Another Green World

It's no accident that Brian Eno's Another Green World often appears on critics' lists of the greatest albums of all time. The album marks the point at which Brian Eno successfully reconciled his manifold identities: the preening rock star, the recondite cynic, and the erudite bohemian coexist fruitfully on a single work, giving birth to a clutch of heretofore undreamed-of musical genres. Indeed, the album serves as something of a Rorschach test for aspiring musicians. While some respond to the pop-wise sensibilities displayed on miniature masterpieces like "The Big Ship," others find inspiration in the ambient experiments of the title track, and still others are stunned by the unorthodox instrumentation and eccentric sonic textures of tracks like "Golden Fishes." Yet despite Another Green World's dizzying eclecticism, the album always feels effortlessly cohesive. While some of Eno's more pop-oriented work is weighed down by self-conscious irony, here Eno emerges as a sincere visionary, gently guiding his listeners through the musical worlds that he's been fortunate enough to uncover.