More like "Before & After Ambient"
Written: Apr 05 '05 (Updated Apr 05 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Moody smoothness and packaged pop. Always interesting, with noteworthy guest musicians.
Cons: The man was obviously torn between his two artistic inclinations.
The Bottom Line: This was really Eno's last pop effort before moving full-time into the shoes of producer/swishy cosmic soundtrack recording artist. Meshing the ambient and pop works quite well here.
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| pyfr's Full Review: Before & After S?ance - Brian Eno Movies |
Do you remember "Before & After Science"? Man, I do. Before Science was when all the kids were afraid of failing the quiz, and After Science was when they unloaded their stress by having threesomes behind the concession stand.
Let me start again. I beg it of you.
1977 was a great year in which to be Brian Eno. His new friendship with coke-snorting pole-smoker David Bowie was attracting far more attention than his individual efforts, and he was already turning into quite the name behind the production board. In fact, his influence (next to that of Bowie, Iggy Pop, and former bandmates Roxy Music) was being tapped by practitioners of the infantile New Wave movement, of which bands like Devo and the Talking Heads were pioneers. Both were also nurtured into legitimacy by the guiding hands of Bowie, Pop, and Eno.
Eno's first three solo albums are enjoyable affairs that probably represent the man at his most mainstream. Nearly everything else he's done falls into the category of ambient, swinging between "soothe me to sleep" and "scare the most recently consumed meal out of my system". To the best of my knowledge, "Before And After Science" was the last thing of a remotely commercial nature that Eno got around to releasing.
Like all of Eno's other attempts at pop, "Before And After Science" lays a strong emphasis on simple melodies and arrangements, with a heavy dose of experimental instrumentation. All the usual culprits are here and working hard: fuzzy guitar, aimless lyrics, dreamy synths. The difference is that this album marks the point where Eno started to depart for Moodyville, and a good number of the songs reflect his turn toward spacey instrumentals. Of course, there were a few on "Another Green World" as well, but on this album, they feel like less of an oddity and more of a vision in progress.
Of course, that's not apparent at first. "No One Receiving", with its simple funk and catchy vocal line, sounds like something one would find on the prior three albums. Future balding pop star Phil Collins guest stars on drums, and all manner of strange noises float around, which always gives Eno's music a slightly unhinged character. Some chap named Percy Jones contributes awesome fretless bass work, and the only lyrics I can possibly decipher are those of the chorus ("in these metal ways, in these metal days"- that sound right?)
Eno swaps out Phil Collins for Can's Jaki Liebezeit on "Backwater", a pumping piano hand-clapper where Eno's typically bogus lyrics ("ooh, what to do in a tiny canoe") are guided by a hypnotically grabby vocal line. There's a big brass mid-section, and while Eno's voice isn't particularly powerful, it works well with the music.
"Kurt's Rejoinder" is a quick, fancy jazz groove that bands like Can and Goblin made careers out of. A little jammin' timbale playing, the bass work is great (again played by Percy Jones), and no guitar- just synths, rhythm, and Eno sharing vocals with a dude named Kurt.
The short and atmospheric "Energy Fools The Magician" brings Collins back in on drums. The synth and bass are sparse and moody, and that's really about all I can say.
Driving and heavy (in the Eno way) is "King's Lead Hat", which is an anagram for Talking Heads. Ex-Roxy colleague Phil Manzanera plays the guitar, but King Crimson's Robert Fripp sears away on lead, and returns (I think) at the end for something that sounds like a Space Mountain synth jam. The chorus will lodge in your brain like a piece of sirloin in Grandpa's throat, and the tune is every bit as stiff, quirky, and British as the New Wavers who borrowed this sound. Ultravox, I believe, used to cover this song, and when Eno says "splish splash, I was raking in the cash", he's probably referring more to the production work he'd go on to do for U2 than his solo efforts.
The pretty, pastoral "Here He Comes" finds Eno singing peacefully over a backdrop that could be a New Wave rendition of The Eagles' "Lyin' Eyes". Has all the restraint that the prog movement lacked, and while I love it to death, I'm still not sure exactly what Eno was trying to accomplish.
One of my favorite Eno songs ever is "Julie With...", a spooky/sad synth piece with a bass guitar as the only backbone. Sounds like something The Doors would've jammed at band rehearsal. The lyrics whip up no meaning ("the still sea is darker than before"), but Eno's voice is as sorrowful as his emotionless style can permit. Recorded as it was during Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy" era, the comparisons between that stuff and this just cannot be denied. There's a nice little solo at the end, as well.
Continuing on in the sad vein is "By This River", which features the talents of Achim Roedelius and Mobi Moebius, who collectively went by the name of "Cluster". Is mostly a basic electric piano line, with some synth overlays and Eno's almost overly simplistic, square vocal melody.
One listen to a song like "Through Hollow Lands (for Harold Budd)" and it's easy to see why some people consider Bowie albums like "Low" and "Heroes" to be more Eno than David. The mellow guitars and bass interact in that spooky/sad way again, with the synthesizers treading tones on the surface. Good stuff.
Finishing out on a less than spectacular note is "Spider And I". Just bass and synth, with Eno's very English vocals. Not that it's a bad track, just nothing too special after the several few that precede it.
So basically, "Before And After Science" was Eno still going through the pop rock motions, with his heart already firmly planted in the field of ambient. Some of it is light-hearted, but nowhere near as sassy as his first two albums. That being said, it is still a fine creation, though it's by no means exempt from the inconsistency that is synonymous with the name of "Brian Eno". It's probably more closely related to Bowie's "Low" album than anything, and that's not a bad relative to have.
Recommended:
Yes
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pyfr
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Member: Bryan Shultz
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