ANOTHER GREEN WORLD

We finally have Brian Eno here:let's start from his best album!! What about the man: Eno started as Roxy Music electronic aestetist , and then left the band for proceeding with his own career publishing the album "Here come the warm jets". He is not a musician: just applies his great taste for popular music acquired from different ambiences: visual arts from cultural peinture to commercial kistch, litterature from classics to newspapers commercials. HE IS AN INCREDIBLE OBSERVER OF THE MODERN ERA IN ALL OF ITS ASPECTS. Thus he applies what he knows in basic , minimalistic musical exploration. From the first track, "Sky saw", we know he understood the inner laws of modern popular music: distorsions sharp as knives cut the hair , while Jhon Cale's viola explodes in fluctuating pure energy......and then Eno's voice "all the words float in sequence No one knows what they mean, everyone just ignores them" ... words are a structural part of Eno's songs, for people in modern times don't really care about lyrics, but they way they melt with asthonishing drugged sounds. "Over fire island" introduce the first ambient experiments which I'll describe better on ambient albums reviews later.... how to surprise with the minimal equipment and knowledge required. Track 2, St.Elmo's fire.... What to say, ONE OF THE BEST SONGS WRITTEN IN OCCIDENTAL POPULAR MUSIC. It's perfect. Arrangements are so well crafted, music fluctuate freely, togheter with one of the best, if not the best solo ever made by Robert Fripp, a guitar line that comes back and forth to the listener attention, to bring him from the fantastic voyage described, back to the intimistic , shematic ordinary life moods expressed by regular and simple lines of sythetizers. Every one, every one after this piece will admit Eno is a genious. "In dark trees" and "The big ship" have to be seen as an ambient movement toward the next song. Two pieces really related with the title, two nice gems. "I'll come running" it's a semi-glam spuff over some incredible lyrics, with Fripp preannouncing what will come later together with Bowie in the famous hit "Heroes". The contrast with the feeling of Fripp guitar and the lines singing "i'll come running to tie your shoe" is disarming , you can't believe this is really happening, how ironic!!! This is music for intelligent people, that actually can get it , my friends!! And, the most atmospheric track: "Another green world". This could be the music anthem of the industrialized society, waves of synth guitar rythm the life of milions of litte bugs producing and hoping that things will get better. Is short, just because it could be repeated for ever: for it's a sound that comes from the world you and I live in. "Somber reptiles" is just like the title say: psychedelia, made kitschy on purpose and elevated as a past semi-artitstic mean of expression. Little fishes is interesting: Kid A anyone? Brian Eno was too far ahead for his times........ he had little , sad electronic musical boxes in his head in 1975!!!Prog music was still alive, and his production sounded like the one of 20 years after!! How can I describe Golden Hours: Radiohead came close to the feelings expressed here, just close. It's the rotation of average events in an average life,simplicistic rythm, it's a frustrating track, with Fripp playing a ruthless acustic guitar solo........ this song brings back so many memories, those little moments that mean everything for one person, and make him individual. "Becalmed" is an excellent example of what Before and After Science will be: extremely mature sound , melted with piano "sound", not music. Passing through "Lava", another psychedelic track, we arrive at the last song, "Everything merges with the night", sweet little present, I think the only real love song written by Eno. Folow the childish piano line and the atmosphere it creates: magical........ The album ends with "Spirits drifting", dissonant , pessimistic, just to remaind you that the little , common man life exalted by this work still remains soo little, humble, non sense.....

We could spend hours to study this breathtaking art production. This is probably not the best place to do it, a prog rock site, which unfurtunately includes some dull pretentious bands and endless, pentatonic guitar solos,but I insisted to have it here so even some people stuck in meaningless genres can discover a new kind of music. Eno is the first modern musician that threw hipocracy down the window.

I don't give five stars often, and people should know (should) they mean "a perfect masterpiece". Well, this is. Enjoy it, and talk about it !!!

This record changed the way we look at electronic, ambient and experimental music. Since it's conception, the record has had a timeless presence around the world. Considered a prog-rock record, lately a proto-electronic and recently an avant-garde lost masterpiece, every single song evokes the chaging times of humanity. Perhaps, "I'LL COME RUNNING" is the most tight of the songs, however, this record behave as a whole. Again, is not a matter of luck that VIRGIN became the empire it is beacuse of this sole record. A perfect 10 to Eno and company, because records with such concepts this are rarely find nowadays. The new edition through ASTRALWERKS comes with a very elegant digipak and enhanced sound. a masterpiece.

My favourite Eno's album. "Another Green World" rules. It rules because of many reasons I won't detail here. It's like a trip all the way through, well, another green world. There are some beautiful instrumentals (usually short) that work perfectly, and a few brilliant pop songs. Now, I will admit that there's people who won't find the idea of this record to be interesting, but this is a masterpiece of "sound": amazing textures, great atmospheres, good melodies, good production, and so much more. Some of the best songs are "Everything Merges With The Night" (a piano-based relaxing pop song, a typical Eno one, like he would do on the second half of "Before And After Science), "Sombre Reptiles" and "Dark Trees" (both of this dark atmospheric instrumentals with amazing textures which can paint some interesting images in the listener's mind), but "Sky Saw" (with its sharp textures), "Spirits Drifting" (pretty way to end the album), "I'll Come Running" (a nice pop song) and "Little Fishes" (which sounds more or less like that) are all great. There's not a single bad sonf anywhere, even if some could need a bit more of "rock" or ccould be a bit shorter.

After two interesting solo albums by Eno (Here Come the Warm Jets, and Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy), we come to this third album, Another Green World. Though many Brian Eno fans consider this the best of the early rock albums, this one has always seemed like the weakest of the bunch. Maybe it the rather tame songwriting approach that he took on this one. The songs on the first two solo albums have more life and humor to them, and are much more memorable. Here, the songs sound half-finished, as though he is lacking ideas or inspiration. Another problem is the lacking of drums. There are drums on a few tracks (Phil Collins, yeah!, as he is on several of Eno's albums), but in their place on many of the songs is an early drum machine that sounds really goofy at times and amateurish. I'm not sure why Eno didn't just use a real drummer. The songs suffer because of that.

The sound quality for the album in vinyl format has alway been very muddy, lacking treble and clarity. I can only hope that the currently released version on CD has been remastered.

On the positive side, there are more songs on the album than previously (14 instead of the usual 10 or so), so there are most song ideas, I suppose.

Really, like 4.5 stars. This is Eno's crowning achievement as a soloist. This album has both the pop songs and ambient pieces we expect from Eno. He pulls it off very well with the help of various guests, including Phil Collins, Percy Jones, John Cale, and Robert Fripp. I really enjoy St. Elmo's Fire, which has the signature Fripp guitar sound, the title track, The Big Ship, and Golden Hours, which features Cale on viola the most. Eno also contributes humor to some of the tracks, including I'll Come Running. This is highly recommended to fans of Eno, or people interested in finding more out about this man's work. Sometimes, the ambient-drenched albums are very difficult to listen to. That is why this album is a great entry for many listeners. 4.5 stars.

GO BUY THIS ALBUM. And while you're at it, buy the 2 preceding and the 1 following,(in proper Eno terms this means: "Warm Jets", "Tiger Mountain", and "...Science".) All of these albums, along with "801 Live" and Bowie's "Low" and "Heroes", were the refuge for any forward-thinking progger in the horrid years they were released. Prog began to fall around "Close to the Edge" and "The Lamb...", approx 1974. Thankfully, I read a Downbeat magazine review of "Low" giving it 5 stars, which led me to purchase this album. A lot of albums I had been wary of were validated by this album, giving me a window into understanding where they were coming from. Roxy Music, Bowie, T-Rex, all sorts of music gained clarity by listening to this album. SO GO TO RECORD STORE AND BUY IT!

