ANOTHER GREEN WORLD

Things kick off with Sky Saw, which sounds like just what it says, which would be a buzz saw arcing through the air, bisecting whatever comes in its way, though Eno's guitars --or perhaps it's Cale's violas -- eventually sound as if they are being put through considerable distress. This is a great opener for the album, being one of the less contemplative pieces.

What follows is both familiar and new territory for Eno. The pop-rock tendencies of the previous albums are present here in St. Elmo's Fire, I'll Come Running and Golden Hours, all of which have Robert Fripp on guitar. But the bulk of the album is made up of assorted soundscapes, which are the blueprints, conceptually, for the ambient albums which eventually came to follow.

The fourteen songs are generally brief, clocking in at around three minutes, and listening to most of these can be likened to leafing through an artist's sketch pad, with some drawings being more developed than others, but none being fully realized. Other listeners, particularly those who find the full-blown Ambient albums a bit too developed, may view these as perfect miniatures needing no further embellishment or exploration.

The song titles often reflect the general ambience of the music: In Dark Trees, The Big Ship, Sombre Reptiles, Little Fishes, Becalmed, Spirits Drifting. The sonic aura Eno creates is remarkable in evoking the subjects of the songs' titles.

As usual with Eno, the quality of the music, both in terms of the skill of the musicians and the nuances coaxed from their instruments, is first-rate. Eno pulls unheard of sounds out of what were, at the time, rudimentary synthesizers. Fripp is excellent on the songs on which he's present, even contributing 'restrained lead guitar' -- something for which he's not exactly known -- to I'll Come Running.

As far as rating this, I am conflicted, since it sits directly on the 4.5 fence. However, given that any comprehensive progressive collection needs at least one Eno album, this should probably be it, so I'm rounding up and, for one of the few times in my life, agreeing with Rolling Stone.

Share this BRIAN ENO review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to jammun
• Report this review (#162046)
• Buy BRIAN ENO music online with PA partners
• Show all BRIAN ENO MP3/Stream
• Go to BRIAN ENO page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Another Green World page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for BRIAN ENO related discussions