TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN (BY STRATEGY)

Is this Eno's masterpiece? I'm not sure, because I adore all of his 70s albums. This one could be seen as 'Here Come The Warm Jets part II'. The sound and the whole concept is common between these two albums. I must say that I like 'The Warm Jets' maybe a little bit more, but still this one offers some magnificent moments. Brian had a very specific thing in his mid-70s era, he didn't just experiment. He based most of his tracks on the mighty bass guitar and he certainly had a very solid idea about the use of keyboards. The rest of his music of that era, was influenced from the glam wave. So, Eno -let's put it that way- was an 'avant-garde glam' artist when he began his solo career.

The best track on the album is undoubtly 'Third Uncle'. It's new wave before new wave existed. Am I the only one who thinks that this is the song that gave birth to Joy Division? My brother who happened to be a big Joy DIvision fan, thought it was Ian Curtis on vocals, when he first heard it. Apart from this, there are also other big moments on the record: 'Put A Straw Under Baby' is very touching, the title track relaxes me in a unique way and tracks like 'Mother Whale Eyeless' and 'The True Wheel' were way ahead from their time. If any Bowie fan happens to read my review, please notice that the sound of the solo on 'China My China' -the distortion that is- is almost identical with the sound of the guitar on the finale of 'It's No Game part 1' from 'Scary Monsters' -my regards to Dr. Fripp as well.

Have a look at this album. I'm sure you'll find yourself some interesting bits.