Portal:Rock music/Selected albums/58

Before and After Science is the fifth solo studio album by Brian Eno, originally released by Polydor Records in December 1977 in the United Kingdom and by Island U.S. soon after. Produced by Eno and Rhett Davies, it is the first of Eno's popular music works to be published under his full name (unlike all recordings that preceded the record and Discreet Music, where he was mononymously credited as "Eno").

Musicians from the United Kingdom and Germany had notably collaborated on the album, including Robert Wyatt, Fred Frith, Phil Manzanera, Paul Rudolph, Andy Fraser, Dave Mattacks, Jaki Liebezeit, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius. Over one hundred tracks were written but only ten made the album's final cut. The musical styles range from energetic and jagged to languid and pastoral.

The album marks Eno's last foray into rock music as a solo artist in the 1970s, nearly all of his following work showcasing avant-garde and ambient music, which was hinted at predominantly on the second side of Before and After Science. It was Eno's second to chart in the United States. The song "King's Lead Hat", the title of which is an anagram for Talking Heads, was remixed and released as a single, although it did not chart in the United Kingdom. Critical response to the album has remained positive, several critics calling it one of Eno's best works. (Full article...)