From a extravagant keyboard player in Roxy Music to a vary influential producer, Brian Eno release four albums that I all rate highly: Warm Jets, Tiger Mountain, Before and after science, and this one that I like best. It is just the perfect mix of short instrumentals (maybe pre-ambient) like 'little fishes', which I consider to be tiny paintings, even the jazz-rock type of number Sky Saw, with the Brand-X duo Phil Collins and Percy Jones, and some other beautifull songs like St. Elmo's Fire. I'm a big fan of the typical Robert Fripp type of Guitar solo that is displayed in this song. I consider this album to be the most consistent. The other ones also contain very good tracks, like my favourite Eno song 'Julie With...', but there are also numbers I always skip.

I haven't really got a grip of "Another Green World", and I can't agree with the high rates at all. I guess it depends on which type of electronic music you like. There's a mix of vocal and instrumental tracks, and I don't think they work so well together. The instrumentals are like fragments, short and quite simple. These seems too much like sketches to me. If you choose to include some vocal tracks among instrumentals, these will stand out, in a positive or negative way. In this case negative. There are nice part though, mostly on instrumentals like "In Dark Trees", but they don't stand too many listens before they start to get too simple. A masterpiece?...No way!

I was introduced to Brian Eno's work through a widely released mix album of sorts compiled by The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne. The song was "Another Green World," and it was the highlight of that mix album. Simple as it was, it drew me in and conjured images and emotions that were both otherworldly and grounded. As it turns out, most of the entire album Another Green World is that way as well. It has the reputation of being Eno's greatest album, and while I haven't heard nearly enough of his work, I would hardly doubt it.

Hearing the ambient beauty of "Another Green World" (the song) before hearing the entire album, I was expecting it to lean more toward that end of Brian Eno's sound spectrum. It does, but I was surprised and admittedly a little upset that a good third of Another Green World is basically pop music. It did take me awhile to really get into the pop aspect of the album, but once I did, I appreciated the songs to a much greater extent. Simple as it is, the pop music is never repulsive. At worst, it's happily frivolous ("I'll Come Running") and at best it's beautifully catchy ("St. Elmo's Fire"). Mind you, worst is not a very good word to use for "I'll Come Running," because I do like that song a lot. "Sky Saw" is a different matter altogether. It sounds robotic and mechanical, and though there are lyrics, it feels more like the ambient tracks on this album, however unusual it sounds. The remaining pop tracks, "Golden Hours" and "Everything Merges with the Night" are great examples of how to merge ambient tendencies with a pop format. It all works out well, especially on the introspective latter song.

Everything else on Another Green World is non-vocal, but I'd not be so quick to call it all "ambient." That word implies that the music forms slowly, and perhaps goes on to repeat themes indefinitely. This certainly doesn't describe most of the non-vocal pieces on Another Green World. There are definite hooks in the music, there are memorable songs, and there are different emotions that one feels when listening to each and every song. Most of the best songs are easy going if not necessarily happy. "Becalmed" and "The Big Ship" bear the highest value here, and deserve the distinction because they are so emotional. Without any lyrics, Eno is able to conjure a simultaneous sadness/happiness emotion out of the listener that it truly unique and beautiful. "In Dark Trees" and "Spirts Drifting" are haunting in nature and contrast with the previous songs drastically. Both are dark, mystical, and exemplify a wealth of creativity. The remaining non-vocal songs are a mixed bag of styles, but I assure you, they're all top-notch experiments in ambient music.

Brian Eno would delve much further into the realms of ambient soundscapes in the late 70s and 80s, but on Another Green World, he melds pop hooks with the experimentation and drive that he would retain throughout the years to create a unique album. It is a memorable experience, and even if you're not particularly an ambient music fan, you'll surely find something to enjoy in Another Green World. Highly recommended for a wide range of music fans!

Magnificent. Eno melds ambient works with pop songs, and the secret is, while most of them are very simple, they're all wonderfully melodic, and most of them are very memorable. Robert Fripp contributes some incredibly fluid and lyrical lead guitar as opposed to his usual fractured, angular dissonance.

In art, literature and music, the things I like most are the ones which make me ask myself questions I'll hardly find an answer to. That goes for this album too: "Another Green World" shows how its author focused on expanding the possibilities of the sound tablette of rock, "digesting", processing and reinventing simple melodies, in a minimal context. So, the prog listener will not find long epics or complex virtuosism (well, to be honest, some good bass line in "Over Fire Island"), but a quest directly in the heart of music, following a path trodden also by some advantgard Krautrock combos (Neu!, Faust and Can, above all). By doing so, Eno co-operated in planting the seeds of things to come: dark new wave (In Dark Trees), Berlin-era Bowie (the opener Sky Saw), Euro-electrowave (Spirits Drifting would fit any album by the Ultravox), ambient (Zawinul/Lava), 1980s American songwriters (St Elmo's Fire really reminds me of 1980s Tom Waits), post-rock and post-punk (The Big Ship... and I think that The Strokes would pay through their noses to make a tune like Sombre Reptiles their own). Therefore this album sounds like a sort of "Big Bang", or a prophecy if you like, or even a bridge between different eras of rock music... and here comes (the warm jet? no...) the question: if Eno is prog rock, where can the boundaries of prog rock be found? Are there any? The question rises every time I listen to this album, but at the same time I lay back and listen to the emotional soundscapes of "Becalmed" and the pure poetry of "Everything merges with the night" and in the end I tell myself: "Should I really care?"

From the very opening beats to the professional production and sound quality to a new style for Eno's third album "Another Green World". Eno instals ambient-like-themes to Eno's glam-rock style from the first two albums, and even creates pure ambient abstract songs, infact most of the album seems real dreamy and can bring back memories, and then you hear Eno's voice which wakes you from that dream state, only to be given more. Released in 1975...

1. Sky Saw:::::: Trippy intro, makes my brain dance. I remember one time I was driving with my two friends Sean and Tyler and we were listing to this song and Sean didn't like it one bit, yet Tyler did; "great effects" he said. "That's crazy!" Includeds John Cale on Viola.

2. Over Fire Island:::::::: starts out with a bass solo, at a weird time signature, with peices of synth float from left to right, and from right to left.

3. St. Elmo's Fire:::::::: Very beautiful song, great musical arrangments includes Robert Fripp, in which he preforms his second best guitar solo ever_behind Babys On Fire_wonderful lyrics, great synth, great sync.

4. In Dark Tree's:::::::Ambience with a beat, remindes me of being in a dark forrest with wind blowing very fast through it. Very unusual, semi-dark and abstract.

5. The Big Ship:::::::: Quite possibly the best song on the album_close call between this and St. Elmo's Fire_ relaxing and soft, layers within layers flowing like water in a river.

6. I'll Come Running:::::::: If that song put you to sleep, this one will awake you. How can you forget that voice? Soft rock song, mellow pop song with Robert Fripp once again on guitar duties, "and I'll come running to tie your show... I'll come running to tie your shoe."

7. Another Green World:::::::: Ambient once again, perhaps the slowest softest song yet, Eno leads the song in synth, something he rarely did. Real song, but sweet.

8. Sombre Reptiles:::::::: Another great song, with synth as the main instument, accompanied by a rhythm generator, tape loops, and tape effects. My good friend sterling said: "I like the jungle feel this song has." And I agreed.

9. Little Fished:::::::: Short ambient song, no structure, beat, or rhythm. for the most part interesting, Mozart on acid.

10. Golden Hours::::::::: A rock song drenched with ambience, great vocal effort, extremely decent lyrics, good synth, and vocal effects, and the great viola effert from John Cale.

11. Becalmed:::::::::: One of the most ambient songs on the album, very relaxing, synth leads us with piano and echoed piano playing randomly in the bliss.

12. Zawinul/Lava:::::::::Anthoer real soft song, no synth leads here, just repeated piano notes with soothing sounds and swirls.

