Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (25.01.2000)

Well, As someone who has followed this marvelous man since hearing his work with David Bowie. Genius, Innovator, Pioneer, This man was, is, and always will be the power behind Electronica.

Eric Benac <benac@voyager.net> (24.05.2002)

i think brian eno was a genius and a great melody composer and an insanely brilliant experimenter and a great producer and a great musical colaborater. notice how all of this is in the past tense? personally, i think anything he did after before and after science that wasn't a collaboration (or production) is crap. who needs 50 ambient albums when one (or none for that matter) will suffice? to me, ambient is the laziest, crappiest form of music you can get. rap even takes more imagination (i can't believe i just gave rap a compliment) and country at least sometimes has melodies. ambient is just ambient, it's nothing. i'll listen to my computer hum, thank you, and save my twenty bucks for a talking head's album or something.

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (30.01.2000)

Can you see why after hearing this Bowie's Heroes is so inevitable. The battle plans were placed on this record for all to hear. Here the synth is no longer a fancy organ or is the studio a simple recording of an actual event, both are used to create the music and to shred and render the sound. The ultimate sacrelige and at such an early stage, remember this is 1973. There really were no computers in the recording studio as of yet, but here is the basic architecure already in place to take over the world. Here is a declaration, not for your enjoyment so much as for your knowledge of what will come. 'Swastika Girls' is also my favorite off this album a cold hard document of the future.

vel yogendra <pungi108@hotmail.com> (09.12.2000)

I like this album alot.When I had the lp; I would adjust the pitch control on my turntable, to make it run slower.On normal speed (33&1/3) I also enjoyed it. It's my favorite Eno album, next to Before And After Science

Eric Benac <benac@voyager.net> (24.05.2002)

original, creative, and groundbreaking? yes, of course. enjoyable, or even good music? of course not!!! i can't really believe anybody thinks this is his best album. it's so totally devoid of anything interesting. it's just the same "waaaah" noise over and over while robert fripp solo's in really stupid ways, and brian does his best to fuck around with those solo's and make them interesting. yes, brian IS THE MASTER OF SOUND and probably always will be (if he ever decided to make music again). but does this make this album worth owning, or even listening to? well, the way i'd do it, is download the two tracks, listen to them once, say "huh, how about that?" and you'll get an idea of where a lot of ambient music came from. okay, you'll get an idea where ALL of ambient music came from (brian). so you'll know who to hate.

David Wheeler <deva@cumbytel.com> (20.10.2002)

To properly appreciate this album, it is helpful (and perhaps even necessary) to listen first to the seminal Steve Recih compositions: "Come Out" and "It's Gonna Rain". Both of these pieces feature a looped vocal that shifts in and out of phase with itself, and in doing so produce a shift in one's mode of listening. It is much like the auditory analogue to looking at Moire patterns, so you hear (eventually) the results of the interferences of the loops rather than the loops themselves. The most important elements of "The Heavenly Music Corporation" require an immersive state of listening to even be perceptible. So-if you are listening for typical content, a melody for example, all you hear is an annoying-as-all-hell mechanical drone. If you accept the drone as a given, to be filtered out by your mind, you start to hear an inner dynamic harmonic structure with much greater melodic interest than the drone itself. This kind of thing has been explored by others (e.g.: Karl Stockhausen with "Stimmung", or Sheila Chandra with "ABoneCroneDrone"). Eno himself has offered the analogy of these two types of musical attention with the way that humans see versus the way a frog sees. We see what stays the same: we tend to form visual identification of (static) objects first, and later identify patterns of dynamic interaction. A frog sees what changes: the river, the ground, the sky are all but invisible-but the moving fly has his undivided perception.

Ward <WhippleW@MWHSE.com> (02.01.2001)

I honestly can't remember if I heard this before or after Music For Airports (I discovered both in 1990, so I suppose it's moot) but this album is what plunged me into Enodom. None of the songs (and that's what they are, and were originally envisioined to sit on the pop charts alongside Wings, Slade and the Carpenters) sound dated today, and there's lots of little nuances in the production that reveal themselves after hundreds of listenings. Hell, trying to decipher the words alone can take years. I consider the first four song albums (this, Tiger Mt., Green World and Science) to be a set; if you have one you need all the others. You may not love them all, but they all rate above-average.

