Track Listing:
1. Sky Saw
2. Over Fire Island
3. St. Elmo's Fire
4. In Dark Trees
5. The Big Ship
6. I'll Come Running
7. Another Green World
8. Sombre Reptiles
9. Little Fishes
10. Golden Hours
11. Becalmed
12. Zawinul/Lava
13. Everything Merges With The Night
14. Spirits Drifting
Best Track: St Elmo's Fire
Ambient doesn't always have to be soporific
The one and only synth God Brian Eno shed a lot of his art/glam rock history with arguably the first ever ambient album. And for good measure he keeps enough pop-rock sensibility in it to keep the album interesting, as you shall see.
The opener Sky Saw is an enjoyable synth workout with an 'in you face' swinging synth immediately slashing against the listeners ears. As the song goes on more quieter synth melodies fizz beneath the main slashing but it combines nicely. This track isn't ambeint but it's a nice throwback to Eno's synth experimentation with Roxy Music. And of course he does more as this album goes on. Over Fire Island clunks along with a minimalist bass line that holds Eno's mad shaky synths from falling out of the song. St Elmo's Fire is in another league though, with Eno singing in a poetic and fairy tale like style that is so damn attractive to the ears (In the bluuuuueeee August mooooooon...) And then Eno's old pal Mr Robert Fripp delivers a flowing guitar solo that is so easy and relaxed contrasting with the rhythmic synths and gentle percussion like colours in a painting.
The percussion is used again on In Dark Trees, which is the first real exploration into the ambient style. But despite it's simplicity it is still rather interesting and not at all boring either. The Big Ship continues to proves that point, with an almost harsh organ like background underpinning the slow build of the song to a higher synth melody that just ripples over that organ. Eno reverts back to a nice pop ditty in I'll Come Running to change the atmosphere a little. The lyrics are also fairy tale like; not making a lot of sense but at the same time being very addictive and sweet sounding. Fripp delivers his second brilliant solo which rides nicely on Eno's piano wave. And then Eno harmonises his own voice in a lovely echoey "ohohohohohoh" over a poetic "I'll come running to tie your shoes" a number of times. Pop mastery in a nutshell.
Another Green World has a deceiving guitar like synth fuzz over it that keeps it interesting, whilst Sombre Reptiles has a scaley buzzing percussion that certainly fits that reptile theme. And who would have guessed it, it has a sombre tone. Not obvious at all, but the fact is it combines the relaxing elements of ambient music with enough interesting musical artiness to keep the listener on their toes. Little Fishes is yet another example of this with little synth swirls and an almost flute like synth wash behind the swirls. Golden Hours features Eno's echoey vocal harmonies again that gives it an almost creepy "late night" effect. Some more weird but so memorable lyrics (Perhaaappsss my brain has turned to sand.../Perhaps my brains are old and scrambled...) dominate before Fripp delivers a third sonic gift to us. A plucky piece of guitar noodling that sounds electronically treated becomes his third great solo. And then a little viola outro gets us on our way to the next song. Smart lad this Eno was.
Becalmed is the most "ambient" and purely calming track on the album (I wonder why...). This could put someone to sleep, but no not from boredom. Eno wouldn't allow that. No, he prefers lullabying people to sleep with his soothing synths that sound like they could have been strings but instead have drowned in a sea of electronic beauty. Some limpid piano I believe softly coo's the song to end. Zawinul/Lava's skinny intro of a slow piano melody and later synth droplets keep the listener close to falling asleep but a few delicate percussion flicks and soft synth wails keep the listener from totally losing conciousness. Everything Merges With The Night is the last pop rock song on the album presenting Eno singing in a reflective and almost mournful style. But it doesn't feel sad at all, no the sparkling synth and piano interplay keeps it in a reasonably calm but postive atmosphere. More synth waves keep coming with a few bass bumps keeping it from floating away on it's cloudlike lightness. Spirit's Drifting ends the album appropriately. This is the type of album where a low key and stylish ending is needed, and the song delivers with a slightly throbbing synth soundscape. Quiet but pleasant, the song casually fades way into Eno's synth night, ending the album well.
In terms of pure synth innovation this album would easily be highly rated. Add to the fact that it effectively started the whole ambient genre and that it had a small collection of synthy pop rock songs to boot, it's really hard not to give this album the highest rating. The only reason it gets a 14 is the fact that it could have done with one or two more of those pop songs like St Elmo's Fire and Golden Hours, which are the highlights of the album. The more ambient leaning material here is still quality though, and certainly this is a great album to start with when listening to Eno's solo records.
14/15 (God how many water comparisons did I make in that review...) ;)
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