before and after science (1977) - brian eno: editions eg 1981 reissue, ENO-4

Following on the critical and pretentious music snob success of Another Green World, Brian Eno did a bit of a U-turn away from the intentionally odd experimentation of minimalist ambient music to go back to his intentionally odd experimentation of his Roxy Music pop roots with Before and After Science.

That's not to say Eno was done with the intrigues of using electronics to shape sound.  Far from it.  But where Another Green World was an almost immersive experience in the universe of music re-fabricated by capacitors and resistors, Before and After Science seems to me to be an attempt to more fully infuse ambient and pop.  One can almost picture two Brian Enos colliding together, with the first exclaiming "You got your pop in my ambient!" while the second Eno shouts back, "Yeah, well you got your ambient in my pop!" before they both take a listen and declare that it sounds good.

Side 1: No One Receiving Backwater Kurt's Rejoinder Energy Fools the Magician King's Lead Hat
Side 2: Here He Comes Julie With ... By This River Through Hollow Lands (for Harold Budd) Spider and I

Now, for all it's artsnobbling, I've always thought that Before and After Science is just a flat out fun album.  Yeah, there's plenty in it about for the pointy-heads and elitists to glom on to in order to prove their sophistication, and Brian Eno is one of those artists who marks the stark delineation between Us and Them in terms of musical cognizance, but there's also plenty for us less erudite slobs to enjoy.  Particularly side 1, which has the catchy and playful Backwater and King's Lead Hat (with it's totally awesome Fripp guitar), along with the more hefty but no less entertaining No One Receiving and Energy Fools the Magician.

Interesting side note: my wife mis-heard "King's Lead Hat" as "Insect Head", which I think is possibly the better way to go, given such bizzare lyrics as:

The lacquer crackles (black tar) the engines roar / A ship was turning broadside to the shore
Splish splash I was raking in the cash / The biology of purpose keeps my nose above the surface

 and:

 I count my fingers (digit counter) as night falls / And draw bananas on the bathroom walls
The killer cycles (humdrum) the killer hertz / The passage of my life is measured out in shirts

Yeah, Insect Head would be perfectly cromulent as the title.  However, some folks have interpreted

the song to be about the Talking Heads (from which Kings Lead Hat is an anagram), given how enamored Eno was with them, and how he produced several of their albums. But considering that this album came out before the Heads released their debut album, 77, that probably isn't true.

In any case, I've always believed that Before and After Science would be a great album to play while you kick back and burn one.  The rhythms and oscillatingly droning sounds would really lubricate the time-distortion from the icky-sticky.

Up next: Songs about the everyday slob