Before & After Science [CASSETTE] [Import]

The last of the current batch of Original Master re-issues and his last song based album for some time. After this it was ambient and systems based music. Eno was now a different person to that which left Roxy Music. Gone were the feathers, make-up and flamboyance. Eno was now Brian Eno.

Though "Before and After Science" is hugely overshadowed by the originality and cultural importance of "Another Green World", it is an album I personally prefer. From the metallic funk of "No One Receiving" to the simple childlike joy of "Spider and I". Personal favourites are the hazy, languid "Julie With...." where Eno transports us to a floating raft, silently drifting across a calm ocean with the hot sun beating down. In fact water is a recurring theme throughout. The single "King's Lead Hat" was originally to be performed by Talking Heads, which the title is an anagram of, but that didn't materialise. Still the song is sharp, incisive and punky and culminates in one of the best instrumental solos ever.

Though this was to be his last song based album for some time, Eno was now entering his most influential phase as ambient guru, sought after producer, Bowie collaborator, systems theorist and installation artist. His mark on the development of modern pop music is widespread and these early albums clearly demonstrate what an original Brian Eno is.

A couple of comments about these re-issues. They are minimally packaged in digipaks which are housed in transparent plastic slip cases. No notes, essays or lyrics, just the original recording credits. Although I do miss the beautiful Peter Schmidt prints which were included with the original album and were integral to it. It would have been nice to see them reproduced somehow.

These are not remasters as such, but new transfers taken from the original master tapes using the new Direct Stream Digital (DSD) format. This is state of the art as regards mastering onto compact disc. They have been transferred by Simon Heyworth who is one of the best in the business. He has made statements about the remastering of these recordings. Why change something that was done right originally! Eno was happy with the original mastering so what is needed is just the best transfer onto compact disc that is currently feasible. Whereas the original CD's sounded flat and thin, these transfers are much livelier and offer a fuller, more detailed sound.

I always think 'Before and After Science' is overlooked in the canon of Eno's pre-ambient works. You can see the cogs working on this record as the first half moves between great catchy pop/roack songs with a touch of thrash thrown in with the anagramatic salute to Talking Heads in 'Kings Lead Hat' and the odd off-funk of 'Kurts Rejoinder'. The worlds of 'Another Green World' and 'Taking Tiger Mountain' meet on this record.

The second side (as was) is where the first signs of the early 80's conversion to ambience can be heard. Still within recognisable song frames but pushing at the boundary of atmosphere versus structure. 'Here He Comes' and 'Julie With..' are gorgeous tracks.

This is an interesting record. I think it shows more of Eno's coming conversion than 'Another Green World'. Well worth purchasing.

Rating: 9.5/10

Best tracks: "King's Lead Hat", "Here He Comes", "Julie with...", "No One Recieving", "Kurt's Rejoinder"

Before and After Science barely puts a single foot wrong from start to finish, which is weird because it walks down some pretty strange routes - of his four song-based solo albums, this one is my favourite, though all four are terrific. Neatly split up into two distinct halves (one for each side of vinyl), the first half is a jittery, funky, offbeat and lyrically delightful tour de force, while the second is blissfully serene and beautiful set of ballads and instrumentals that wind things down substantially. This would be Eno's last conventionally song-based album for some time, with much of the following years to be taken up with magnificent production duties and beautiful ambient explorations with the likes of Jon Hassell, Laraaji and Harold Budd.

The chattering drums, slinky guitars, the wobbly bass and wavy textures of opening track "No One Receiving" throws down one hell of a gauntlet for the rest of the album to match (don't worry, it does), and also manages to pull off the classic Eno trick of sounding utterly accessible yet mind-bendingly weird all at once. His way with a lyric is beautifully fluid and musical; it's the way he sings the baffling `back to silence/back to minus/with the purple sky behind us' over the hypnotic music that says it all, though there are many linguistic delights to be found on "Backwater", which has so many tongue-twisting rhymes over a grin-inducing musical backdrop that it's impossible not to get carried away with it all. Great guitars on this song too.

The preposterously wobbly bass of "Kurt's Rejoinder" has got to the apex of fretless playing; I've always found fretless bass to sound rather funny (as well as genuinely fantastic when it comes to the likes of Magazine and Japan to name but two), and here it contributes overwhelmingly to a song that's superbly strange and hilariously bizarre; only Eno could make the line `separate the torso from the spine' sound funny, mainly because he follows it with the lines `burger bender bouncing like a ball ball ball/so burger bender bargain blender shine', which I've never tried to comprehend.

After that madness, maybe it's appropriate that Eno doesn't try and lyrically outdo himself, so we get the brilliant instrumental "Energy Fools the Magician" (great title!), which drifts along a sparse and jazzy route before Eno's greatest ever pop song fades into life. "King's Lead Hat", (an anagram of Talking Heads, a band who would work wonders with Eno), is a stomping and storming masterpiece that has got to be in the top ten lost singles of all time. Splish splash, Eno should have been raking in the cash after it was released as a single but it flopped completely, yet the chorus is the stuff of insane magnificence - believe me, you'll be singing the crazy `King's Lead Hat was the poker in the fire/It will come, it will come, it will surely come!' for a worryingly long time. The music is amazing; unrelenting and seriously catchy, great fun to dance to and overflowing with rhythmical and vocal excitement.

The other side of Before and After Science is a different creature altogether - and even though you may be begging for more of the first side's infectious excitement, just one listen to "Here He Comes" should be enough to make you realise that Eno's more peaceful side is just as rewarding. "Here He Comes" is really, really lovely. The lyrics, with their flights from mundane reality into sheer airborne bliss, are beautiful, and they are complemented musically by a mid-section where the description `bass solo' isn't to be used negatively and the synthesisers take off into the clouds. The guitars are gorgeous, the finale a state of sheer bliss. Then there's the incredible "Julie With...", a simple account of two people out on the ocean in their boat and the most becalming and meditative song Eno has ever created outside of his ambient instrumental pieces. The lyrics are supremely evocative, the music a perfect encapsulation of drifting out to sea, the whole experience deeply serene. "By This River", a co-written with Eno-collaborators Cluster, is lovely and maintains the second side's air of quietude and serenity, and even better is "Through Hollow Lands", an instrumental piece written in tribute to Harold Budd, who Eno would work with on two great albums further down the line. The atmosphere is melancholic and occasionally unsettling, and never anything less than utterly beauteous. The closing "Spider and I" is the only song here I am slightly ambivalent about; it's lovely, but the other nine songs/pieces here are much better.

In conclusion, this album is essential; it's a perfect introduction into the world of Brian Eno, as well as that of left-field pop/rock. A masterpiece.

Despite featuring ten songs, Before and After Science was originally subtitled `Fourteen Pictures', with the album's four remaining pieces outside of its musical tracks being four beautiful paintings by Peter Schmidt that worked as a beautiful complement to the fantastic music, though these pieces were only available with the original vinyl edition, with future editions limiting Schmidt's contributions to artwork within the album's back cover or accompanying booklet.