13 Everything Merges With The Night::::::::::: The last of the vocal songs, good vocals, good lead synth, acoustic guitars, pianos. This song brings good memories along with the good tunes.

To sum it up, this is Eno's masterwork, thou it's not my favorite, it's still his best album.

Interesting, but that's about it.

An album densely packed with timbral excursions a-plenty that at times maintains a fresh sound, albeit with somewhat muted production by today's standards, but all too often wallows in noises that firmly anchor it in the 1980s.

Not an album that'd be many people's number one of all time, I'd wager, comprising a bunch of sub 4-minute tracks that have the hallmark of intellectual studio creation about them.

The main problem with this approach is that any potential for artistic musicality is lost, and once each track has started, you get the idea in the first few seconds, then it's more of the same. Fortunately, in many cases, this is for less than 2 minutes - and you have to wonder what the point is, espcially as many tracks feel unfinished - mere sketches of something that could have been.

Then there's Eno's rather flat vocals, which, while not terrible, are not exactly a pleasant listen or invested with high levels of singing technique.

But the main focus is on the textures - the instrumental timbres, with occasional flurries from the ever-inventive Robert Fripp, who here cooks up more noodle than the average chinese takeaway.

"Over Fire Island" contains some of the nastiest sounds, but many of the other tracks line up for the award of "most horrible sound ever", particularly "I'll Come Running", which sounds like it might have been cooked up over a Bontempi keyboard freshly purchased from the local branch of Woolworths or Walmart. Quite possibly one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

No individual track stands out as having any musical sigificance or real interest to progressive rock fans - the melodies are generally bland, the rhythms are repetitive and somewhat irritating, the harmony is desperately simple, and there is no attempt to do anything elaborate with form.

Which leaves only timbre.

And that's what makes this album stand out - that's what people get excited about, when they rave about this album.

So for fans of this sort of thing, it's a must - but I can't say that any of the textures do much for me, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone particularly, especially fans of challenging music. On the other hand, this is a challenging album in some ways... I really had to push myself to listen to all of it in one sitting - especially the 4th time (I never review an album without giving it a fair crack of the whip).

Even Robert Fripp couldn't save this one.

Avoid.

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.

Critics shower this Eno album with the highest accolades, and it does contain many qualities that have stood the test of time. However, if you are hearing it for the first time, it may be hard to discern its value as the pioneering effort of electronica and ambiance that it is.

One of the problems I hear with 3 decades of hindsight is that the effort is somewhat schizophrenic, with Eno alternating between quirky pop ditties and truly ambient atmospherics. "St Elmo's Fire" with Eno's stunned voice and Robert Fripps's sumptuous guitars is a major highlight from the poppy side, and "Everything Merges with the Night" shows sophisticated song structures and understatement that clearly gave some voice to David Sylvian's elegant works of a decade later. The mesmerizingly beautiful "Somber Reptiles", "The Big Ship" the Jade Warrior like title cut, and "Becalmed" all demonstrate the instrumental innovation at work. Speaking of Jade Warrior, it is worth mentioning that they were equally groundbreaking, if less widely recognized, and that they and Eno shared some significant inspiration.

Apart from the artifice of the juxtaposition of the two styles, the vocal material tends to be less interesting and even embarrassing at times, in particular "I'll Come Running". "Golden Hours" ls like a weak version of "Baby's on Fire" from an earlier album. So the album generally shows its best where no vocals are present.

The grass is not always greener in "Another Green World", but when it is, it is absolutely lush. 3.5 stars rounded up because of its influence.

Another Green World is Eno's third solo release, and many have anointed it his masterpiece. Even Rolling Stone, in their original record guide, awarded it five stars. So what's the real deal?

Things kick off with Sky Saw, which sounds like just what it says, which would be a buzz saw arcing through the air, bisecting whatever comes in its way, though Eno's guitars --or perhaps it's Cale's violas -- eventually sound as if they are being put through considerable distress. This is a great opener for the album, being one of the less contemplative pieces.

What follows is both familiar and new territory for Eno. The pop-rock tendencies of the previous albums are present here in St. Elmo's Fire, I'll Come Running and Golden Hours, all of which have Robert Fripp on guitar. But the bulk of the album is made up of assorted soundscapes, which are the blueprints, conceptually, for the ambient albums which eventually came to follow.

The fourteen songs are generally brief, clocking in at around three minutes, and listening to most of these can be likened to leafing through an artist's sketch pad, with some drawings being more developed than others, but none being fully realized. Other listeners, particularly those who find the full-blown Ambient albums a bit too developed, may view these as perfect miniatures needing no further embellishment or exploration.

The song titles often reflect the general ambience of the music: In Dark Trees, The Big Ship, Sombre Reptiles, Little Fishes, Becalmed, Spirits Drifting. The sonic aura Eno creates is remarkable in evoking the subjects of the songs' titles.

As usual with Eno, the quality of the music, both in terms of the skill of the musicians and the nuances coaxed from their instruments, is first-rate. Eno pulls unheard of sounds out of what were, at the time, rudimentary synthesizers. Fripp is excellent on the songs on which he's present, even contributing 'restrained lead guitar' -- something for which he's not exactly known -- to I'll Come Running.

As far as rating this, I am conflicted, since it sits directly on the 4.5 fence. However, given that any comprehensive progressive collection needs at least one Eno album, this should probably be it, so I'm rounding up and, for one of the few times in my life, agreeing with Rolling Stone.

Balancing the more structured sounds of his first two albums with tastes of the more texturally heavy ambient work to come, Eno's music is wonderfully vibrant on Another Green World. Showcasing his brilliance as both a quirky pop music maker and a craftsman of progressive electronic soundscapes and melodies it's hard not to be captivated by the near equilibrist qualities found here.

Being a monument of timbre variation, the first thing that really strikes you about the album is its colourfulness; a mainly electronic palette capable of reaching crystal clear ethereal notes as well as mysterious, low-end droning - and everything in between. It's remarkably hard to pinpoint a certain direction or any particular moods in the short songs. There are of course the pop ones, oddities marked by strong melodies and quirky, subdued percussion. Eno's somewhat flat and carefree vocals aids in making the dreamlike qualities stronger. Overall though, while far from directionless, the songs gladly drift off on their own accord in various studio acrobatics. Not in slow moving textures and minimal melodies like those you often encounter in electronic music, although shorter bits of that are also present, but instead anchored to tangible rhythm and melody, albeit in an often fragmented and transient way. There is a certain wistfulness to some of the music, but often with something playful and cheeky on top or underneath; just further proof of the strangely suspended atmosphere on Another Green World. Stylishly distanced, cold and yet alluring, controlled fieriness. It's not surprising that Eno collaborated with another artist with the same musical aesthetics; David Bowie during his Berlin era.

A typical compositional method is adding sharp, robotic sounds over a repeated and slightly varying series of distinct bass bursts and noodlings, with steady beat and enrichment from and underlying guitar or viola. There is seldom a clear lead instrument, but rather a holistic, layered approach where instruments come and go, but where no one really dominates. The buzzing and screeching noises produced by some of those synthesisers and organs are kind of hard to ignore though, but they're never really meant to be subtle either. It really is a melange of subtle and obvious, sharp and soft.

Being a mostly electronic album, you can't escape from the fact that atmosphere is key here. It's just not meant to be blazing guitar solos or other instrumental fireworks, but instead of the truly ethereal and cerebral albums of Tangerine Dream and others of that ilk (and even later Eno, to be fair) this a more musically engaging album, with meditative qualities that still manage to keep you on edge (or keep you awake for that matter!). The scope of the fourteen songs can change rather dramatically in terms of melody, ambience and technique, but they all share one important ingredient; the detached, pseudo-academic presentation and experimentation. That, and layering. Add one there, remove it again, add it with another one, strip down to percussion and bass. It feels a bit calculated, a fact that has the potential to scare off some listeners.

