Here Come The Warm Jets

I think it's no secret that I'm a sucker for Eno's '70s experimental rock ventures. And that very much includes his solo debut, 'Here Come the Warm Jets'. An album that, more than anything, feels like such a twisted take on the pop-rock of the time. Right from the get-go with 'Needles in the Camel's Eye', something just feels subtly off. Like that guitar riff, the very slightly atonal nature of it, shouldn't work, yet it does. And, aside from that, the structure of the track itself is about as traditional as you get, despite the very labyrinthine and pondering lyrics, an Eno staple. Eno himself wasn't really a super talented musician in the traditional sense, and it really shows on this song and the album in general, but the appeal lies in how he's able to build such amazing songs from generally pretty standard fundamentals (and with the help of some incredible contributors, of course). I'd say the whole record shares that subtly off vibe. 'Baby's On Fire' is another early masterpiece, with an absolutely blistering guitar solo by the legend Robert Fripp himself. It adds to the very alarming and chaotic atmosphere of the song. And the lyrics are super dark and relevant as ever, describing one of the most horrible images of a child on fire (inspired by images from the Vietnam War), with absolutely no relief; the entire song feels so idle, like it's beating around the very horrific situation at hand without providing any sort of resolution or taking any sort of action. It paints such a helpless scene. The melody here can become grating in a lot of ways in just how repetitive it can be (a staple for Eno, especially on his follow-up 'Taking Tiger Mountain', another masterpiece), but it just works. 'Cindy Tells Me' is maybe the most obviously poppy song here, paired with cheery piano chords and a pretty great guitar solo - but the lyrics are very much not that, with them very obviously criticizing traditional gender roles. And 'Dead Finks Don't Talk' is also a great take on more progressive pop-rock, just so many little facets and phases, and some really cool little studio effects centred around a pretty catchy core melody, most notably that noisy feedback solo closing it out...just not something that should exist in 1974. The song 'On Some Faraway Beach' is one of the more directly pretty songs here. I don't think this album has much that foreshadows Eno's later ambient and electronic-centric rock music, but his knack for very simple, building melodies that manage to still be very beautiful is showcased on this track very well. And I feel the same way about the closing title track, maybe Eno's best song. A very simple melody at its core, but it's drenched in fuzz and builds slowly with the out-of-sync drum loop, before eventually locking with it. The whole track feels like being blasted with warm hot-tub jets as all your troubles wash away. There's a very hopeful and optimistic feel to this song after a pretty dark album, especially when Eno's vocals come in at the end with lyrics that I hold very near and dear to my heart. I'm gonna give this album 5 stars, of course, but even I'll admit songs like 'Driving Me Backwards' and 'Some Of Them Are Old' do move a bit too slowly and are a bit too repetitive for my liking, especially the former, which, despite having a really neat gothic vibe, has maybe the most demanding of Eno's vocal deliveries; he's really pushing his generally pretty limited range there. Still, my unpopular opinion is that Eno's early solo works are about as important to the formation of alternative and experimental music and punk rock as groups like the Velvet Underground, the Beatles, and The Stooges. It's really like he picked up where the Beatles left off, pushing pop music to completely new levels and pushing the studio-as-an-instrument idea to places completely unexplored before. Masterpiece.

Phil Manzanera is so under rated. So is Simon King. I have a pal who refers to these early albums as "Brian before he was ENO", but there on the sleeve it just says ENO. Maybe it was "ENO before he was Brian". I'm confused.

Highlights: - On Some Faraway Beach - Dead Finks... - Here Come the Warm Jets

I’m sorry, but no. Just no

Meh

Some tip-top moments (Needles, Baby's on Fire...), some songs that outstay their welcome (Some of Them...), but overall, a decent stab at balancing experimentalism with tunes. It's an album I'll probably listen to again in the future, but probably won't buy a copy.

sonido vintage pq es del 73!!!!!!!! pero tampoco me pareció tan joya o un album que si o si tengo que escuchar antes de morir. agradable pero nada memorable

Yeah all right Brian, settle down mate.

I knew three things about Brian Eno before listening to this album : 1. He's the father of ambient music ; 2. He helped popularize synths and therefore paved the way for the 80s' reliance on it ; 3. He worked with everybody, from Bowie to Devo, from Roxy Music to Genesis, from Talking Heads to Peter Gabriel, and U2, and Coldplay, and... Like, seriously, I can't read a Wikipedia page about an artist from the 70s through the 90s without his name popping up at least once. So, yeah, I was excited to finally discover the guy's music. And it's great! This is early Eno, from what I gathered, so maybe not his most advanced work, but it's very creative, and never boring. Each song goes somewhere, builds something, and it's usually hard to predict. "Baby's on Fire", "Some of them are old"... Those are the kinds of songs that keep on giving. Eno has four other albums in the list and I hope they're even better.

