Brian Eno: Before and After Science

Brian Eno: Before and After Science

1977

Polydor Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. No One Receiving  2. Backwater  3. Kurt's Rejoinder  4. Energy Fools the Magician  5. King's Lead Hat  6. Here He Comes  7. Julie With ...  8. By This River  9. Through Hollow Lands  10. Spider and I



No, this is my favorite Brian Eno album. Roughly split into two halves, a rocking side and a slow, atmospheric side. Both sides rule. The first half is maybe my favorite Eno side, full of funky, jerky ice-cold new wave pop, which is very recognizable if you're familiar with his later production work during the Talking Heads' incredible run. A couple of his very best songs occur on this first half. "King's Lead Hat"would have probably been a huge hit if it came out in 1981 or something rather than 1977...Wait, actually it kinda was a hit, come to think of it. Listen to the song and then listen to "Shake it Up" by the Cars...

Compare:

Contrast:

Again, I can only imagine what an 80's new wave single transplanted back to 1977 must have sounded like at the time. I would imagine it probably sounded sterile and bizarre. Which it is. It's also catchy as fuck, though. The other big one is "Backwater," which is no joke, one of my all-time favorite songs. An arm-swinging sea chanty with some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. The rhymes are tight and constantly unexpected. It sounds futuristic and ancient with syth tones which should theoretically sound out of place (electronics really shouldn't be this close to water) but work brilliantly. And it has Jaki Liebezeit (my favorite drummer ever) on the drums, if you needed any further convincing of its awesomeness.

The water theme carries over to Side Two were the waters become more calm, if not also more cold. Lots of slow, still tracks that work as musical Rorschach tests. Listen to the beautiful, hypnotic "Julie With ..." and tell me what you hear in that endless sea of calm. A murderer? A loving couple lazing about on a quiet afternoon? A doomed pair hopelessly adrift on a life raft? Why is it either death or a nice quiet day? The stillness of both events? I don't know. I suspect Brian doesn't know either. That's probably why all the lyrics to Side 2 are so abstract. To assign concrete meaning to any of it would be a huge mistake because its ambiguity is its draw. It all seems to be glowing radiantly with both beauty and menace.

I think this record is the cat's tits. But this is where my Eno collection ends. After falling in love w/ side two of "Before and After Science" I thought I could take the ambient stuff, but I can't. I just can't. It bores me to damn tears and I know you're not supposed to actively listen to it, but I can't have music playing and not listen to it. Something in my wiring.  Even if I'm doing something else while the music is playing, I'd rather listen to something I actively enjoy rather than something to ignore. Noble experiment and probably fun as hell to do, but not something I'm into. Who knows. Maybe some day I'll change my mind and suddenly those ambient albums will rock my world...Until then, I'm standing by Eno's first four...

Here's "Backwater" by Brain Eno...Enjoy: