Music Arcades: Brian Eno: Before and After Science

I think I may have underestimated this album. The obvious thing would be to pair it with Another Green World, since it followed chronologically and also features a mix of songs and instrumentals. In my mind I always felt it fell even more into that neither-fish-nor-fowl category. While some opinions become more stark and sclerotic over time, others mellow. This is a case of the latter. It's still not a top-flight Eno album, but it's easier to put aside the comparisons with its betters and enjoy its several pleasures.

Let me list a few of them.

Those daft lyrics that exist on the threshold of sense. We know that one of the methods used to write them was to shout syllable sounds that seemed to fit alongside the music, and then try to assemble some words out of what he'd shouted. But if you or I tried that method, I very much doubt the results would be anything like as good. And, like Stephin Merritt and Alasdair Roberts, I'm a sucker for faintly daft internal rhymes.
The performances by an extraordinary bunch of musicians, some of whom are heard as you've never heard them before. Phil Collins gets a lot of stick (unintended pun), some of it deserved, but I don't expect many of the retirement notices reference the interesting little footnotes to his career, like the two tracks on which he plays on this album.
Anything that references Kurt Schwitters has got something going for it. Who in pop is doing anything remotely like that today? Maybe The Guillemots are, I don't know.
By This River is one of Eno's collaborations with Cluster, and they're always a bit of a treasure.
I'm scraping the barrel now, but my inner trainspotter wants to tell you the rumour that the Julie with open blouse in Julie with… is alleged to be Julie Christie (see earlier reference — shit, I'm turning into a celebrity gossip-monger).

I bought this in the late '80s as part of an limited edition EG boxed set, that comprised three Eno albums in standard packaging, plus one label compilation.