You can tell with how loud they scream and how hard they slam the piano that these guys can't hold a tune.

Man…i heard Needle In the Camel’s Eye several years ago and listened on repeat over and over. I know Brian Eno for his ambient movie stuff so this 70s garage rock sound was a surprise. I chose NOT to listen to the album after doing some quick needle drops and realizing the album did not deliver on the promise of the opening track. Having now listened, I’m validated in my original hunch to skip this one. Didn’t find any other gems. Turned on the lukewarm jets for this one. Bonus stars truly for the aforementioned Needle/Camel track.

Sometimes I like to position myself in front of the warm jets in a hot tub so the water tickles my taint. This album wasn’t anything like that

2.1

It's alright...

Very good. This was my first listen for this album. I might like it more as I get more acquainted. For me, for now, I think I prefer his album Before And After Science.

I do love me some Eno and this is the primo material here.

Yeah, I f-img loved it. Exactly my type of shit.

Didn’t know Brian Eno made a solo album so accessible

not my jam

Most works that involve Eno don't really resonate with me. This is no exception. Some parts could interest me when I'm in the right mood, but that wasn't the case today.

Bits I liked, bits I didn't

fui com preconceito, mas é bom fico feliz que tiveram várias rodadas de bons álbums seguidos ultimamente

I just can't get into this goofy-ass shit.

I found myself unable to enjoy the back half of the album, because I was too busy bracing for whatever grating sound effect was going to come out of nowhere disturb my listening.

I’ve already listened to Roxy music for this and I wasn’t a hugeee fan, so wasn’t coming in with high expectations. Was pleasantly surprised. Experimental music in this fashion has really grown on me in recent years. You can see where talking heads get their inspo

Weird and wonderful. Wasn't an easy listen but this is really revolutionary for 1974 and you can hear the way it has influenced so much music since.

I appreciate the creativity.

Very unusual.

This was not the Eno I was expecting.

A weird mix where you can see the foundations of his work with Talking heads and Bowie being built. Pre-punk noise, post punk angularity and an absurdist edge to the lyrics. Just too much shape shifting for a 4th star

Sounds like glam era David Bowie but with even more weird experimentation. I prefer his ambient albums but no doubt this was influential.

My second Brian Eno album in a week. Again, I enjoyed it. I like glam, so I thought this was an interesting combo of glam and art pop.

Brian Eno can do no wrong, obviously 5 stars.

I DID listen to this, and it once again erased my review. Probably for the best, as it was a typical meandering road to nowhere. Speaking of meandering roads to nowhere, it's Brian and the Jets, or was it The Mumbling Heads? I can't remember. This album was interesting and probably deserved to be here, but also I don't really care about it. That sounds like 2 star territoire to moi(re?). 2 HIGHLIGHTS: You know Jimbo, they really don't make ceiling tile like they used to. Yeah, all covered in stagnant water and impossible to clean.

I don't think I like it as much as the last Brian Eno album I got two days ago, but it's still solid

Really strong start but kind of starts to fall flat midway through overall pretty good. I really like the classic rock vibes.

Eno was such an ingenious artist. He understood things about the role and feeling of music that few have. In this album, there’s endless creativity and experimental elemtents, but it doesn’t get lost in its own avant-garde nature. Instead, it perfectly encapsulates the avant-grade with excellent musical direction that retains each track’s palatability. Brian Wilson was another great example of this, and I think this has a lot of similarities with Pet Sounds. I’d like to do a deep dive on Eno’s entire discography someday, but until then I appreciate these inclusions on the list for someone I feel is relatively underrated in the music sphere today.

I thought it was fine. Still sounds like talking heads but with less fun.

It’s annoying to me that we’ve gotten another Eno album very early on in his solo career. They’re interesting from a perspective of how he got to his later work but I really think they’re vastly inferior. His work in groups should be used for that. This is a decent enough album by itself; it’s weird for the 70s and sounds a decade ahead of its time but it’s not better than the stuff that actually came out then. I didn’t hate it by any means I just think it’s a waste to be on here.

Kinda late beatlesy

Most of this I disliked a lot. A couple held my interest, but not even all the way through. Just another typical Brian Eno album.

