HERE COME THE WARM JETS

"Here Come The Warm Jets" is the debut full-lenght studio album by UK artist Brian Eno. The album was released through Island Records in January 1974. While "Here Come The Warm Jets" is the first Brian Eno solo album, he did release a collaborative ambient music album titled "(No Pussyfooting)" in November 1973 along with Robert Fripp (King Crimson) under the Fripp & Eno monicker. Eno co-founded Roxy Music in 1971 and played on the 1972 eponymously titled debut album and the 1973 sophomore album "For Your Pleasure", eventually leaving though in mid-1973 because of differences with Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry.

One of the main reasons for leaving Roxy Music was because Eno felt that Ferry wanted to control everything, and that he wasn´t allowed to have much input on the songwriting. And with two albums (a collaborative release and a solo album) released in quick succession over the course of a few months, it would appear that Eno had many ideas that hadn´t been accepted while he was with Roxy Music.

While "(No Pussyfooting)" is an experimental sound collage/ambient album, "Here Come The Warm Jets" sees Eno doing something completely different, but slightly closer in style to his contributions to Roxy Music (although "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" is the only track on the album, which sounds a lot like Roxy Music). Stylistically the music on "Here Come The Warm Jets" is influenced by the contemporary glam rock of David Bowie. Loads of powerful guitar riffs, strong vocals from Brian Eno (who has a voice and vocal style somewhere between David Bowie and Bryan Ferry), and a 50s rock´n´roll element (heard on songs like "Cindy Tells Me", "On Some Faraway Beach"). Eno also adds a lot of keyboards/synths to the music, but not to the extent that your first guess would be that this is a keyboard player solo album (this is not a Rick Wakeman solo album...). His performance is actually relatively restrained considering that his primary instrument is the keyboard, but it´s just a testimony to the fact that his main focus is the good and effectful song, rather then the songs being vehicles for him to show off his considerable keyboard playing skills.

The album also features a couple of delightfully dark tracks in "Baby´s on Fire" and especially "Driving me Backwards" and in addition to all of the above mentioned musical styles and elements, a track like "Some of them are Old" feaures a melody which could be right off a Beatles album. While most tracks follow a vers/chorus formula, Eno still manages to put enough innovative and adventurous ideas into the songs, to ensure that the listener is never bored and the material doesn´t become too predictable. The album features quite a few guests performances from prolific artists like Robert Fripp, Phil Manzanera, John Wetton, Andy Mackay, Simon King and Paul Thompson. Especially Robert Fripp´s presence on the album is audible in the way some of the guitars are played.

The sound production is powerful, detailed, and organic in tone, which suits the material perfectly. There´s a good balance between raw garage sounding guitars, catchy melodies, and a wealth of other musical details. "Here Come The Warm Jets" is a high quality rock album by Brian Eno and fans of adventurous and eclectic rock´n´roll (and especially fans of contemporary David Bowie) should be able to find a lot to enjoy here. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.