar solo, best chorus ever? You've got one of the best songs in existence. Fripp is also featured on Golden Hours, showcasing something else of his guitarist personality; quiet complexity. I've always felt like the album was a bit of a trip starting in a USA desert (with St. Elmo's Fire) and going south through Central and South America (In Dark Trees), then taking a ship on the west coast and going in the pacific (The Big Ship). The rest was the exploration of various lost islands in the Pacific where you behold the greatest sunsets and go through the best feeling of introspection possible. Of course, everyone mentions this, but the music describes the song titles to an extent that is unexplainable. Brian Eno was the master of sound, he knew exactly how a certain sonic wave pattern vibrated in our hearts, and 'Another Green World' hits your right "there". You'll see the reptiles, the forest... especially the SHIP. The Big Ship is the most stunning sonic painting ever. You can just see it riding, either a wooden Christopher Columbus ship or a big metal carrier, depending on you, but it's there, through the slightly wavy sea, in the lowering sun, steadily advancing, and the track fades out as it faded in, the ship still goes on. Achingly gorgeous, I tell you. Another track that almost scares me because of the way it explores my soul is Becalmed, it takes me on a beach on a virgin island somewhere, again, with a lowering sun, a warm breeze and leaves singing in the background. Even the most pop song on there, I'll Come Running, expresses love in a pure honest way through a slightly weird melody (for that album anyway) and it doesn't detract from the general mood of the album.

Brian Eno and his synthesizers have achieved something I can't put into words. It's always impossible to really describe music as well as we'd like to, but in the case of 'Another Green World', it's even MORE IMPOSSIBLE (is that possible?). No, really, buy that album.

Simon Lac, October 1st 2005

 

Another classic among the non-clueless pop/rock music fans... 'Before and After Science' is yet another pioneer album by Eno, the master of sounds. This style of quiet pop music was and probably still is unique to this point. The album is roughly split in two, with the first half representing a more "new wavey" sound, where the link with the Talking Heads can be understood. The second half harkens back to 'Another Green World' albeit in a darker and quieter fashion. The poppier first side is actually danceable and completely psychotic. Just listen to the happy jangly and completely random story of Backwater... "senators in Equador"? Alright! Eno sounds so confident about this complete randomness. King's Lead Hat is sort of similar to Backwater, except it is more "metallic", faster, and yes, psychotic. It is the most obviously New Wave track on here, and by rearranging the letters you get "Talking Heads", with whom Eno was involved. There is a more straightforward almost country-like pop song in the form of Here He Comes, that reminds me of the role that I'll Come Running played on 'Another Green World'.

I'm a bit annoyed at myself for choosing Spider and I as my favourite song, because it is obviously the track that reminds me the most of 'Another Green World'. That doesn't mean that the original danceable/psychotic songs of the first side aren't as worthy. Songs like Kurt's Rejoinder are incredibly complex and well written. It's all tribal and percussive, and the vocal hooks are perfect. But listen to the peaceful mood of Spider and I, and the lyrics about spiders dreaming of sailing away, and knitting tiny webs to catch tiny flies in a world without sound. The lyrics actually make sense here, and the synthesized sounds producing the music are painfully moving. By This River, without lyrics, has a similar calm night feel to it, and so does Julie With..., a gorgeous track from where the descriptor I chose for the album seems to originate.

Brian Eno once again understands the core of the way we perceive sounds in a manner that 99.999% of the population can't. I'm restraining myself, I want to give it the highest mark... However I still slightly prefer 'Another Green World', and 'Before and After Science' doesn't quite have the same "universality" as 'Another Green World'. Still... 'BAAS' is just another album you should put on your TO BUY NOW list (just erase those Pearl Jam albums... yuck, Pearl Jam).

Simon Lac, October 2nd 2005