i'm a huge eno fan, and love his stuff. this record, however, is unbelievable! there are distinct atmospheres to each side that might be lost playing via cd. side one...wow. from the first time i heard the opening of "no one receiving," i was hooked. the harmony vocals are really different than what other artists were working with, and the large array of musicians all brought their "A" game. "king's lead hat?" genius.

Before and After Science being the 1977 release from Brian Eno is a very avantgarde record. In fact, it does not sound like anything I have heard before. It sounds like a mix between electronic music, rock, pop and something else. The lyrics are very strange and half of the time I am wondering what he is really singing about. As for the boo-let. Well, it is atrocious. The cover looks like something cheap done in 5 minutes. That this was done by some hack named Ritva Saarikko actually meant that he got robbed. As for the drawings inside. Well, they are alright I suppose. But it looks like nothing special. It is strange to think that Phil Collins plays drums to this kind of music when one considers how tame his music has become of the years. 4/5.

Some people believe this is one of the greatest pop albums of the 70's, and who am I to argue? Not only because I can't argue, but because I love the music on here, a LOT. Pop writing perfection. Every vocal melody, every instrumental bit. Exceptionally solid songwriting. Brian Eno had something good going here, and this album deserves to be remembered for all the great vocal melodies.

Probably have purchased this recording 4 times in my life. A MUST HAVE...

Sounds like the genesis of the My Life in The Bush Of Ghosts recording with David Byrne, or the Talking Heads, at times (which happened not long after, produced by B Eno) on King's Lead Hat....

Phil Collins makes a couple appearances, doing excellent drumming.

Mellow, sublime moments as well, (Here He Comes, Julie With...., The Spider and I) along with the Herky-Jerky tunes, which all were a major part of the Early Ambient Electronic movement.

Often denigrated due to its proximity to "Another Green World", "Before and After Science" is in many ways a more mature and experimental record than its beloved sibling. First, a few particular things to recall about the original release: The very sentimental watercolor reproductions originally struck this listener as utterly out of sync with the rather strident adherence to some twentieth century art music ideas explored in the compositions. A more fitting approach to the visuals was demonstrated a few years earlier, in the portfolio created for "So Far" by Faust, which in turn set the template followed by Peter Gabriel's "Us" portfolio. Second, and more importantly, was Eno's printed insistence that no noise reduction systems were used in the recording. This is itself interesting to note because the sound quality of BAAS is decidedly un-commercial. It doesn't "sparkle" and there are no detectable artificial peaks -- the usual spots being cranked up between 1kHz and 2kHz -- that used to be so essential to successful airplay. Instead, the overall tonality is round, warm and, in context, completely out of touch with most of the recordings of the late 70s let alone early 00s, and this reissue still respects his decision for what might be called an "unadulterated" approach to the sound -- an interesting decision from someone known for manipulating audio signals.

To be clear, this should be considered a very positive attribute, despite the sometimes nagging low frequency compromises due to the equally interesting absence of compression. The point seems to simply be a dedication to the sound of the instruments "as is", in direct opposition to the completely non-referential definitions of fidelity that determine most music production today. How many critics and listeners this apparently "muted" sonic presence added to the ranks of the record's detractors is hard to say, but it does seem likely that many people did not get past the non-commercial sound to allow themselves to actually hear what was going on, as still evidenced by some of the reviews posted here which seem puzzled by the character of the sound, mistakenly referred to as the "sound quality".

In addition to its clearly non-commercial orientation there are many brilliant conceptual and performance moments spread throughout. Hard to ask more of the contributions of Percy Jones and Phil Collins, fresh in love with Brand X, or Kurt Schwitters' posthumous vocals which presage the still astonishing collaboration with David Byrne on "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts". There is the wonderfully simple and beautiful mesh of pattern and lyric that is "By This River", the collaboration with Cluster and the "Caucasian Lullaby"-like instrumental exchanges of "Through Hollow Lands" with Fred Frith. And of course the nearly erotic yet somnolent, minimalist and wide-open "Julie With..." (no pun intended). Not to forget Bill MacCormick, Brian Turrington and others covering the range from pop to experimental rock.

Considering that vast span of pop to experimental and the artists and influences present here, BAAS is now something of a time capsule, with each track representing an epitome, of sorts, of the various styles and theories running behind the most interesting musics of its day. Thirty years on, the ideas are still compelling, and the artistic decisions still stand out as remarkable.