# Another listen to Another Green World **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587 "2013-05-28T22:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/1 "2013-05-28T22:58:18Z")
Wow. I just finished listening to Brian Eno’s magnificent Another Green World. It was the first time in years that I played the whole album from start to finish, or should I say from [Sky Saw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXDrTZMVINo) to [Spirits Drifting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY5q2i41Hx4), and everything in between (including the spectacular [St. Elmo’s Fire](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-3djUYgebU) and the irresistible [I’ll Come Running](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFz50q_QmfE)). I had forgotten just how good it was; good enough to be called a [“universally acknowledged masterpiece” by AllMusic](http://www.allmusic.com/album/another-green-world-mw0000650120) and [“one of the most important albums of the decade . . . a masterpiece” by Pitchfork](http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11730-here-come-the-warm-jets-taking-tiger-mountain-by-strategy-another-green-world-before-and-after-science/?utm_campaign=search&utm_medium=site&utm_source=search-ac). Indeed. So now, of course, I’m gonna put on another of this genius’s albums. Maybe [Here Come the Warm Jets](http://www.amazon.com/Here-Come-Warm-Jets-Brian/dp/B00022M518/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_3) or [Before and After Science](http://www.amazon.com/Before-After-Science-Brian-Eno/dp/B00022LRXA/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_6). Actually, the exquisitely restrained but sublime sound of [Apollo](http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Atmospheres-Soundtracks-Brian-Eno/dp/B0007GFFUW/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_4) will probably be the one I wind up playing. But that’s just it: how do you choose _one_ when Eno has produced so many truly outstanding albums, all gorgeous, most ground-breaking. The saving grace, I guess, is that you can’t really go wrong. Withal, the main reason I opened this thread was to ask: any other Eno lovers out there? Anyone else agree with me that Brian Eno is a genius? A genius who consistently manages to produce such sublime sounds? And, so often in a way that shows us new possibilities - possibilites realized and presented in unique aural landscapes? Thank God, he’s prolific! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/2 "2013-05-29T00:45:02Z")
Hmm I might go to Youtube and give it a listen (had it on vinyl, years ago)… ---
**Author:** ![alphamatix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@alphamatix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphamatix)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/3 "2013-05-29T02:11:04Z")
I love Eno’s work although I haven’t heard everything he’s done. His work was my doorway to another world of music that existed outside of what one could hear on the radio. There is a core of his work that I absolutely treasure. His 4 rock vocal albums (Here Come The Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain, Another Green World, Before & After Science) are essential, with Tiger Mountain being my favorite. There’s the brilliant Bowie trilogy (Low/Heroes/Lodger). And then there’s the Talking Heads connection with More Songs About Building and Food, Fear of Music, Remain in Light and My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. I must admit to not having delved deeply into his ambient work yet. I did have and enjoyed Apollo. I also had Jon Hassell’s Possible Musics. I really enjoy his comeback electronic rock album, Nerve Net. I’m lukewarm on U2 but a good chunk of the Zooropa album (which I like) sounds like an Eno album to me, or maybe U2 paying tribute to Eno. I suspect that a fair amount of the music we hear in his work originates from the player improv. Eno’s job is in the selection and treatment of that source material. So if he is a genius then I feel he shares that accolade with his many musician friends. Of course some of his ambient work is just him solo. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/4 "2013-05-29T02:54:46Z")
Hey, you know that mediocre song on _Here Come the Warm Jets_? No, wait, of course you don’t…there isn’t a song on it that isn’t fantastic. I have to go listen to it now. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/5 "2013-05-29T14:01:18Z")
_Music For Airports_ cured my fear of flying, literally. I put it on as boarding begins and it hypnotizes me into a very relaxed state. Also, _Passengers_ is my favorite U2 album, heh. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/6 "2013-05-29T14:44:41Z")
Huge fan of Eno here. He has been a major influence on my own music. I’ve been spending a lot of time lately with his Scape generative music application. I must agree that _Another Green World_ is something really special, and a significant peak in Eno’s catalog. Aptly named, too, for it is otherworldly indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/7 "2013-05-29T14:51:50Z")
Of Eno’s ambient stuff: **Music for Airports** is sublime. Side one/the title track of **Discreet Music** is great, the other stuff is meh. **On Land** is great, a bit darker in tone than his other ambient albums. Closer to the Jon Hassell collaboration album, but in my opinion considerably better. **Apollo** is great. The rest are OK, some good stuff and some meh, nothing to match the quality of the earlier ambient stuff. Of Eno’s collaborations with Harold Budd: **The Plateaux of Mirror** is sublime. **The Pearl** is very nice. Harold Budd’s solo albums are good, too, with a few gems, such as _The White Arcades_ and _The Room_. The Fripp/Eno collabs are all good, a bit more “rock” than Eno’s solo ambient/instrumental work. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/8 "2013-05-29T15:21:06Z")
The man’s a genius. An antidote to the the creeping meh! of the current airwaves. Stuff your overblown vocal gymnastics, if ever you need to convince someone that less is more just play them “by this river” from _before and after science_ …beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/9 "2013-05-29T16:31:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > if ever you need to convince someone that less is more just play them “by this river” from _before and after science_ …beautiful. I have used the word “sublime” at least twice already in this thread. Had I known it was going to come up, I might have saved it for ‘By This River’. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/10 "2013-05-30T00:18:59Z")
I’m a big Eno fan. Totally agree about his collaborations, too. My favorite Eno album is _Before and After Science_. I think “King’s Lead Hat” may be a perfect song. It can be hard to find good quality versions online, where you can hear everything going on. Eno reminds me of the best composers of the Renaissance. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/11 "2013-05-30T01:28:04Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Hey, you know that mediocre song on _Here Come the Warm Jets_? > > No, wait, of course you don’t…there isn’t a song on it that isn’t fantastic. I have to go listen to it now. Huh, so this is weird: I swear I meant to write _Before and After Science_. > [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > I’m a big Eno fan. Totally agree about his collaborations, too. > > My favorite Eno album is _Before and After Science_. I think “King’s Lead Hat” may be a perfect song. It can be hard to find good quality versions online, where you can hear everything going on. An anagram of “Talking Heads” as you’re probably aware. And I agree it’s perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-listen-to-another-green-world/659587/12 "2013-05-30T02:49:58Z")
Some great guest musicians on _Another Green World_. Lots of songs with Robert Fripp on guitar and Paul Rudolph (ex-Pink Fairies, ex-Hawkwind) rocking out on bass, John Cale plays viola on a track, and Phil Collins plays drums on another… Eno’s last several albums have also been amazing. _Another Day on Earth_ is classic Eno pop. Lots of impressive guests on that one two. _Small Craft on a Milk Sea_ is like dark and angry guitar and drums ambient. _Panic of Looking_ and _Drums Between the Bells_, his collaborations with poet Rick Holland are like beat-jazz-poetry. _Lux_ is classic Airports-era ambient. All highly recommended. I have yet to pick up his latest collaboration with David Byrne, though it’s been out for a few years now. Anyone here heard it?