<Rhapsodist912@aol.com> (25.04.2001)

The first Brian Eno song I ever heard, I never heard his music but had heard of him and his respected reputation, was my favorite "Needle In the Camel's Eye" this almost Shakespearean play on the biblical phrase "camel through the eye of a needle." It's just a true, unabashed loud, pop song, let it's got more glam/punk rock in it than anything on Ziggy Stardust. The second track "Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" seemed just strange to me, and I avoided it the first few listens. It turned out to be just a great lyrical song, everything on it is good. "Baby's on Fire" is just too strange, I can appreciate it, and kind of like it, but it's not a sing in the mirror song. Track 4, 'Cindy Tells Me' is just genius, I love it, I'd compare it the most to "Sunday Morning" by the VU. It's just genius. 5th We have "Driving Me Backwards" which is just revolutionary, but not exactly my favorite track on the album. Six is "On Some Faraway Beach" which is a great relaxing song, which takes you in. Like nearly all of Brian's music, you'll start to half-dream/imagine (coincidentallty finding yourself on some faraway beach). "Blank Frank" is the worst track on the album, I can appreciate what he was trying to do there, but I can't stand it. The jury's out on "Dead Finks Don't Talk." I think it's a fine song, but I can't see the genius in it. It's damn relaxing though. Great guitar solo. Real Beatlesque. So is the next track, my favorite song by him (tied him with "Needle in the Camel's Eye") "Some of them Are Old." The slide guitar on it is just...breathtaking some of the best I've ever heard. I can fall asleep listening to it. The final title track is very nice, and you're right it does sound like Amazing Grace. Well anyway, there you have it a work of genius. No mix of words can really express how much I love this album

Oliver Buckel <obuckel@msn.com> (12.06.2003)

There is a great, great single called "Seven Deadly Finns" that was recorded and released concurrently with this album but never included on it (even when they reissued it on CD). Anyone who likes his hyperactive hard-rock/proto-punk songs like "Needles in the Camel's Eye", "Blank Frank", or "Third Uncle" simply must hear this song as soon as possible. It's actually better than a lot of the songs on Here Come the Warm Jets. It sounds like a combination of The Who and The Velvet Underground and it features some of the most clever lyrics he has ever written. Also features a good guitar solo by Phil Manzanera and a "yodeling chorus" at the end.

Lloyd Peppard <peppardl@post.queensu.ca> (27.06.2003)

Wow, this album is great. I mean, I assumed as soon as Eno left Roxy Music he jumped right into some kind of woozy dreamy drwan out synth experiments, even though I'm really not familiar with his later work at all. This is just the impression I got. I always perceived Eno as a new age yuppie in white flannel pants. But when I bough For Your Pleasure I saw him intensely made-up in platform shoes and feathers, and I thought about rethinking my first impressions (And poor Brian... He looked decent back then. But he just went so BALD there, didn't he?).

Fernando Henrique Canto <mustapha@etcom.ufrgs.br> (14.11.2003)

Damn good! This is one of those rare cases of a "weird" and "experimental" album that are, nonetheless, extremelly fun and thrilling without getting pointless halfway through. You know what I mean, don't you? When an album gives up the entertainment value just for the sake of being weird and experimental. Eno doesn't do it! He insists on writing good songs, and he succeeds! They just keep coming! It isn't exactly *catchy*, but it's great. I love 'Baby's On Fire', 'Driving Me Backwards' and 'The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch', which is my bet for best song in the album. Funny lyrics! You know, the "paw paw negro blowtorch" is a person, right? He could set things on fire by breathing on them, or so they said. Perhaps it's his fault that Baby's on fire. Here come the cold jets!

Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (26.05.2000)

This album is really interesting, though I won't hide the fact that my favorite stuff is the pop stuff like "Burning Airlines," "The True Wheel," and "Third Uncle." Well, I guess that last one's only semi-pop, but...ummm....There aren't really any bad songs on this album, to tell you the truth, just ones you kind of sit through and go "Uuuuh..." and even those ones become incredibly cool upon repeated listenings. "Back In Judy's Jungle" for example, and "The Great Pretender"-- both great songs, but it's a bit hard to notice on first listen. I'd give the album a 9.

Fernando Henrique Canto <mustapha@etcom.ufrgs.br> (06.12.2003)

You know what? I think you didn't give this album too much of a chance. I also was underwhelmed the first time I heard it. But just like Here Come The Warm Jets, this album is truly addictive. I just think that the album doesn't have very strong MELODIES, but the songs are so catchy because the WHOLE package is well designed - and these details are way too subtle to be noticed the first time around. 'Burning Airlines Give You So Much More' has GREAT lyrics ("I somehow can't imagine her just planting rice all day"), and 'Back In Judy's Jungle' is... damn, it's just awesome! 'Mother Whale Eyeless', 'The Great Wheel', 'Third Uncle'... strange, great pop songs. 'China My China' has more than the typewriter solo - listen to those twangy, wah-wah laden guitars! 'Put A Straw Under Baby' is quite disturbing in its cuteness, and 'The Great Pretender' is REALLY scary. Did you know that sound effect in the end went on FOREVER in the LP release of the album? It only ended when you took the needle off the disc! Oh, and the title track is absolutely, genuinely gorgeous as well. I wouldn't call this Eno's masterpiece, but I wouldn't say there's only one classic Eno song on here. I give it a 13.

