"I am the crow of desperation. I need no fact or validation. I span relentless variation. I scramble in the dust of a failing nation."
A one-off collaboration with John Cale, Wrong Way Up marked Brian Eno's very unexpected return to "pop" music after spending more than a decade submersed in Ambient projects. While Eno's next album, Nerve Net, would also adopt a more Rock-inspired approach, Wrong Way Up exists in Eno's oeuvre as something of an enigma, seemingly without context, and all the more brilliant for this. Of course, Eno and Cale did have some history together, most notably on Cale's mid-70s standouts, Fear (1974) and Slow Dazzle (1975). Nevertheless, on Wrong Way Up, both embrace a level of pop-sheen quite unprecedented in their earlier works. While the album certainly has a "consciously accessible" air to it and at times suffers from Cale's inherent (especially late career) pretensions, it is shocking how underrated it is given that it contains some of the best "straightforward" pop songs either of these two "sideways" artists ever committed to tape. For evidence, listen to "The River," which features Eno as nothing less than a Country crooner (did I just write that?). A strange and unjustly forgotten gem to be sure.
Wrong Way Up (2005 Remastered Edition)
1. Lay My Love (4:46)
2. One Word (4:36)
3. In the Backroom (4:04)
4. Empty Frame (4:28)
5. Cordoba (4:24)
6. Spinning Away (5:29)
7. Footsteps (3:15)
8. Been There Done That (2:54)
9. Crime in the Desert (3:44)
10. The River (4:25)
-Bonus Tracks-
11. You Don't Miss Your Water (3:48)
12. Palanquin (2:36)
And here I thought I had this but alas it can't be found. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeletethis is one not a lot of people know about for some reason; my favorite kind of post. Really great stuff.
ReplyDeletethanks radiocitizen!
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