Brian Eno - (1975) Another Green World

Brian Eno - Another Green World (1975):
It is my opinion that Brian Eno's third release, 1975's Another Green World, is not just a great album but one of the best that I have ever heard. Split between vocal tracks and moody instrumentals, Another Green World balanced Eno's established ability to write quirky pop songs with his burgeoning interests in ambient instrumental music. The result is a song cycle in which the vocal tracks are more atmospheric and less rock-oriented than Eno's previous work, while the wordless pieces are more diverse and less minimalistic than the bulk of Eno's subsequent ambient projects. I think that the two styles cohere brilliantly and the album is one of those special records that is so engrossing and unique that it is almost impossible for me to not actively listen to all of it when I put it on.

Apart from simply being great, Another Green World is significant because it marks a turning point for Eno as an artist. Whereas Eno had a secondary role as a musican on his first two solo albums (one got the impression that guitarist Phil Manzanera had lots of input on those) he is clearly at the reins here. He is the only player on most of the instrumental tracks and, for the others, he culled different combinations of personnel from a roster that included Robert Fripp and the rhythm section from Brand X (Phil Collins, Percy Jones). Fripp had already distinguished himself as an excellent musical partner for Eno, but Collins and Jones also prove to be a great fit on the tracks that they appear — a somewhat unexpected result, considering how different this music is from Brand X's jazz fusion.

Many of the songs on Another Green World have a static, weightless quality and I've seen them likened to elsewhere as "sonic paintings." But they're never mere musical wallpaper (Eno would do plenty of that later); rather, I find them all to be quite evocative and, at times ("The Big Ship," "Zawinul/Lava") powerfully emotional. Even the very short pieces play masterfully with mood; for example, the curious, probing nature of "Over Fire Island" gets abruptly cut off and replaced by an unsettling synthesizer that is set somewhere between a buzz and a shimmer. It's a small thing on the surface, but I've come to regard this transition as one of the most memorable moments on the album. There's a straight-up, Beatles-esque pop song ("I'll Come Running") stuck right in the middle of the album but rather than break the mood, the melancholy, introspective nature of the rest of the music draws out these characteristics in the song, giving it a wistful air that it never would never have exhibited so clearly if sequenced alongside the tracks on Here Come the Warm Jets or Taking Tiger Mountain. And then there's "Everything Merges With The Night," a masterful confluence of atmosphere and melody that I'd rate as the greatest four minutes that Eno ever recorded.

Unfortunately for fans of Brian Eno's pop albums, the artist would only make one more record in this vein — 1977's Before And After Science — before virtually retiring the format and embarking on a long obsession with ambient music. There are actually some people out there who prefer Before and After Science, but I'll stick by Another Green World as not only Eno's best, but one of the few perfect albums that I've ever heard.

review by Matt P.

Track listing:

1. Sky Saw
2. Over Fire Island
3. St. Elmo's Fire
4. In Dark Trees
5. The Big Ship
6. I'll Come Running
7. Another Green World
8. Sombre Reptiles
9. Little Fishes
10. Golden Hours
11. Becalmed
12. Zawinul/Lava
13. Everything Merges With the Night
14. Spirits Drifting

Personnel:

* Brian Eno: "Sky Saw": vocals, Snake Guitar, Digital-Guitar
"Over Fire Island": synthesizers, guitar, tapes
"St. Elmo's Fire": vocals, organ, piano, bass, synthesizedpercussion, Desert-Guitar
"In Dark Trees": synthesizers, guitar, synt-perc, treatments, rhythm generator
"The Big Ship": synthesizers, synthesized-percussion, treatments,rhythm generator
"I'll Come Running": vocals, Castanet-Guitar, chord piano,synthesizers, synthesized-percussion
"Another Green World": organ, Desert-Guitar, piano
"Sombre Reptiles": organ, synthesizers, guitar, synthesized-percussion
"Little Fishes": organ, prepared piano
"Golden Hours": vocals, Org, Uncertain Piano, Club-Guitar, percussion
"Becalmed": electric piano, synthesizer
"Zawinul/Lava": electric piano, synthesizers, organ, tapes
"Everything Merges With The Night": vocals, guitar
"Spirits Drifting": bass guitar, organ, synthesizer
* John Cale: viola on "Sky Saw" and "Golden Hours"
* Phil Collins: drums on "Sky Saw", "Over Fire Island" and "Zawinul/Lava"
* Robert Fripp: Wimshurst-Guitar on "St. Elmo's Fire", Restrained-Guitar on"I'll Come Running", Wimborne-Guitar on "Golden Hours"
* Percy Jones: bass on "Sky Saw", "Over Fire Island" and "Zawinul/Lava"
* Roderick Melvin: electric piano on "Sky Saw" and "Zawinul/Lava", piano on"I'll Come Running"
* Paul Rudolph: bass on "Sky Saw", bass, Castanet-Guitar and drums on "I'llCome Running", guitar on "Zawinul/Lava"
* Brian Turrington: bass and piano on "Everything Merges With The Night"