<Breckb8@aol.com> (28.02.2004)

This album changed my life back in 1976; it redefined synth playing, guitar playing -heck, it redefined music entirely for me. I could go on and on about it... One thing kinda bugs me, though: Phil Manzanera doesn't get enough credit for it, if you ask me. Song after song he's wild, inventive, fun -with stunning tone and dynamics- making every single note important- and so often he's only mentioned as a kind of afterthought. sigh...

Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (30.01.2000)

Yeah - I like this album. The instrumentals are all great, fabulous, and whatever other positive words can be used, and the songs with words, while slightly weaker, are still good, my favourite being "St. Elmo's Fire." I'd give it a nine. Honestly, though, I wouldn't give Eno as much praise as you do - his albums are mostly hit or miss, and, as you yourself said, he seems to do best when collaborating with other artists. He's still great, though. "The Big Ship," twenty-five years after it's original release, can still kick the ass of any so-called "techno" artist.

Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (12.07.2000)

This one gave me a bigger surprise than the other Eno albums I own on first listen, because when I saw fourteen tracks on the back cover, I wasn't expecting ten of them to be semi-ambient instrumentals and only four to be pop songs (and still really ambient ones at that). I was also surprised, me being not a huge fan of instrumentals, at how GREAT these all are. They're hard to describe, but they're the kind of instrumentals that sound simplistic on first listen, but soon you realize that you really couldn't play this stuff if you ever tried. These are some gorgeous sonic textures, and though I have no idea how any of them go at the moment (except for "Sombre Reptiles" for some reason) that's not the point with this type of music. This is strictly headphone music, for those dark nights just sitting down and staring into the starry expanse. (As much of a cliche as that just sounded, try it like that-- it's really cool!) As for the four vocal tracks, they're all really good, even if "I'll Come Running" is kind of stupid. "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Golden Hours" are both absolutely amazing, though, and manage to carve a niche inbetween the avant-pop that Eno did on the last album and the sonic textures he'd pursue later. I'd give it a ten, or AT LEAST a high nine.

Mike DeFabio <defab4@earthlink.net> (15.10.2000)

Not bad... not great. I'm not an "ambient" fan at all. I can appreciate the concepts of stuff like Music For Airports and Metal Machine Music and a few of those Sonic Youth albums, but I see no reason why I should pay 15 dollars for something I could just as easily make myself. The thing that saves this album is the fact that Eno hadn't yet gone off the deep end with the whole ambient thing, so the ambient stuff has some interesting melodies and whatnot going on that makes most of the album enjoyable and all of it listenable. Only two things really bother me--one is that "Little Fishes" isn't very good. It could have worked just fine as a pleasant piano solo, but he had to go and pile all these stupid funhouse noises on top and completely ruin the atmosphere. It's okay, though, because it's like a minute and a half long. The other loser is "Becalmed." Lester Bangs didn't like it and neither do I. It sounds exactly like all that stupid Yanni/John Tesh tripe you'll find in the "new age" section. What in blazes does "new age" mean, anyway? Why don't they just call it "boring sappy music that doesn't do anything"? (Hey Mike, read my Music For Films review for that one - G.S.).

Eric Benac <benac@voyager.net> (24.05.2002)

out of all brian eno albums i have, this is my favorite. i have before and after science, no pussyfooting (no!!) a cluster thing, two bowie berlin albums, all the U2 albums, all talking heads albums, and this is my favorite although 'backwater' is my favorite song he ever did. this one i think has an amazingly consistent tone to it, which i don't mean in a bad way. like you said, this is GOOD ambient music, music that is "static" yet, intrests. i've heard it described as "hearing a year go by in 45 minutes" which i think is true. i like "i'll come running" and "st. elmo's fire" an awful lot, and although i seriously can't remember any of the songs standing out off hand, this works like ambient music SHOULD (engaging your interest, sort of expanding your mind) eno may be a bit over rated sometimes, but i agree that he is insanely important, and every band he was in, their best period was when he was with them (roxy music, david bowie, talking heads, U2).

Rollo S. Bryder <rollosb@hotmail.com> (30.11.2002)

You get just the same thoughts as me! I see Another Green World being a timeless record and nothing can stop me from saying this! And it's even made in '75....I don't hear any scratch or anything in this record...

Jon Gray <gray0187@tc.umn.edu> (22.04.2003)

Eno cannot sing, and his chord structures are dated and very expected. But it really doesn't matter. The same way that Pink Floyd's relative lack of any melodies doesn't matter. This is very enjoyable, in a way that the later ambient works aren't--there is a specifity and purpose to the instrumentals that sort of forbears the idle wanderings of Apollo or Music for Films. The first few tracks are the greatest, exculding the vomit-inducing 'Sky Saw', with its glut of overrated symptomatic guest stars. Eno is at his best in the jittery 'Fire Island', the surprisingly fun 'St. Elmo's Fire' (I'm a sucker for a Mike Ratledge solo), the paranoid 'Dark Trees' with good use of percussion and my favorite on the album, featuring the oldest chord sequence in music, 'The Big Ship'. There's a reason that chord sequence has had Tallis turning in his grave off and on, because it is fantastic and emotionally charged and in the hands of someone who knows something about orchestration or sound, it can do a whole lot. This is the case here--Eno cannot write a decent piece, but he can embellish, and here he does it to grand and majestic effect. We move on to one of the dullest and truly irritating pieces on here--I'll come running. Eno makes this most basic of pop songs even worse by his arrogant and criminally uninspired backing and silly lyrics. The Eno production ruins most pop songs, with very few exceptions. Robert Wyatt's solo career has suffered as much as anyone else's from this, but the fact that Eno's pop song style has remained unchanged since 1975 (some would argue an earlier date) should give other artists warning--Devo were right about him to say the least. A lot of people will let Eno's personality lead them away, as if he were some demigod intellectual--well, he is most certainly not that. The rule for the next few tracks is that of ambiguity--a few interesting lines happen, especially with the reptiles, before another failed pop song. 'Golden Hours' sets out for things it doesn't reach, but it is pretty enough, and you won't mind it going by if you don't pay attention to it. Some people say there is a way Eno should be listened to, but it is a fallacy. If you can listen to bad Peter Gabriel songs (no lack of these), you can listen to Brian Eno. His singing style (I've been waiting all evening) is stuck in the cautious low range (unless heavily processed and reverbed) and it lends a sort of embarrassing nakedness to the poor quality of the songs, the lack of risks taken, and the nonsensical image of intellectual purity that holds it together falls apart to show Eno as a fraud and a hack even though he is not either. Pop with Eno is always disappointing, but his skills are at a high level here with several different songs, and the clarity and individuality of many of those songs is worth it. Listening to 'Your Heart Out' after this was like a kick in the "fun" part of my brain--like Radiohead, or Ed Harris, Eno is probably most effective for people who hate fun. 11/15.

Fernando Henrique Canto <mustapha@etcom.ufrgs.br> (30.10.2003)

I got this one out of curiousity. Took ages to get it off stinkin' Kazaa, listened once, liked it, but - I don't know why - I *never* listened to it again, and ended up deleting it since my HDD fucked up 'Everything Merges With The Night'. Some time later, I felt like listening to it again, got it and listened. And then? Fwah, this album rules. It's kinda hard to talk about it, but those small athmospheric tunes, you know? They're amazing! I've never heard something SO evocative in a while. 'Over Fire Island' SOUNDS like flying. Damn it, how can Eno do it? Does he do it by accident? Or does he say "I'll make a song for flying!", hits some buttons on his synths and does it? Is it that easy? I don't think so! It takes TALENT to do something like that. 'The Big Ship', 'Sombre Reptiles', 'In Dark Trees', 'Little Fishes'... Hargh, those *toioioing* sounds REALLY feel like fishes running away from you. My only complaint is that some songs feel too long... and others feel to short!! I could listen to 5 minutes of the title track, and love every second. But that's just me. Meanwhile, I think I could cut out some seconds off 'Sombre Reptiles' and 'Becalmed', for instance. 'Spirits Drifting' is way too macabre to finish the record, in my opinion, but I really love the mysticism of 'Zawinul/Lava'. 'Sky Saw' sets the territory between the instrumentals and the pop. I like the way it sounds, with the lyrics about clouds turning to words that nobody can understand. Is Eno talking about his own lyrics? 'I'll Come Running' is quite cute, but it's the weakest of the pop tunes. 'St Elmo's Fire' is the best, imo. Love the guitar solo on the one. 'Golden Hours' is just soooo beautiful, and then there's 'Everything Merges With The Night'. Wonderful! Yes, this album gets a 13. Definitely.

