Brian Eno "Here Come The Warm Jets" 1973 + "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" 1974

Eno's solo debut, Here Come the Warm Jets, is a spirited, experimental collection of unabashed pop songs on which Eno mostly reprises his Roxy Music role as "sound manipulator," taking the lead vocals but leaving much of the instrumental work to various studio cohorts (including ex-Roxy mates Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay, plus Robert Fripp and others). Eno's compositions are quirky, whimsical, and catchy, his lyrics bizarre and often free-associative, with a decidedly dark bent in their humor ("Baby's on Fire," "Dead Finks Don't Talk")...

...Yet the album wouldn't sound nearly as manic as it does without Eno's wildly unpredictable sound processing; he coaxes otherworldly noises and textures from the treated guitars and keyboards, layering them in complex arrangements or bouncing them off one another in a weird cacophony. Avant-garde yet very accessible, Here Come the Warm Jets still sounds exciting, forward-looking, and densely detailed, revealing more intricacies with every play.(Steve Huey, Allmusic)

trax:
01 Needle In The Camel's Eye 02 The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch 03 Baby's On Fire 04 Cindy Tells Me 05 Driving Me Backwards 06 On Some Faraway Beach 07 Blank Frank 08 Dead Finks Don't Talk 09 Some Of Them Are Old 10 Here Come The Warm Jets
…served by Gyro1966...

Continuing the twisted pop explorations of Here Come the Warm Jets, Eno's sophomore album, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), is more subdued and cerebral, and a bit darker when he does cut loose, but it's no less thrilling once the music reveals itself...

...It's a loose concept album -- often inscrutable, but still playful -- about espionage, the Chinese Communist revolution, and dream associations, with the more stream-of-consciousness lyrics beginning to resemble the sorts of random connections made in dream states. Eno's richly layered arrangements juxtapose very different treated sounds, yet they blend and flow together perfectly, hinting at the directions his work would soon take with the seamless sound paintings of Another Green World. Although not quite as enthusiastic as Here Come the Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain is made accessible through Eno's mastery of pop song structure, a form he would soon transcend and largely discard.(Steve Huey, Allmusic)

trax:
01 Burning Airlines Give You So Much More 02 Back In Judy's Jungle 03 The Fat Lady Of Limbourg 04 Mother Whale Eyeless 05 The Great Pretender 06 Third Uncle 07 Put A Straw Under Baby 08 The True Wheel 09 China My China 10 Taking Tiger Mountain
…served by Gyro1966...