BRIAN ENO: TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN (BY STRATEGY) (1974)
1) Burning Airlines Give You
So Much More; 2) Back In Judy's Jungle; 3) The Fat Lady Of Limbourg; 4) Mother
Whale Eyeless; 5) The Great Pretender; 6) Third Uncle; 7) Put A Straw Under
Baby; 8) The True Wheel; 9) China My China; 10) Taking Tiger Mountain.
The title of the album, borrowed from one of
the eight «model operas» produced for the needs of the Cultural Revolution in
China, seems to hint at some sort of «strategic design» for the album, but it
will take a lot of analysis and research to uncover the design in question —
or, for that matter, any actual Chinese influence: even a song called ʽChina My
Chinaʼ shows no signs of Eno's preoccupation with any Far Eastern motives. Eno
was, however, much interested in Oriental philosophy and mysticism, and it is
said that the process of creating this album involved the usage of «Oblique
Strategies», a set of printed cards with cryptic remarks like «Honour thy error
as a hidden intention» or «Work at a different speed» that was largely influenced
by the I Ching (one wonders why they
didn't just go ahead and use the I
itself).
The one thing that does get noticed is that the album is much more quiet, leisurely
paced, and stripped of vocal and instrumental «hooliganry» that was all over Here Come The Warm Jets. It is by no
means «ambient» or «becalmed» (only the final title track approaches true
serenity), but it feels much more «planned», evenly paced and well-measured, as
if there was, indeed, some imaginary chessboard upon which the songs were
strategically arranged into a well-fitting configuration. The tempos are
mostly similar (slow to mid-tempo), with only one jarring exception that will
be discussed later; the vocals are natural, easy-coming, and mostly unaffected;
the hooks are laid out in strictly disciplined geometric patterns; and the
lyrics, though largely nonsensical, create the illusion that we are being
communicated something important, in impenetrable code: "The fat lady of
Limbourg / Looked at the samples that we sent / And furrowed her brow... Her
sense of taste is such that she'll distinguish with her tongue / The subtleties
a spectrograph would miss / And announce her decision / While demanding her
reward / The jellyfish kiss".
So is this just one of these «put-on» albums —
something that aspires to deep meaning but is in reality an empty shell? By no
means. Taking Tiger Mountain is a
terrifically successful exercise in «intellectual spirituality» — an attempt to
make a rule-based mix of intentional strategy and fateful chance, where songs
would be carefully crafted and guided
by spontaneous decisions at the same time: think Blonde On Blonde with a mathematically precise mind behind all the
crazy ruckus. Actually, do think so —
doesn't ʽBack In Judy's Jungleʼ give the impression of a much more tightly
disciplined ʽRainy Day Womenʼ?
On the whole, the album is decidedly less «fun»
than Warm Jets, but also on the
whole, it is darker and more mysterious. The first two songs are somewhat
lulling and friendly — ʽBurning Airlines Give You So Much Moreʼ does sound like
a charming, leisurely bit of publicity (for a burning airline, that is), and
the aforementioned ʽJudy's Jungleʼ is a merry-go-round that is only slightly
offset with a slithering, nasty guitar tone (is that Eno playing his «snake
guitar»?). But beginning with ʽFat Lady Of Limbourgʼ, the record assumes a
somber tone that is rarely abandoned (only ʽPut A Straw Under Babyʼ, another
lighthearted waltz, temporarily lets some sunlight through the clouds),
although «somber» does not equal «depressing» or «threatening». Rather, these
tracks weave together a tapestry in which some professional alchemist is busy
brewing up green bubbly potions in his tower — with just a tinge of black
magic, but it's not as if it's being used for particularly sinister purposes.
More out of curiosity.
The album particularly comes to a boil (sorry
for another cauldron reference) on ʽThe Great Pretenderʼ, whose clattering bass
pattern does sound related to a (not very frightening) horror movie, and then
on ʽThird Uncleʼ, the fastest, busiest track on the album that certain
superficial critics used to call an «early precursor to punk», even if it would
be harder to find someone more removed from the quintessential punk mindset
than Eno — this here is just another strategy of his, where maybe they just
pulled out that card that read «Work at a different speed», so they sped it up,
and Manzanera thought it adequate to play a howling, «angry» guitar solo, and
the result is just another of Eno's little mysteries, maybe one that takes you
on a wild, out-of-breath chase through a thick bamboo jungle.
I must confess, though, that the «strategic
layout» of the album has always seemed a bit too calculated for me — out of Eno's «big four», Taking Tiger Mountain is the one that
has the least amount of pure soul, in fact, «soul» does not properly emerge
until the serene conclusion of the title track. There is no complaining over
the fact that the entire album sounds like one huge musical conundrum — such
was the artist's intention, no less, and this is what makes it unique, and
indeed, it may be awesome fun listening and re-listening to these songs, trying
to make wild (and most probably wrong) guesses about its internal logic just
like a crazed-out Sinologist would make wild guesses about the I Ching. But I would not recommend it as
a representative introduction to Eno's «pop period», because it would give you
the wrong impression of «Eno the alchemist» instead of the correct one — «Eno
the trickster with a heart of gold», which you can get from any of the other
three classics.
Nevertheless, it must also be stated that the
record sounds more original and individualistic than Warm Jets — this time around, it is much more difficult to reduce
it to the sum of its influences; I guess we have to thank the «Oblique
Strategies» for that, as well as the active presence of Phil Manzanera and
Robert Wyatt, neither of whom were interested in imitating anybody else. In any
case, this is absolutely essential listening — haunting, intriguing, literate,
creative, and totally open to whatever interpretation your own mind comes up
with for it. Thumbs
up.
My fave Brian Eno album start to finish. As you pointed out this album comes across as a complete, well planned, whole product. It's everything Brian wanted to say at that time and it is wonderfully packaged to boot. You used to be able to purchase the Oblique Strategies card set from a flier included with this album. Good stuff!
ReplyDelete"Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is a loose concept album with topics ranging from espionage to the Chinese Communist revolution".
ReplyDeleteSo that's why the album name is the name of a Chinese opera, although the lyrics are cryptic enough where you wouldn't necessarily know. I think it's for the best that this concept was an elusive one that made itself felt in the proceedings rather than announcing it was there.
>(one wonders why they didn't just go ahead and use the I itself)
ReplyDeleteThe cards were devised by Eno himself as a means toward practical application.
While I would probably rank the other three of the classic four albums higher (objectively speaking), "Tiger" was the one that I kept going back to for a while. Something about the structure and the darkness of the record is REALLY compelling. If it's a formula, it's about the most fascinating one I can think of. I know that Eno now sells the Oblique Strategies cards -- given its impact here, I think every band should give them a whirl for at least one album, just to see where it takes them.
ReplyDelete