Francis Mansell <Fgmansell@aol.com> (11.07.2005)

Fantastic record. And like the previous person to comment, I particularly favour the guitar solos on 'St Elmo's Fire'. Absolute proof that Robert Fripp has a heart, this is some of the most emotionally intense playing I've ever heard. Beautiful. The rest of the album's pretty damn fine too.

Francis Mansell <Fgmansell@aol.com> (11.07.2005)

No big gripe with your very warm comments about the gorgeous first half of this album, except to say that the closing 'Wind On Wind' is an excerpt from Discreet Music and therefore doesn't feature Robert Fripp at all.

No reader comments yet.

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (12.01.2000)

Calm down George, Yes your right this is New Wave.

Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (06.03.2000)

It's weird with this album - the first side never does much for me while I'm listening to it. It's bouncy and fun, I always think that there just aren't enough solid melodies or cool sound effects on it (odd, because it sounds a lot like the Fear Of Music which I love so much). Then I get to the second half, with all of those spooky, electro-folk ballads, and I just go nuts. They're awesome. And they make me want to listen to the first side again. So I do. And it's great. A nine stars for me.

John McFerrin <stoo@imsa.edu> (12.05.2000)

Sometimes a local cd shop can really surprise you ...

Rich Bunnell <taosterman@yahoo.com> (26.05.2000)

Awesome! There isn't a single second on this album that I don't like! It starts off with the mechanical, bouncy half and that's where Eno gets all of the cool, catchy-as-hell pop out of his system (like "Backwater," and "King's Lead Hat" which contains the immortal line "Splish splash, I was raking in the cash!") before going into a bunch of more subtle, but arguably even better atmospheric ballads. The triad of "Here He Comes," "Julie With..." and "By This River" is AMAZING. Just like the whole album. I can't rave enough-- thanks you so much for recommending this! It's great! I agree with the big fat 10.

Russell De Sena <desena@bellsouth.net> (16.10.2000)

Yeah I like the album, but maybe Warm Jets is better. If you jumble the letters to 'King's Lead Hat' you can come up with "Talking Heads," so it's the title, not the lyrics, that refer to that band. The lyrics have something to do with either turkeys, or is it donkeys, driving in a car, while Eno gets rich. In other words, like all his words, they don't mean shit.

John McFerrin <stoo@imsa.edu> (12.01.2001)

My first comment for this album was a bit less elaborate than this album deserves, so I'd like to add some thoughts.

John Drayton <johndr@bigpond.com> (24.04.2001)

Thanks for reviewing this album. I'd never paid Eno's vocal stuff much attention, and you made me curious. This is a beautiful record.

Eric Benac <benac@voyager.net> (24.05.2002)

my second favorite eno album. the first guy who reviews this album is obviously a stark raving eno fan, david byrne, peter gabriel, and david bowie had a lot of talent and (in the case of byrne and gabriel) a lot of original ideas. they didn't get all their ideas from eno buddy. i'm sure they got SOME but i'm sure he jacked some ideas from some people too. and my life in the bush of ghosts was with david byrne too. don't forget that dude.

Ben Kramer <bkramer2000@hotmail.com> (29.10.2002)

THANK YOU GEORGE!!!!!!!!! Wow, I never would have thought this could be as good as you claim it is. Not that I don't have faith in your opinion, but a 14 for a new wave album sounds a little strange for you. Besides, you're nuts when it comes to your Zenyatta opinion, but enough about that, now on to this masterpiece.

Oliver Buckel <obuckel@msn.com> (12.06.2003)

I think "King's Lead Hat" is the best song he ever recorded. It seems to have simultaneously inspired and outdone any new wave or post-punk song that followed it. It's so good that it doesn't deserve to even be mentioned in the same sentence as new wave, as it demolishes anything recorded by groups like The Cure or Devo.