Comes with a recommendation.

4 stars.

//LinusW

"Another Green World" is the 3rd full-length studio album by UK art/ambient rock artist Brian Eno. The album was released through Island Records in September 1975.

The music on "Another Green World" sees a departure from the art pop/rock sound of the two previous albums "Here Come The Warm Jets (1973)" and "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974)" and introduces a much more experimental, ambient and predominantly instrumental music style. Only 5 of the 14 tracks feature lyrics and those 5 tracks are the only tracks that remind me slightly of the style of music on the two predecessors. It´s mostly because of Brian Eno´s voice and vocal lines though as the music itself are far removed from the music on the more organic sounding predecessors. The music on "Another Green World" features a cold sound and some tracks are ambient and solely made up of electronic sounding beats and keyboards/synths. While large portions of the album are truly a solo effort, Brian Eno is helped out on some tracks by guest musicians like John Cale, Phil Collins and Robert Fripp.

The musicianship is generally excellent on the album. For the first time since Brian Eno went solo it´s obvious that this is a keyboard player´s solo album. Not that there are any keyboard solo noodling on the album or anything like that but Brian Eno presents some really innovative and experimental playing ideas and sounds on the album while still maintaining an element of accessibility. The sound production must have seemed futuristic at the time of the album´s release. Some parts of the album sound like they were produced in the eighties.

Upon conclusion "Another Green World" is a good quality release by Brian Eno and quite a different sounding album compared to it´s two predecessors. A bold move by Brian Eno. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

As often, great inovators ar Brian Eno ( or Robert Fripp) have very different reviews for their music. And the reason is clear: everything depends on reviewer poin of view. If you are searching for extravaganza and experiments, it's one thing, if you 're listening for music - it's another. In fact, both groups of reviewers are rifght. Just for any raeder of these reviews it's important to understand, what is his point of view.

This album is quite strong, because it's MUSIC. Interesting sounds, melodies, songs at least. Just to give you some understanding, I can say it sounds as earlier Roxy Music songs, or sometimes as music in David Bowie's "Berlin Trilogy". In other words, it typical Eno in his best ( outside of ambient extravaganza). So, don't expect to find there too many loops, electro- sound tricks or 15 min two-buttons synth solos inside the room opened for all galactical space. As I told you earlier, it's just music.

Even worse, some song sound quite pop-oriented. What to do with it?

I thing, just leave it like it is! It's really nice MUSICAL album, great musicians, warm sound, melodies - you will enjoy the music. And the music is serious enough to be interesting even for proghead.

If you are searching for soundscapes, dark abstract ambient pictures, few electronic sounds just floating in space - just search in other place!

It's not a greatest music I even heard, but strong 3,5.

This album is really for completionists, since there is a complete lack of inspiration. Although Rober Fripp makes several appearances in the album, he does not save anything. I really bought the album because these appearances. The singer, that is Brian Eno, is really bad. It looks like some aficionado imitating the Beatles. The music is very boring all the time. I think that if one listen this album more than one hundred times, then one will think that has been loosing the time. I do not think that for any musician would be easy to do something better, it is amazing that this is so boring. The melodies from on to another tracks are almost the same. One star of course.

Another Green Wrld was the first real step Brian Eno takes directly into the direction he became famous for: ambient/eletronic music. From this album on he dropped his rock/glam ambitions and takes another turn into a more quiet and subtle kind of music. The first track is the only link with the two previous works, and even then, not much. The remaining tunes are much more quiet and very well crafted. the musicanship of all involved is superb (even if the music does not show anything fleshy or obvious). Production, as expected, is top notch!

The majority of the album is instrumental, but there a few good singing parts like St. Elmo's Fire (probably his best ´normal´ song in this CD) and Golden Hours. There is even some humored stuff like I´ll Come Running. But the best ones are the short, lyrical, quiet stuff like The Big Ship. They are all very good and quite groundbreaking for the time. I wonder the impact it must have had. The minimalistic, and melodic, approach is something to hear with care and atention. One of the truly ambient albums and one that is pleasant and hamrmonic structure enough to almost any person to hear and appreciate It. Another Green World serves very well as an introduction to the genre.

An excellent addition to any prog music collection, even if you´re not really an eletronic music fan like me. Rating: 3.5 to 4 stars.

Relying on one's own Oblique Strategies is perhaps the ultimate form of self-help. Whatever the case, this isn't an album I would see myself visiting very often. It is like tasteless, lumpy gravy. There's no unifying style, sound, or substance. It is eclectic, but not in a good way, and there are a couple of nice pieces, but a thick majority of this is just awful. What's more, when the music shows promise, it stops.

"Sky Saw" The highlight of this is no doubt the bass playing- it shines over all of the electronic brashness. I'm sorry though- all the garish silliness makes this unpleasant to even sit through- I grit my teeth.

"Over Fire Island" Once again, the bass is what holds my attention, but everything else just reeks of noise.

"St. Elmo's Fire" The first song is an upbeat one with actual direction and a pleasant, catchy melody. Expect fun vocals and piano, as well as an "electrifying" guitar solo from Robert Fripp.

"In Dark Trees" I like the rapid, locomotive sound driving the background and almost steel guitar whine that bears down on it.

"The Big Ship" This is the sort of progressive electronic music I like- it is powerful and heartwarming, and it has direction. It's a shame that, like most of the works on this album, it does not go anywhere.

"I'll Come Running" This wouldn't be a bad little ditty if it weren't for the silly lyrics and vocals. It's a laidback yet jaunty little piece led by piano.

"Another Green World" Brilliant thrusts of sound wash over a calm major bass line.

"Sombre Reptiles" This piece has a lazy, electronic and percussive Tex-Mex thing going.

"Little Fishes" Like a continuation from the previous track, this has a similar vibe, but a smaller sound, with lighter, quivering instrumentation.

"Golden Hours" Dull vocals drag over this otherwise bouncy bit of synthetic music. The guitar solo is a bit of fun, though.

"Becalmed" Soft and velvety synthetic pads fill out this brief piece, which is rather lovely.

"Zawinul / Lava" This is a gorgeous piece of music- so gentle and soothing. The piano carries a terse melody over airy washes of sound.

"Everything Merges With the Night" The second to last track is a weak folk track, with light acoustic guitar and piano. The vocals again are meager but not unpleasant.

"Spirits Drifting" The final piece is a thick bit of synthetic pads- nothing remarkable, much like this album.

Another Green World is considered by many to be the most celebrated album by Brian Eno. And they have all right to consider it as such since this release is definitely a bold artistic statement!

The album marked an even further development of Eno's electronic experimentation, a style which at the time was still considered somewhat underdeveloped. Although bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream went further into developing their music into long atmospheric pieces Brian Eno chose to maintain the short music format and instead give us as many different variations of the electronic sound that he possibly could fit on a vinyl record. This decision has been met with both criticism and praise from the listeners. Still there is no denying that Another Green World will go down in history as a landmark of experimental music.

Sky Saw is a famous album opening that features a steady bass pattern while the rest of the arrangements constantly change their instrumental structures. This type of contrasts will play an important roll all throughout the album but surprisingly enough the music here never feels forced or difficult to enjoy. Besides, there are still quite a few catchy pop tunes with memorable melodies that will keep the audiences attention all throughout the album.

St. Elmo's Fire features one of the most memorable contributions by Robert Fripp playing one of the weirdest improvised guitar solos of his career! For me this is his second best performance on an album outside the realm of King Crimson. Had it not been for his work on the title track of Bowie's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) it would have easily taken the first spot.

Becalmed is an almost ambient piece and considering my unsuccessful history with ambiance I was quite critical to this composition but unlike some of Eno's later full-fledged ambient experiments the music here is much more melodic. On top of that there is tight structure that keeps the listener's attention all throughout the piece making it the perfect introduction for even those of us who find ambient music difficult to enjoy!

