ANOTHER GREEN WORLD

This is regarded as Eno's masterpiece, and I must say it's hard to argue with that assessment. And although I personally prefer Before and After Science, there's virtually nothing bad to say about Another Green World. During his time with Roxy Music and on his first two solo albums, Eno somehow managed to completely master the sedate pop song, tossing them off seemingly at will. The album is littered with a handful of mini-masterpieces like St. Elmo's Fire and Golden Hours. However, at this point in his career Eno was becoming more interested with experimental electronica and ambient music. That is largely what makes Another Green World so magical and unique, the sometimes gorgeous, sometimes quirky instrumentals between the songs.

One might think that such a divided approach would result in a schizophrenic album, pulling the listener in two directions at once, but thta is far from the case. Eno's pop style is really not that different from his ambient style, and the two different sides compliment each other well and keep the album endlessly interesting from start to finish.

Eno is also smart enough to surround himself with musicians nearly as brilliant as he is. He does not describe homself as a musician, but I must say his somewhat amateurish keyboard playing is charming in its own way. As for the others, John Cale cannot help but improve any record he appears on, and Robert Fripp's solo on St. Elmo's Fire is, in my opinion, better than anything he ever did with King Crimson (that's saying A LOT.) As for Phil Collins, I am not a fan of his, but one must admit that he is a more than qualified drummer and Eno doesn't make the mistake of letting him sing, so it's okay. I'm not quite sure how he does it, but the production of this (and most of his other albums) is so unique and dreamlike that it makes the music shine.

Another Green World is a landmark album in the history of music and everyone should hear it at some point in their lives. Besides being brilliant, it is so accessible that even newcomers to progressive music should find it easy to digest.