Fernando Henrique Canto <mustapha@etcom.ufrgs.br> (30.10.2003)

Okay, okay, so I got this one guided by your recommendation. If Another Green World was so interesting, this one HAD to be good. At first, I was puzzled. The songs are all isolated, they just don't interact with each other. The SOUND is really intriguing, but what's so good about it? The trick was, this album is addicted. Yesterday, I listened to it 3 or 4 times. And then, it was all clear to me. The SOUND of the album is definitely unique. It's black and white, you know, just like the album cover. It's strangely liquid, too. I dunno, it must be all those references to the sea. Side A is a masterpiece. 'Backwater' and 'King's Lead Hat' are absolutely smashing. 'Kurt's Rejoinder' is unique and bizarre, and 'No One Receiving' is a cool, twangy groove. 'Energy Fools The Magician' gives a bit of spice, with the bass lines and those synths playing a melody that sounds like a musical box. And that liquid sound! For some reason, though, I just can't get side B. 'Here He Comes' is... okay. Too long, but quite good. But not outstanding! I dunno why, it's a bit undistinctive. 'Julie With', however, IS spectacular. I read some articles on EnoWeb, and it said that this song gives an imagery, but it's incomplete, and we have to complete it with our imagination - like Julie could be dead, or she could be 3-years old. Of course I imagine a 17- year-old Lisa Simpson laying by the beach, while I watch her from a boat, wondering "my God, she's indeed gorgeous," listening to Brian Eno playing softly on the radio. But, you know, I don't get any particular feelings about 'By This River' or 'Through Hollow Lands'. I think side B is just WAY too slow and WAY too "standing still", without any variations. I can deal with slow stuff, but it's lethargy after lethargy after lethargy. Fortunately 'Spider And I' is wonderful, and leaves a good impression. Ahh, 'Spider And I'... So childish yet so moving. I can't explain, it's one of my favourites on here. Yeah, the album is great, but not flawless, no. I give it a 13. Maybe I could raise it to a 14, as a bonus for the Lisa imagery. Nah, I won't - Lisa will understand.

Lew Vigor <Lew.Vigor@gmx.de> (23.01.2004)

Don't you think the "New Wave" tag is a bit reductive for this album? Sure, being related to Bowie's Berlin albums, which obviously had a big influence on late Seventies/early Eighties Music, it seems logical to see this as "superior form" of it. Yet, groups like the B52's, Ultravox!, XTC or whoever could never come close to the resonance of this songs. Take "Julie with...": I can't help but imagine a lake somewhere outside Berlin, sourrounded by hard and dry grass, in an afternoon (not a Thursday afternoon!) that's neither bright nor dark. The only movent is the boat slowly turning on itself, leaving tiny little waves..."the radio is silence/and so are we"...just breathing the warm and sweet air of a very hot summer. "By This River " is so incredibly beatuiful: "you talk to me/and I reply/with impressions chosen from another time". The lyrics are successful minimalism, achieving the maximum with the minimum - just like the music. You perfectly described "Spider and I" and "King's Lead Hat", nothing to add; but let me just mention "No One Receiving". It's very representative for Eno's technique of "sound substraction", and it works amazingly, maybe even better than on "Backwater": just listen to that metallic-sounding percussion that gets a solo after a while, or the bass intro. It's curious anyway that on Bowie's albums he used to add layers and sounds instead. To conclude, I see this as something really special standing for its own, outside the New Wave league. And rarely did even Eno achieve to sum up and combine so coherently different styles. Maybe Another Green World is similar in form, but it's different in its essence. Just as you stated in your introduction, this is the point when all of Eno's different approaches to music flow into one.

Alexey Provolotsky <alpro@tut.by> (15.12.2005)

First, I would like to thank George for the fact that I got acquainted with the record in the end. I’m a very big admirer of spiritual albums. And Eno’s Science IS one. I don’t care if he had that intention while making it, but the fact is, I do disappear during the last 5 songs. Really, when listening to such outstanding records as, say, Let It Bleed or Revolver, you are always there, with those albums. To hear them, to examine them. But the second half of Before And After Science simply sends you away.

Oliver Buckel <obuckel@msn.com> (10.06.2003)

Most of the Music For Films songs sound like leftovers from the Another Green World and Before and After Science sessions. Also, the synthesizers used on the record sound generic and dated, like what every other electronic composer in the 70's (Kraftwerk, Walter Carlos) used. This is very rare (almost non-existent) with Eno. He almost always found ways to make them sound more complicated and ahead of their time. The tacky synthesizer sound is also what ruined Discreet Music for me. (That and the fact that it showcases one echo effect for over 30 minutes.) Music For Films is in desperate need of re-mastering. The higher the pitch of a sound or note the more it pops and crackles.