It's another excellent release from the ever-surprising Brian Eno-discography and a great addition to any prog rock music collection!

***** star songs: St. Elmo's Fire (3:02) In Dark Trees (2:32) Golden Hours (4:00)

**** star songs: Sky Saw (3:28) Over Fire Island (1:51) The Big Ship (3:02) Another Green World (1:42) Sombre Reptiles (2:21) Becalmed (3:57) Zawinul/Lava (3:00) Everything Merges With The Night (3:59) Spirits Drifting (2:37)

*** star songs: I'll Come Running (3:50) Little Fishes (1:35)

This is a complete masterpiece. Somewhat influenced by Can's great album "Future World", Eno constructs the sound and feel of a cleaner, better, greener world. And does it very successfully.

Simply Brian's best. Although there's some ambient qualities, this is still meant for active listening. I think it's the first Eno I got way back in the early 80s. Another Green World is a great title, since it sounds like a different place and time and possibly a different world. Except for Can's Future Days, there wasn't anything that sounded like it up to that point, and frankly nothing since it either. I used to put this on in graduate school to relax and escape to. So totally surreal and different, it would carry me away.

Its a real shame he entered into his ambient/wallpaper music world. Thats just not as nearly as compelling as this truly original and special album.

At last, Eno the Impressionist painter arrives, resulting in one of his best albums and one that even many haters of Ambient music as a concept tend to tip their hats to. Essentially, it's a collection of fairly short "sound paintings" that evoke various images of the peaceful world that lies behind the hustle and bustle in which each of us spend most of our times, interspersed with a small handful of "normal" songs (the presence of which explains why this is still categorized as one of his "big 4" song-oriented albums, even though 75% of the album is instrumental), and as a whole it absolutely 100% works. Some of the tracks aren't as spellbinding as others, and many of them would become rather problematic if stretched to the length of an average Tiger Mountain track, but as a whole the effect is amazing.

Of course, it also doesn't hurt that the four "normal" songs here are absolutely ace, and among the very best that Eno would ever put to tape. The first three each feature Robert Fripp as a guest, and in each case he throws in an amazing solo, but not in a violent "Baby's on Fire" sort of way; to the contrary, he's rather restrained, but still full of giddy, emotionally-charged energy, and is a major reason these songs are as enjoyable as they are. "St. Elmo's Fire" combines an upbeat poppy piano/synth onslaught with an absolutely amazing vocal melody and some of the best vocal harmonies imaginable (the way the multiple Enos come together to sing, "In the bluuuuuuue August moooooooon, in the coooooooool August mooooooooooon" is something you have to hear to believe), and when Robert starts playing after Eno sings, "And we saw St. Elmo's Fire splitting ions in the ether," the effect is simply orgasmic. "I'll Come Running," which comes three tracks later, is a relatively simple pop song full of rolling piano lines, but who needs complexity when you have such a perfect song about what real love is and with such a majestic guitar solo over such majestic synth chords in the break? Funnily enough, Fripp's instrumental credit in the song actually says, "Restrained Lead Guitar," and it's his combination of restraint and majesty here that makes the whole effect so amazing.

Three tracks later comes the album's longest song (at a whopping 4:01), the mellow, downbeat "Golden Hours," featuring Fripp on "Winborne Guitar" and with some bits of viola work from John Cale (who also shows up on the opening Sky Saw). The vocal melody is once again stupendous, the keyboard textures that drive the song forward are amazing and hypnotic as anything, the lyrics are amazing (for some reason, the line, "I can't see the lines I used to think I could read between" strikes me as a particularly inspired line), and Fripp's speedy-yet-delicate solo in the break is something I would never have imagined possible from the man if I only knew his Crimson work (then again, I guess he did play the guitar lines in "Epitaph," but by this time that was a musical lifetime ago, and even then this is way more delicate). And finally, the penultimate track, "Everything Merges with the Night," features one Brian Turrington on bass guitar and piano, with Eno himself handling the guitars, and the way he makes the guitars every bit as entrancing as his synths are in the rest of the album is truly something to behold. It goes without saying, too, that the vocal melody is of jaw-dropping quality.

So that's the "normal" songs, and I still haven't mentioned the ten other tracks of the album. "Sky Saw" also has vocals on it, but it can hardly be lumped in with the four tracks already mentioned, as the vocals are a largely superfluous element on top of a chaotic number (with edgy, unsteady drumming from Phil Collins and two separate bass players) that really does remind me of a see-saw (that happens to also be "sawing" back and forth) floating in the sky, going up and down in a perversely hypnotic matter. The viola section is ace too, by the way.

Of the other nine tracks, a small handful are real standouts, whereas the others, while certainly not hurting anything (and in fact being rather essential for "filling out" the album as a whole), tend to fall into a "huh, that's pretty neat" category rather than a "wow, that's awesome" category. Amongst the "lesser" tracks of this album, I'd include "Over Fire Island," the title track, "Little Fishes" and "Zawinul/Lava"; all of them are either neat or kinda pretty, and they don't go on long enough to get boring (though I'd actually say "Zawinul/Lava" comes a little close), but they don't make me particularly giddy either. To a lesser extent, I'd also include "Sombre Reptiles" in the list, even though the music is really evocative of big Komodo Dragons lying around on rocks (at least, it is in my mind); it's neat, but it doesn't stir much inside me.

The other tracks, however, stir plenty. "In Dark Trees" reminds me of getting lost and trapped in a dense jungle, with only bits of sunlight peering through the dense canopy of trees above, and with a sense that danger is all around me and could strike at any time. "Becalmed" is just pure, unadulterated gorgeousness, mixing a somewhat mournful piano line with synths that do their very best to try and bring a ray of happiness to the proceedings. And the closing "Spirits Drifting," well, that just reminds of that part at the end of the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence in Fantasia with all of the spirits returning to their graves as night draws to a close.

None of this, however, measures up to the sheer minimalist brilliance that is "The Big Ship." It kinda follows the "On Some Faraway Beach" formula of layering one line after another until the result is pure catharsis, but this takes an even more minimalistic approach (except for the percussion loop Eno sticks underneath), as it uses "stiller" synth sequences (and no vocals) to make its point. It's hard to describe on paper what exactly it is that makes this track stick out so much, but a couple of listens ought to do the trick; it's simultaneously majestic, depressing, optimistic and crushingly powerful. It's amazing what just a couple of well-placed synth lines and a bit of distortion can do ...

What a great album. It gets a little saggy in places in the second half, but that's really the only complaint I could possibly come up with in general. If you have any interest whatsoever in the roots of ambient music, or in creative use of instrumental textures, or, heck, in just plain ole great music (sans any other qualifiers), pick up this album asap.

Apart from his collaborative album "No Pussyfooting" (with Fripp) , "Another Green World" is the first Eno soloalbum, containing mainly instrumental ambient music, only five of fourteen pieces have lyrics, making the album stand out as a transission from the Rock inspired albums, to the series of ambient albums that was to come. "Another Green World" was Eno's progressive rock masterpiece, his style was now refined to its peak level, the wierdness of "Here Comes the warm Jets" compleetly gone, replaced by a complex, yet not overloaded landscape, the unexpected rythm structures from percussions/drumbox, is exceptional. Seven tracks Eno playing everything himself.

The Album shows Eno very adult, and controlled, but very experimental at the same time.

Notable Contributions: "Sky Saw" the opening track, a great Eno song, might be his best. Collins (Genesis) on drums, Percy Jones (Brand X) on Bass, John Cale (The Velvet Underground) on viola. Jones/Collins creating something pointing in a Brand X direction.

"Over Fire Islands" Collins (Genesis) on drums, Percy Jones (Brand X) on Bass.

