Before and After Science

Produced by Brian Eno and Rhett Davies, 1977

The music of Before and After Science drove some reviews in the rock press to new extremes of metaphor. --Eric Tamm, Brian Eno, 1989.

Yep. This review may drive me to new extremes of metaphor -- This is more or less my favorite Eno rock album, certainly one with three or four of my top ten favorite Eno tunes on it. I think it shows a wonderful maturity on his part. I love the young crazy Eno as much as anyone, but I also appreciate it when his mastery of sound and atmosphere become all important. It foreshadows his greatest work as a producer and as a source of that most wonderful of modern musical forms -- ambient.

So, in general, this work is mellower, richer, and Eno really sings. No, really, he does. His weird ones are weird, his groovy ones are groovy, and there literally isn't a bad one in the bunch. It's too bad he had to cut off all his hair, but you can't win 'em all.

THE SONGS:

1. "No One Receiving"
   The appearance of this song sometimes evokes an audible moan of pleasure from me - especially if it's being heard on a good stereo. The bassline shuts up anyone who says that Eno has no funk; as badly as he and Tina Weymouth got along, she influenced the hell out of him. Another song mis-identified as "assaultive" by Tamm -- why? It's smooth and listenable. Whatever. The lyrics bring to mind "The Belldog", a song he did with Cluster around the same time.
2. "Backwater"
   There's a reason my web site used to be named after this song -- it's funny, literate, morbid, and goes off the subject almost immediately. You have to go check out the lyrics for this one. Eno, for all his pooh-poohing of words, has a great command of the language. He's a rhyming dictionary on legs -- and they're big ol' words, too! If I wasn't an English major this song would hurt my brain. It's only about cannibalism, anyway.
3. "Kurt's Rejoinder"
   Also known as "stoner's delight". Anyone who wants to feel pure music rippling through her/his body is advised to check this little number out. This one will kill you if you try to figure out the lyrics, so don't bother. Just dig it, man. This has the best bass-percussion-synth meld I can think of in any circumstances, and Eno's sleepy disinterest in singing just sort of melts into everything else.
4. "Energy Fools the Magician"
   A lovely little ambient piece, which, like so many of the early ambient bits, seems likely to go on forever. In fact it's really short, and you miss it when it's gone.
5. "King's Lead Hat"
   Jackpot! Just when you were starting to mellow out, he slams you with this rocker. An anagram of "talking heads", a tribute of sorts -- I guess he was trying to evoke their sound and fails semi-completely. Doesn't matter! Eno sings beautifully on this one. There's a little strength that one gets after singing for a while, and this strength comes out when you feel what you sing. As to what Eno feels, well, this is anyone's guess, but he really throws down on this, so... I can bet it's him hammering on the MiniMoog in the background like an insane three-year-old trying to play Chopsticks but not understanding that you have to move your fingers. This song is pure fun. Who knows what it means? It's a good example of accidental music. I'm sure he sweated over this one in the middle of the night, going, "Why doesn't this sound like David Byrne?? David does this without effort... how would David do it...?" He fails to get the sound he's after, but gets something better than a copy.
6. "Here He Comes"
   Another one from John Relph's famous mix tape. A bad choice, actually, this is the kind of song can handle only as an Eno fan. It's really too mellow and makes me think of John Denver. It's pretty sad and lovely though so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.
7. "Julie With..."
   Her goodies on display. Yeah, Brian, I love it when you're subtle. He does seem to be growing up somewhat, though; this song's sexual in an adult, calm, unpretentious way -- the kind of thing Bowie has never gotten then hang of. Brian's slutty days were probably nearing their end (see the debauchery section.) and he appreciated a slow, respectful seduction that wasn't necessarily all on his end. A nice song to get friendly to, and one of the very first Eno songs I ever heard (and liked).
8. "By This River"
   Ditto. Same thing all over again. I like this one better though, it's more melancholy, more concise, and the humming section really is very pretty.
9. "Through Hollow Lands"
   This is a tiny ambient mood moment, reminiscent of the Music for Films. There's a basis set down like bricks, then smoothed over with synthesizer mortar to hold it together. Are synths soulless? I can't come up with a decent answer, since soullessness, a lack of sweaty veracity, has never really bothered me. I guess I grew up in the 80's.
10. "Spider and I"
    What a gorgeous piece. It transcends, caps the album so sweetly, so beautifully. It's a bunch of synthy strings and the word "dream", but sometimes that's all that's needed. Somewhere it's called a "haiku" and I think that's really the best way to describe it.

So that was the last of Eno's solo work until Nerve Net, in 1992. It's amazing how much change went on in the intervening fifteen years, yet how much remained essentially the same. An Eno piece is still almost instantly recognizable as an Eno piece, whether it be made with vaccum tubes or MIDI. That, to me, is amazing.

The lyrics and album cover, off site at EnoWeb.