Lew Vigor <Lew.Vigor@gmx.de> (22.01.2004)

This is still a proto-Ambient album. I like the first side much better, as it's quiter and gentler. Yet the shortness of the tracks doesn't allow you to get carried away in their atmospheres; you're right on that. I don't think that's really a problem though, as I consider them as a quick flow of impressions that never irritates you - unlike the second part of the album. The second side has more melody, and the songs seem more structured, like "intrumental pop songs", and thus are closer to what he did on Another Green World. The title is quite appropriate, as these tracks can be associated to the scenes and sequences of films; unlike "harcore" Ambient like Thursday Afternoon, that only fitted to totally non-cinematic material. An evolution (devolution?) that this collection actually displays to you in miniature: the short, still melodical intrumentals becoming toned-down mood impressions, later streched to full-fledged "sonic landscapes" on his proper Ambient releases.

Oliver Buckel <obuckel@msn.com> (12.06.2003)

This album is only worth buying for two of the vocal tracks included. "The Belldog" is one of his all-time best songs. Anyone who even likes him a little bit should hear it. "Broken Head" is also very trippy. I like how he combined tremolo and vibrato effects on the instruments at the beginning. I also like how the song suddenly becomes melodic when he starts reciting the words. "Tzima N'arki" is terrible and guaranteed to clear the room at any party. The instrumentals aren't nearly as good as on albums like Another Green World or Music for Films. Get more from the Web.

Jason Saenz <jsaenz@sagetelecom.net> (13.08.2004)

I like this one a lot, and yeah your'e right about this being an underrated album, Eno was never much of a Radio-friendly guy anyway so who cares if 'Tzima N'arki' would clear the room at a party, I dont think this album is really much of a party-pleaser, that's why ELO brought out their Discovery album! The whole album is pretty much a 10 to me. Lot's of hypnotic synth's but what I like most is that city type paranoia that 'The Belldog' makes me feel. There is a good amount of industrial-sci-fi themeing wich is really good if you want see your ordinary city life differently, a real spiritual treat this one is but sometimes a little creepy and sometimes a little too sad.

Richard C. Dickison <rdick@mag.com> (27.01.2000)

Yes, George believe it or not this was part of a multimedia art installation, video and music, at an airport. It was a first though, and influenced Laurie Anderson and quite a few other people. Now here is a secret, it's boring without the pictures, sorry Eno. Maybe as part of an art exhibit it ruled but by itself it sort of sits there. But again, true genius in music can be terribly inaccessible and this one is no exception. When I discuss Eno I do so with respect to a man of so many firsts, it's hard to haggle with innovation, but I don't have to like it all. Your not alone in your opinion on this one George. I agree.

Cosmic Charlie <canary@stargate.duq.edu> (11.03.2002)

The danger with ambient music is that it can be so mimimalist and insubstantial that it just vanishes from the listener's ears; and it's true that even Eno can be truly boring (note the 28-minute tune that closes Evening Star). However, the 4 selections on Ambient 1 are so breathtakingly beautiful and transporting, that the album rises above the fluff and stands as a remarkable achievement. The first part is a gorgeous repeated piano theme that is tweaked and embellished ever so slightly. The second and third, synthesized voices that evoke the image of the perpetual blooming of flowers, punctuated in the third movement by spare piano. The fourth part is a very moving synth offering, either elegiac or triumphiant, I can't decide. The album as a whole is poignant and evocative, with Eno at the top of his ambient game, playing always just the right notes; the music yearning, soothing and ultimately uplifting. It works great as a soundtrack for the listener's own mental excursions, yet can stand on it's own as a beautiful work of art.

Ray Russ <rruss@stanford.edu> (15.11.2000)

Nothing short of the being the archetypal album upon which *all* ambient/trance albums aftewards are based.

Richard C. Dickison <dickison@pacbell.net> (29.03.2000)

WOW, what a record this was. I got it the first time I heard it.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (11.10.2000)

Although this was released after Remain in Light, it was actually recorded earlier. Eno described it as "a laboratory for the Talking Heads record." You have to admire the guys' chutzpah in all the experimentation in sound they try. Very innovative. The problem here is that it's pretty much nothing BUT sound -- you can't pick a best song because there are no songs, per se. The track with the closest thing to a song structure is "The Jezebel Spirit" (which I thought was called "Help Me, Somebody"). The funky percussion pattern and the rantings of the overdubbed preacher clearly are the backbone and inspiration for what became the Heads' "Once in a Lifetime."

<Tupilo@aol.com> (03.02.2001)

I have always liked eno since 1972 and thought David Bryne was Brian Ferry woken up the first time I heard 'Psycho Killer'. However, this was my favorite, but another idiot telling you their favorite album is no big deal. What maybe is a bigger deal is a (long) while back, I saw some modern dance company from maybe Chicago do a dance sequence to side one. It was fantastic.