"St. Elmos Fire" Fripp (King Crimson) electric guitar solo, stunning !, Fripp have fired of some of his most excellent guitar solo's on Eno albums.

"I'll Come Running" Fripp (King Crimson) electric guitar solo, this time unusaly straight for a Fripp.

"Golden Hours", John Cale (The Velvet Underground) on viola. Fripp (King Crimson) electric guitar. Fripp here on a clean guitar sound, very fripp'ish plectrum picklings.

"Zawinul / Lava" Collins (Genesis) on drums, Percy Jones (Brand X) on Bass. This time on a calm piece. Almost as if made for a Jazz Rock album.

Some might not find that Eno is essiental, he is far from those giants, Genesis, Floyd, Yes in his style and approach, but prog. represents a wide range of music styles, and Eno was and continued to be pushing the boundries of Rock music. Another Green world is the early masterpiece from Eno, an album that is a must in Your prog. collection, no matter if You are the Experimental/Ambient, the Eclectic Prog, or the Jazz Rock sector. If Your approach to prog. is hard rock/metal, this is not for You, unless You are ready to expand ? It goes without saying, that any Phil Colling, Percy Jones or Fripp collector...........

This album does really stand head and shoulders above his other "song" based albums before he started making soundscape music. And really unlike the first two albums this has an abstract and melancholic feel to it even though the songs are all fairly short and accessible. Fripp really shines at times and Percy Jones is prominant throughout. Phil Collins is well... Phil Collins, very professional, one of the best.

"Sky Saw" sounds so good, especially the mind bending guitar riff that comes and goes. Bass and drums are always out front as well. Vocals after 1 1/2 minutes. Some viola from John Cale 3 minutes in. "Over Fire Island" opens with bass and percussion as keyboards join in. Minimilistic is the word. I like it ! "St.Elmo's Fire" has vocals and intricate sounds and is uptempo. Check out the guitar 1 1/2 minutes in. "In Dark Trees" has a rhythm that reminds me of CAN. "The Big Ship" builds to another great sounding soundscape. Quite moving. "I'll Come Running" is led by piano and drums as vocals join in singing "I'll come running to tie your shoes" over and over. Guitar is incredible before 2 minutes.

"Another Green World" is a short soundscape tune. "Sombre Reptiles" has this beat with synths. Cool sounding track. "Little Fishes" is slow moving and a little spacey. "Golden Hours" has a catchy rhythm as the vocals join in. "Becalmed" opens with spacey winds and piano. An emotional atmosphere arrives before 1 1/2 minutes. "Zawinul / Lava" has these sparse piano lines and other sounds. Very minimalistic. "Everything Merges With The Night" opens with piano, strummed guitar and bass as vocals join in. Reminds me of early FLOYD. "Spirits Drifting" is a spacey and dreamy track.

I absolutely love this album. Interesting that he sort of back peddled in my opinion with his next one "Before And After Science". I can find no fault with this one at all. It suits my tastes perfectly.

When people talk about Another Green World, they tend to bring up its relevance, how it managed to do so much for both rock and electronica, how there had never really been anything like it before it came out, etc.

That stuff doesn't really interest me. What I think makes this album a masterpiece isn't its cultural relevance or influence, it's the emotion, it's the way Eno can make you want to cry with the flick of a switch or the push of a button. It's the way in which he manipulates electronic sounds, rock instrumentation and even occasionally world music to create something that is not unlike art in its purest form.

To borrow from occasional music reviewer Tucker Stone, there's a quality to Eno's music that turns seasoned, scholarly critics into blithering fools and slack-jawed morons into wizened sages. There's a fragility to Another Green World that's hard to put into words. The way in which it manages to empathize with the listener and instill them with hope and wonderment, not with words but with sounds, is something close to magic. Across Krautrock, across the electronic spectrum, across the rock world, I haven't encountered anything like this, music that can express feeling with noise in such a way as to make the listener swoon.

When I was very young, maybe 15 or so, I heard this album for the first time. I had no love for electronica and absolutely no experience with "experimental" or even non-linear music. But this was something different. In the cold of night, headphones on, nestled beneath the covers of my bed, I could wonder about myself, hope and fear for the world around me, and feel like a friend was by my side, listening and reciprocating every word.

That's the magic of Another Green World, I think. Just as much as it's music you listen to, it is music that listens back.

This album reminds me a lot of another electronic exploit of more recent times, namely Moby's Play. Both albums are filled with a wide variety of short tracks varying between songs and ambient snapshots, but whatever the type of the piece, all of them are rather uneventful and dispassionate: every track starts as if it could get somewhere interesting but after 2 or 3 minutes of musical stand-still, all of them end before getting anywhere at all.

The other angle is to approach this album for its historical value, which is nothing short of ground-breaking. Scattered throughout the album lay the seeds for the sounds of the next decade, inspiring artists like John Cale, David Bowie, Japan, Ultravox, Simple Minds and many others. But since each of those have music that transcends Eno in both songwriting and performance, the album has little to offer beside its historical relevance.

Eno is sure a pillar in rock history but I prefer him in collaborations with strong songwriters. On this album I find him pleasant but rather uninvolving. Much like his vocals by the way. 3.5 stars still.

With this amazing third album, Brian Eno shows us an abstract world, sounds that resemble an extraordinary universe, so distant from this one.

Eno reaches his highest peak with "Another Green World", and definite maturity. Stylistically speaking it's very far from the first two albums; in here the experimentation breaks in roughly, and all of the quirky, eccentric songs are gone. Here we have or brief, electonic songs, or sophisticated, calm, ,melancholic Pop/Rock songs, sung by Eno with such depth that it's hard to imagine how he reached this level in one year. Basically, "Another Green World" is a first approach to that genre that Eno himself will be precursor, Ambient. In this way, this album , as well as the 1977 album "Before And After Science", can be considered a bridge between two periods; the first two album will form the first one, all the Ambient-Electronic releases form the second one. Once again the guest musicians are plenty, from Fripp, to Manzanera, to Phil Collins. Basically the usual ones.

Once again, Eno uses the same writing down lyrics method; singing first nonsense syllables to himself, write them down and find a sense in them. As a results, the few lyrics we find in this album (five out of fourteen songs are sung) are quite bizarre and eccentric, and it's not always easy to find a sense in them. The other nine songs don't need lyrics; the titles of the songs perfectly resemble with the music, like in "the Big Ship", or "Little Fishes". In this way, "Another Green World" is a journey through a world that can be imagined only thanks to the hearing of the music, an abstract universe that lives only within the person who truly listens and appreciates this piece of art.

This journey gives us many, memorable episodes; from the strange "Sky Saw" , to the beautiful "St.Elmo's Fire", to the odd title track. Then again, the underrated "Golden Hours", "In Dark trees", "Sombre Reptiles". All of these songs have an atmosphere, character, and unquestionable fascination. I could easily mention all of these songs, since there is absolutely no mediocre one.

An essential masterpiece, a landmark album that if you appreciate music you must listen to, more than once. 5 stars.

This is third "Eno" album and third disappointment as far as I am concerned.

Still, I have to say that some fine moments can be experienced during this album but gosh! One needs to have a lot of patience in order to reach them!

Some innocent, naïve and minimalist grandeur can be found during "Golden Hours" and some tranquil and ambient mood during the excellent "Becalmed" are the best pieces of music I can think of while listening to this third "Eno" work. For sure no other big deal, I am afraid.

But to be honest "Another Green World" does hold more decent music than its predecessors. But in my view, it was not very difficult. The whole is not going to score higher than two stars though: the useless "Zawinul / Lava" and "Everything Merges With The Night" are good examples to sustain such a rating.

There are so many great musicians featured on this album, but so much poor song writing in my view. Below average music it is. Third verse, same as the first: two stars, no more.

