Brian Eno- Taking Tiger Mountain [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Troy
11-15-2004, 11:21 AM
Never heard this album before, go figure.

Bought the seedee used last week, spun it a lot over the weekend.

Strange songs filled with lyrical non sequiturs and disjointed subjects. There's a sense of unserious playfulness and fun that I really like. A lot of it is borderline ridiculous.

Strange production using a wild variety of instruments in combinations that in 1974 must have been shocking. Lots of subtle FX and fine detail. The album sounds really tinny and brittle by modern standards, but inspite of that, it's a real production tour de force. More *whomp* is needed- Imagine "The Great Pretender" with the weight of the similarly instrumented and percussive "Blue Man Group" discs. The 801 version of "3rd Uncle" is better too.

Really outre stuff considering where music was in 1974.

It's the best Eno album I've heard, bordering on being a "missing link" for me. It's a strange pop album instead of etherial soundscapes. Obviously, I've been buying the wrong albums . . . I think I better pick up "Warm Jets" too.

Ex Lion Tamer
11-15-2004, 12:30 PM
It's the best Eno album I've heard, bordering on being a "missing link" for me. It's a strange pop album instead of etherial soundscapes. Obviously, I've been buying the wrong albums . . . I think I better pick up "Warm Jets" too.

Have you got "Another Green World"? It's my favorite among Eno's "big 4", (Warm Jets, Tiger Mountain, Green World and Before & After Science), though I've never heard Tiger Mountain. I'd be REALLY surprised if you included it among those "wrong albums" that you say you've been buying. And if it is among those, I'd be interested in reading why it don't turn your crank..

Warm Jets and B&A Science are very good, but Green World is the masterpiece, among those three anyway. YMMV.

Davey
11-15-2004, 12:51 PM
Yeah it's funny but Taking Tiger Mountain has always been my least favorite of the 4. Still really like it, just not as much as the others. Before and After Science has always been my favorite followed by a close tie between Another Green World and Here Come The Warm Jets. You can kind of tell from the <a href=http://members.mailaka.net/davey/dbicomps.htm#Brian_Eno>Eno Comp</a> that I did. But I do love many of the songs on Tiger Mountain and it just might be the most cohesive of the bunch. Personally wouldn't be without any of them and so nowadays I've got a copy of the Box Set to keep me company on my island.

Troy
11-15-2004, 12:53 PM
Yeah, I had Green World years ago and it never did turn my crank.

I recall it being too soundscapey for me, not song oriented enough. I suspect I need to hear it again in my old age.

I have Before Science too. I like about half of that one pretty well (". . . Julie with" and "Kings Lead Hat" being my favorite tracks), but Tiger mountain is pretty much all solid.

Troy
11-15-2004, 12:55 PM
Yeah it's funny but Taking Tiger Mountain has always been my least favorite of the 4.

LOL, the typical Davey/Troy matchup.

Davey
11-15-2004, 01:06 PM
LOL, the typical Davey/Troy matchup.
Heehee, ain't it the truth! I bet you really like Warm Jets though. You like that crazy ass Fripp solo on Baby's On Fire, right? Man, I think those guys must've been on something not available to the general public.

Ex Lion Tamer
11-15-2004, 01:08 PM
I find that surprising. I thought the mix of spacey/straight ahead pop would be just right for you. It is for me. Though I'm not thaaat fond of the soundscape stuff, I do think when the straight-ahead (or as straight-ahead as Eno will ever get), stuff hits, it reaches heights that he never reached before or since, (OK maybe Baby's on Fire does). Songs like St. Elmo's Fire, I'll Come Running and Everything Merges With The Night are just so sublime, they make any slight missteps easily overlooked.