Eric Benac <benac@voyager.net> (24.05.2002)

this has some stunning moments, but some yawn fests too. not the best byrne or eno album. yes it's groundbreaking and everything great like that, but is it great fun to listen to? not so much.

Oliver Buckel <obuckel@msn.com> (12.06.2003)

This features what I think is the most beautiful melody he has ever "written": "An Ending". "Always Returning" is also very good. Unfortunately, there are three songs ("Under Stars", "Under Stars II", and "Stars") that sound almost identical. I don't care if it was supposed to be a trilogy of "star" songs. Five minutes is all the "Stars" I needed to hear. Fuckin' "Stars". Also, the first three songs ("Under Stars", "Matta", and "The Secret Place") are hard to distinguish from one another. This is a very good sounding album, but side one is just an outer space version of On Land with some melodic songs thrown in.

Mark Corbett <mark.corbett@ctsu.ox.ac.uk> (17.06.2003)

This area seems cold.......quiet...... and empty. And here I am, tentatively orbiting it, wondering whether it’s okay to make a safe comment…….. I think I can see a flat, clear space…here goes..……Mr Cosmonaut, your review mission was very commendably completed. Twas well thought out and accurately recorded, and your description of track 5 was mighty fine indeed……..Brrrr, it’s so cold down here, and eerie – I think I can hear the distant sound of those space-whale things from track 3 approaching……..best now just to plant the union jack on some sturdy ground and proceed to lift-off, pronto….just find a suitable spot…..aargh! wassat?...someone’s beat me to it!!….looks like by only a matter of days…..I feel like, like, um, Scott of the Antarctic……I knew I should’ve set out a week earlier, I’m a flippin’ lunartic……..oh well, I guess it doesn’t really matta.

Fernando Henrique Canto <mustapha@etcom.ufrgs.br> (14.11.2003)

Since I'm enjoying Eno so much, I felt the need to listen to this album. And guess what? It's really, really good! It's ENJOYABLE! Even though it's an ambient album! Yeah, there's hardly any actual melody. Just a lot of athmosphere... but GOOD athmosphere! The gloomy, mysterious stuff like 'Under Stars', 'Matta', 'Drift' and 'Stars' are very well done... yeah, you read that right. 'STARS'! I guess it's the most predictable track on the album, but it's well done, anyway. I like it. Some extremelly pretty stuff, too: 'An Ending' and especially 'Always Returning' are lovely. The country Lanois guitar stuff can be a bit annoying, but they're fine. I give it a... Yeah, it's hard to rate an 'ambient' album. But I give it a 12. Very high rating for an album like this.

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David Girard <david.girard@mrn.gouv.qc.ca> (01.09.2001)

Hi,

Ben Kramer <bkramer2000@hotmail.com> (19.01.2002)

Your cd says 61 minute version because a movie with Tom Phillips actually has a longer version. This is the edited version (never saw the movie but I can't imagine what more of this would be like, I actually use this to help me fall asleep).

David J. McKelvey <mckeld02@highpoint.edu> (29.08.2004)

Schizophrenic or not, did you ever think maybe we're all messiahs in disguise?

Ward <Wardo68@aol.com> (11.08.2000)

As for C. S. J. Bofop's comments, write that name out on a piece of paper in capital letters, then below each write the letter that comes before it (i.e. C=B, S=R, etc) and see what happens.

Eric Benac <benac@voyager.net> (24.05.2002)

hahahah i did what you said to do with that Wardo68. that's so retarded, it's genius!

Oliver Buckel <obuckel@msn.com> (12.06.2003)

Eno had completed a pretty decent album called My Squelchy Life around the time this was released. It featured more pop-sounding songs like the one's on Wrong Way Up. This Nerve Net album (which he chose to release instead of My Squelchy Life) just doesn't cut it. He could have at least included Squelchy's best song, "Under". Instead you get a song ("The Roil, the Choke") that kind of sounds like it but isn't as good. Nerve Net's "Ali Click" was released as a single, so I'm assuming they thought that was the best song on the album (like you can distinguish any of these electro-tin can ditties). I think "Ali Click" is awful. It's the type of thing where you get goose-bumps because you're embarrassed that you're listening to it. It sounds like an English scientist trying to rap. I thought "What Actually Happened" was the standout track, and not just because it's the only Eno song to feature the F-word. "Wire Shock" is pretty good, too. I like how he made the speech patterns go rhythmically with the song (like he did on My Life in the Bush of Ghosts).

David Wheeler <deva@cumbytel.com> (20.10.2002)

When someone first told me about this album, I thought it was called The Shut-off Assembly, which is perhaps a more apt title. A couple of things that your readers may not know:

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