Having been intrigued by David Bowie's Heroes, I've decided to make my first venture into Eno-land. I have opted to begin at what is ostensibly the peak of his solo discography, Another Green World. It is often a cold and melancholic album with a few brighter breaks. It is made up of electronic instrumentals which don't always seem to develop and a few somewhat stiff pop tracks. As negative as that might sound, it works for Eno.

Like many albums, the mood you are in will have a serious impact on how much you will enjoy the album. The more you are prepared to relax and simply let the music simply wash over you, the more I think you going to be able to get from it.

My favourite tracks from the album are "The Big Ship," "Becalmed" and "St. Elmo's Fire." The Big Ship is reminiscent of V2 Schneider from Heroes, with its a slowly rising crescendo. It has an unfortunately abrupt finish, but that doesn't stop me from liking it. Becalmed is the most gentle of my picks from the album. It is soft and textural not unlike Vangelis or Tangerine Dream, but a bit less refined.

"St. Elmo's Fire" is one of those few bright spots on the album I mentioned earlier. It fits into the pop category, but it is highly eccentric. For one, guitars are provided by another Heroes contributor Robert Fripp. Eno also seems to allow himself to get a little more whimsical both musically and lyrically than anywhere else on the album. This one is highly worth a listen. (Not quite enough to break the top three but also enjoyable is "Everything Merges with the Night")

Before I wrap it up here, there are a few things I absolutely have to get off my chest. Golden Hours sounds like the music from my old Sega GameGear. Not a bad thing, but kinda funny. Second, Zawinul / Lava if it is indeed a name check of Weather Report's Joe Zawinul isn't anywhere near as electric as it should be.

If you find yourself in the right frame of mind, Another Green world can be an exceptional album. I would say however for most listeners in most frames of mind you'll find this album somewhat unremarkable. Perhaps save for a collection of tracks like the ones I've mentioned. Overall I'd give it three out of five; Good yes, essential no.

The third solo album from Eno shows him moving away from the quirky rock of the first two albums and hinting at his more ambient future. This is the first album he recorded where he used his 'Oblique Strategies' cards; he would randomly pick a card and follow whatever instruction was on it. Compared to the first two albums, this is more instrumental and the lyrics are generally less humourous than before. Fripp is back to play some guitar and Phil Collins brought his Brand X bandmate, bassist Percy Jones with him. Former Velvet Underground member John Cale adds some viola and keyboards.

I once read that the guitar in "Sky Saw" could slice the heavens in half. Great bass playing here. A brief vocal section. Cale does some interesting viola playing at the end. Brand X later reworked "Over Fire Island" into the title track of their album Unorthodox Behaviour. Nice mix of steady snare rim hitting, fretless bass and spacey synths. Great song but way too short. "St. Elmo's Fire" features one of Fripp's all-time best guitar solos. Nice piano parts in this song as well as overdubbed harmony vocals from Eno himself. A highlight of the album.

"The Big Ship" is a great piece of early ambient. The drum machine he uses here now sounds very wimpy and cheesy; sounds like the same drum machine the Residents were using at the same time. "I'll Come Running" sounds the most like the songs from the first two albums. Some kind of quirky ballad. Don't understand the chorus "I'll come running to tie your shoes". "Golden Hours" has vocals and is one of the better songs on the album. Nice classical/Spanish style guitar playing. Cool overdubbed Enos as back-up vocals. Not sure of the significance of "Zawinul" in "Zawinul/Lava", doesn't sound too much like something Josef would do.

The quality starts to drop off near the end. The last few songs are more ambient and mellow than most of what came before. The first half of the album is almost flawless, however. Some songs just feature Eno on keyboards and drum machines. This was a very unique sounding album for 1975. This is much more praised now than when it was first released. It was one of those albums where people did not know what to think of it at the time. I like this album, but overall I prefer his quirky rock side to his instrumental ambient stuff. I'll give this 4 stars but it really starts to get boring near the end.

Another Green World is one of the more accessible albums put together by Brian Eno, if not for any other reason than the handful of pop tracks ("St. Elmo's Fire", "I'll Come Running", "Everything Merges With The Night", "Golden Hours") present among the harsh electronic experimentalism. The experimental tracks outnumber the pop tracks, but those experimental tracks aren't inaccessible drones or ambience; rather, they are slightly harsh electronic and instrumental sonic experiments that are relatively short in length, but are full of power and odd effects. But besides the obvious presence of Brian Eno, a few popular names in progressive rock make some interesting appearances, such as Robert Fripp, Percy Jones, Phil Collins and John Cale. And their roles on this album aren't peripheral; they stand out greatly within the music and really add elements to the music that Eno himself would never have been able to create.

I initially didn't care much for this album, because of the pop songs (which really are sort of experimental anyway), but it grew on me and now I can see that this album is actually of impressive quality. This is definitely one of the best starter-points for potential Eno fans.

Highly recommended.

Eno's solo masterwork is an ambient rock wonder, abandoning the glam trappings of earlier solo albums entirely in favour of brittle, jagged soundscapes which would eventually come to exert a powerful influence on the artier end of the New Wave. Nowhere is the New Wave connection more on apparent than the song (chant?) St Elmo's Fire, which features an electrifying solo from Robert Fripp. Brand X show up to provide much of the instrumental backing (Phil Collins having enjoyed working with Eno on Taking Tiger Mountain so much he thought he'd bring some friends along next time), and Eno himself is at his enigmatic, ambient best.

No, the word "fantastic" is just not going to cut it. It is definitely revolutionary, although that does not sound like the focus. "Deep" may be the word, even though that's not the case for all tracks on this record. The least I can say is that the record, in general, is beyond amazing, and that's what counts, I suppose.

I happened to be one of those people on whom this record was only growing for some time. I can't recall to any memory of this album being dormant or boring. Actually, this album is nearly full of life. It started working on me on the second or third listen, starting with, probably, 'Little Fishes' or 'Becalmed'. That is because I used to have this habit of skimming through an album by skipping some tracks and excerpts of other tracks. That was wrong. 'Sky Saw', the opener, should be the first thing you have to listen to. If you ask me what is my personal favorite, then I can't tell you right now. I'm tired of classics that I have heard dozens of times. 'Becalmed' used to be my biggest favorite and it needs to be absorbed with your ears from the very start to the very finish, because the combo of the wind with the tinkling piano notes and the rich, almost crystalline synth sounds were capable of getting on my deepest senses. Actually, it is 'Spirits Drifting' that really clicked with me first, and that's how I concluded that it is a must-hear, because those synths can affect your psyche beyond words. And the beauty of these ambient tracks is that they are short, yet sufficiently long for personal satisfaction. It is another world indeed. You are not here. You are there.

If you like ambient and pop separately, get this album. If you also want these styles in a homogeneous mixture, get "Before and After Science".

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

1. 'Sky Saw' - **** (my stepbro said your head can go dizzy on this one)

2. 'Over Fire Island' - ***** (Phil Collins' musicianship growth is in progress and that coda is such a buzz !)

3. 'St. Elmo's Fire' - **** (sounds like a cheap song, yet it's adequately built)

4. 'In Dark Trees' - ** (Not for me. Maybe it's for you.)

5. 'The Big Ship' - ***** (One of the rare cases where ambient can really have an energetic drive. Go ahead and dare to label this as "space-rock".)

6. 'I'll Come Running' - **** (I kind of dig that lightweight British humor in this catchy "pop" song.)

7. 'Another Green World' - ***** (One of the must-hear melodies from Bobby Fripp. I can imagine Eno riding a motorbike in another, completely green, world)

8. 'Sombre Reptiles' - **** (Somewhat entertaining and menacing.)

9. 'Little Fishes' - *** (Yeah, I can actually imagine gold fish veering through water. This is very pure music; it certainly tastes like water.)

10. 'Golden Hours' - *** (Somewhat catchy and a little bit funny, yet dark.)

11. 'Becalmed' - ***** (This is my golden nugget here.)

