Track Listing

1. Sky Saw
2. Over Fire Island
3. St. Elmo's Fire
4. In Dark Trees
5. 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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10955 in Music
• Released on: 2004-06-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com essential recording
Eno first emerged as a member of Roxy Music, where the synthesizer player electronically "treated" the band's other instruments, the first indicator that the recording process was itself Eno's chosen instrument. His subsequent career has been one of the most provocative in pop, for not only did he devote himself to such obscure pursuits as "ambient music," but he produced vital albums by David Bowie, Talking Heads, and U2. Eno made a handful of relatively conventional pop albums in the 1970s, and Another Green World ranks with Before and After Science as his most enduring solo work. Another Green World finds Eno mixing distorted guitars (courtesy of Robert Fripp) with a variety of keyboards and exotic rhythms to create a meditative wash of sound that is nonetheless awash with colorful touches. Particularly appealing is the bubbling "St. Elmo's Fire," with a stunning guitar part by Fripp, and "I'll Come Running," in which Eno shows that even a dedicated experimentalist can have a soft heart. From the strange-but-true file, Phil Collins contributes drums and percussion to three tracks. --John Milward

Amazon.com
This 1975 recording catches the ex-Roxy Music member in transition between art rock and his more progressive-ambient recordings. With an all-star cast including drummer Phil Collins, guitarist Robert Fripp, and John Cale on viola, Another Green World explores instrumental landscapes and aural textures not normally associated with rock recordings. Drawing on musical influences ranging from Weather Report to La Monte Young and Terry Riley, Brian Eno created layers of quirky sonic atmospheres and electronic tone poems. Using synthesizers, artificial percussion devices, and additional electronic accouterments, he found that the studio itself could become a useful instrument of creativity. Compositions like "Becalmed," "Sombre Reptiles," and the title cut all anticipate Eno's later ambient excursions. One of the many utterly essential Brian Eno albums. --Mitch Myers

Customer Reviews

Groundbreaking...
Brian Eno seemed so nerdy and techno and so unlikely as a member of Roxy Music in support of tuxedo clad Brian Ferry. Then he stepped out on his own with releases like this and "Taking Tiger Mountain." For those who know him later as the composer of minimalist instrumental material, this will come as a surprise. "I'll Come Running," for example, is pop tune heaven. Great marriage of the dawning technology of the age and plain old hummable pop music.

Another Great Work
Where Eno's debut album was kind of a rough DIY affair with mixing that was often rather muddy (loved it just the same) and "Taking Tiger Mountain" showed growth in the areas of song writing, performance and production (loved it even more than "Jets"),"Another Green World" is a giant step forward in the areas I just mentioned. Impossibly mature and focused, B.E. really hit his stride with this one. Sprinkled among the songs with vocals (I'd call these conventional pop songs but they're really anything but that), we also get a taste of the kind of music Eno would become renowned for- ambient.

It begins with "Sky Saw", seemingly an instrumental then in the last minute or so Brian sings a few surrealist lines. It features viola work by John Cale and damn if that thing doesn't sound just like you'd imagine a 'sky saw' would sound like. Brilliant. A short and sweet instrumental "Over Fire Island" follows. One of Eno's most beautiful and evocative songs "St. Elmo's Fire" comes next with some splendidly tight, jagged, slightly distorted guitar provided by Mr. Fripp. The lyrics to this song are some of Eno's finest poetry. Two instrumentals, "In Dark Trees" and "The Big Ship" come next. "Trees" features some nice echo-y percussion along with its dark melody. "Ship" features more of Fripp's wonderfully expressive guitar. "I'll Come Running" is one of the standout tracks here. For some reason, I've always felt that this might be a parody/homage? of his ex-band mate Bryan Ferry's material. The 'oh oh oh oh oh oh's' sound very Ferry to these ears. Following "Running" is another cluster of short and lovely instrumentals,"Another Green World", "Sombre Reptiles" and "Little Fishes", all of them very appropriately named. The excellent vocal piece "Golden Hours" explores the slippery notion of time and how we relate to it. I love the last line "putting grapes back on the vine". "Becalmed" is another sweet instrumental with a title that perfectly describes the feeling of the piece. This one is a bit more New Age, a bit less ambient than most of the instrumentals on the disc. The instrumental "Zawinul/Lava" was inspired by ex-Weather Report co-founder/keyboardist Joe Zawinul and the song magically evokes flowing hot lava. The final vocal track "Everything Merges With The Night" is heavenly. The music and lyrics are subtle and fine. "Spirits Drifting" closes the album in ambient bliss.

If you like what you hear on this CD, you might also enjoy David Bowie's "Low" which Mr. Eno contributed a great deal to.

One of Eno's Best
Not as good as TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN, but why quibble? It's still better than most of what's out there, from the period in which it was released to today.