12. 'Zawinul/Lava' - ** (One night I perceived this as five-star material. Seriously. It probably works as a kind of a dark lullaby.)

13. 'Everything Merges With the Night' - *** (The synth guitar sound and Eno's vocal timbre are the highlights here.)

14. 'Spirits Drifting' - ***** (No pressure. I just think those synths are some of the best things since sliced bread. When was the last time sliced bread made you feel different?)

Stamp: "I like it."

Originally starting out as an experiment Brian Eno ended up creating one of his most praised albums. For the first few days the creation of Another Green World was frustrating for Eno as he struggled to produce any workable ideas, compounded by the fact he had nothing written or prepared beforehand. So he turned to his 'Oblique Strategies' for direction. These cards with instructions and prompts allowed Eno to get over his creative block and work the resulting ideas into Another Green Word with the help of guest musicians. Robert Fripp of King Crimson, who had collaborated with Eno on No Pussy Footing and Evening Star (both excellent albums), Ex Velvet Underground member John Cale and Phil Collins on drums! (yes Phil Collins the unlikely eighties pop star who ruined The Supremes wonderful 'You Can't Hurry Love') played on about half of the tracks, while Eno performed solo on the others utilizing such fanciful instruments as the Leslie piano and Snake Guitar.

Eno later said of Another Green World "People tend to think of that as a song record. But it isn't, it's an instrumental record with the odd bit of vocal." The songs are witty with a very English playfulness (check out these lyrics from 'Sky Saw' "Mau Mau starter ching ching da da/Daughter daughter dumpling data/Pack and pick the ping-pong starter") which he shared with contemporaries such as Kevin Ayers and Robert Wyatt. His songs feature characters who seem to be caught in fixed freezes (like the figures on the album sleeve), with the world moving past, as in 'I'll Come Running' "I'm gonna waste the rest of my days/Just watching patiently from the window" or "Several times I've seen the evening slide away" on 'Golden Hours'. While the instrumentals are like the environments the static characters watch, they unfurl slowly like midweek afternoons when there's nothing to do or evenings when sights and sounds are muted. They are imaginary soundscapes with evocative titles such as my personal fav 'In Dark Trees' (as mysterious as the title suggests), 'Somber Reptiles' (that brings up images of disconsolate dying dinosaurs) and the restful title track which was used as the theme for the BBC2 arts series Arena.

Another Green World is interesting precisely because it is the point between Eno the song writer and Brian Eno the ambient composer. His next album would be purely instrumental fittingly titled Discreet Music.

BRIAN ENO left Roxy Music in 1973 after a couple of albums having grown tired of the limitations of rock stardom and had the desire to expand his horizons into more experimental musical ambitions however on his first two solo albums "Here Come The Warm Jets" and "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" he still latched onto the glam rock sounds that made Roxy Music such a legend although ENO certainly reimagined them to his liking and in the process crafted two classic art pop albums that were highly influential. Indeed those albums sounded like nothing else the 70s had to offer and when it came to ENO's third solo release ANOTHER GREEN WORLD he was starting to shed the glam rock sounds of his early professional career and was heading more in the direction of where his collaboration with Robert Fripp on "Pussyfooting" was heading.

ANOTHER GREEN WORLD was released in September 1975 and basically served as a juncture where his previous glam rock leanings coexisted side by side with the ambient and electronic sounds that would emerge on the next album "Discreet Music" that would follow a few months later in December. The results gave ANOTHER GREEN WORLD a distinct unique hybridization effect unheard on any other ENO album and one that has gained a loyal cult following ever since for its innovative approach of incorporating aspects of progressive electronic sounds woven into catchy art pop compositions. Like the albums before, ENO solicited the help of a few friends. Robert Fripp joined in for three tracks, the most adventurous being the fiery guitar solos with his wimshurst guitar on "St. Elmo's Fire." Likewise Phil Collins from Genesis contributed to a few tracks as well as the Velvet Underground's John Cale. Several others were included as well.
 Added to that ENO employed his outsider views of how to craft new innovative sounds such as electric guitars played with mallets which were electronically modified to sound like castanets as well as crafting something called the Leslie piano which fed acoustic piano sounds through a Leslie speaker. Other innovations on the guitar meant that ANOTHER GREEN WORLD showcased some very unorthodox guitar sounds unlike anything else ever recorded. This album wasn't successful in the commercial world but impressed the insiders of the music world and has since then gone down as a classic of innovative art rock from the mid-70s. ENO was also busy after his Roxy Music days with numerous collaborations which included his most famous example with Robert Fripp in the form of "No Pussyfooting" as well as other with Kevin Ayers, Nico, Lady June and Phil Manzanera.

The year 1975 was a tough one for ENO when in January he was hit by a taxi and forced to spend some downtime at home but in the process discovered that a broken channel of his stereo led to new inspirations of how to manipulate sound dynamics. This led to his interest in ambient sounds which led to "Discreet Music" but also altered his perceptions on how to record ANOTHER GREEN WORLD. For the most part, ANOTHER GREEN WORLD consists of two distinct types of tracks. One style is the pure chilled out ambient tracks that directly points to his future releases and the others are sort of leftover from his art pop albums that preceded except that the vocals that are pretty much in the same style as "Tiger" and "Jets" are crafted over more electronic musical accompaniments rather than glam rock, however they still have enough rock elements to be classified as such. While many cite this as one of ENO's zenith performances, i don't quite find it to be so perfect. Due to the inconsistencies of random snippets of electronica appearing between the art pop tracks, the album has sort of a disjointed feel to it unlike the albums that came before and would soon emerge after. Not that any of the tracks are bad in any way but some of the electronic only performances are rather forgettable.

At this point ENO was a huge underground superstar behind the scenes in the music industry even if he wasn't exactly a household name. His unorthodox creativity made him quite sought after in the studio as a producer and beyond. He would continue to create highly innovative ambient albums alone and then with artists like Cluster, David Bowie and Phil Manzanera's 801. While i much prefer the glam rock albums that came before or the pure ambient ones soon to be released, there's no denying that ANOTHER GREEN WORLD is an excellent innovative slice of ambient pop with some of the most clever means of production. ENO was a master of crafting catchy tunes with a receptive bass line but exploring bizarre avant-garde arenas with the changing structures that layered over the simple rhythmic grooves. The most widely used word for his style of music that encompassed his first three albums is simply "quirky," and i can't think of a better description than that to sum it all up succinctly.

I listened to Brian Eno albums a couple of years back and considered them average from a progressive rock mind's view. After having listened to Berlin-era of Bowie's albums and Fripp output, my interest arose again and for a good reason.

Eno created a highly original row of progressive electronic albums that are very different from a classic progressive rock album. Unusual music approaches, minimalism, different chords with even some dissonance, no showing off with extended soloing, you need to be open to digest Eno. Well, I love his analogue synthesizers so it's easier for me.

Most tracks are not melodic and focus on textures or rhythm section - just listen to the first two tracks with Collins on drums. There's no concept, tracks seem to be randomly selected and ordered. Among accessible highlights belong "St. Elmo's fire" with some poppy tendencies due to vocals, melody and keyboards. Guitar by Fripp is astonishing even overkilling the lightness of the song.

"In dark trees" is indeed dark, pulsating, mechanical and can be classified as one of post-rock pioneers thanks to keyboards and guitar.

"The big ship" has beautiful synth sound and harmonies, it's uplifting but still soothing. "Golden hours" is another sung and quite accessible track.

"Becalmed" and "Zawinul/Lava" are two snowy instrumentals and hint at later Berlin period with Bowie. "Spirits drifting" is a nice goodbye track without being very sophisticated.

Overall, I like this album and it is certainly a very influential one. But let's also admit, that there is less complexity and substance than on most prog-rock albums of that era. As a result, after a couple of listenings, the listener might be willing for more.