Weird one

I have to admit that the list of 1001 Albums I Must Hear before I die gives what I would consider a lot more love to Brian Eno than he actually deserves. Sure, he was influential as a musician in both his solo career and Roxy Music. And his greatness as a producer is pretty much unquestionable. But his SEVEN total appearances rank him right up there with Morrissey (my traditional punching bag when I go on a rampage about ZERO Warren Zevon albums being included) as the most insanely superfluous artist on the list. I suppose that a case can be made for including this debut solo effort, especially since it includes much of the irritating overindulgence that can be found in EVERY Eno project. But Another Green World seems like a more coherently polished and considered choice for the ONE solo album I'd say he probably actually deserves.

I still don't get Brian Eno. I enjoyed this album more than the Ambient Sounds one, but this is to eclectic for my tastes.

Interesting album with a style very different from other releases. Almost ambient but with pop influences along the glam lines.

2.5

Experimental and weird with bits of brilliance . This album helps explain the gap between Brian Eno of Roxy Music and Brian Eno of Music for Airports. Also, the story of him using body gestures and interpretive dance to communicate with the musicians to make this album is hilarious.

The recording sessions for this album sound like they'd either be a nightmare or an absolute party. 16 musicians chosen specifically because it was thought that they were incompatible with each other and musical direction that was given through body language, dancing, and vague verbal suggestions. It's a wonder they managed to get anything to tape, but it's not surprising that what they did manage to get down is avant-garde, experimental, and weird. Luckily, that's right up my alley, and this is one of my all time favourite albums!

Too much of Brian Eno for me in this list

From start to finish, it’s timeless.

Eno truly is a titan of modern music. His influence can be felt everywhere. This album is incredibly important to his musical journey, and it comes with some very big swings. The album is full of unconventional and uncomfortable sounds much of which is derived from the disparate group of session musicians he assembled for this album. There are some unique and fabulous moments on this album, and just about every track has some memorable and exciting element. That said, with big swings can come big misses and this album has a few of those. In particular, "Dead Finks Don't Talk" doesn't work for me at all (but the last 15 or so seconds is rather interesting). Still, there are more things that work than don't, and I certainly don't begrudge this album a place on the list. Favorite track: "Baby's On Fire" even before it gets to the guitar solo by Robert Fripp

Eno just never misses. Fantastic album, a bit more pop sensibility than his later stuff.

A bit crazy in places but interesting

Some slightly bonkers early 70s avant-garde shit going down here. But it has a groove and I enjoyed the guitar on it.

Rlly don't know what to think of this one

Brian’s getting weird in this one. It’s an interesting album, and although it’s hard to listen to at points, it’s still pretty good overall

Not as wilfully obscure as I was expecting, if I'm honest. Still wild and weird though such is the breadth of Brian Eno's imagination. Not as proggy as you think either, it's not too heavy on the electronics, choosing to stick with the guitars in most places, but there is plenty of soundscaping going on. Not too bad, actually.

Was cool then got wack

experimental at times but i didn't hate it. favs were "on some faraway beach" and "some of them are old"

Fun, strange, and playfully experimental. Always listenable. So much going on here - 60s influences, glam rock, art rock noise layering. So many things that shouldn't work together that produce great and unexpected results. That creative risk that was root of all of his later work. Sounds so good today.

i appreciate him, but he often just lands flat for me

So warm I fell asleep

As much as I admire Brian Eno music, he boycott Israel, which is a shame. Music should not be political

Ah, Brian Eno. A producer with a taste for experimentation in music. Should be interesting, then. It was pretty interesting, if not quite as experimental as expected. It has a clear sensibility towards experimentation while staying within recognizable genre confines. I noticed that Eno's voice is markedly different from the deep vocals I expected, instead sounding almost like Billy Corgan in places. The lyrics are mostly nonsensical and serve only as garnish atop the compositions. This was a pretty interesting album to listen to, but it's not quite my favorite listen from this era. This album is ranked #19 of 26 albums for 1974. Other 1974 albums rated by me: Sheer Heart Attack(1/26)-5 Queen II(4/26)-4 Pretzel Logic(7/26)-3 Court and Spark(8/26)-4 Grievous Angel(22/26)-4

A wonderful playground of fun. You can see how he contributed to so many of the great pop records of the era.

Liked a couple tracks esp those with Fripp. But it isnt grabbing me straight away. Might listen again…maybe not…life’s too short

This is cool. When Eno isn't floating around like an alien, I'm a big fan

No private session used for Spotify. I knew this was going to be kind of weird and I was correct. I like weird, so it works. There are parts that are a bit hard to listen, but in an interesting way.

I gave it a try just not for me at all.

Beep boop ass music

THIS ALBUM'S ON FIYAAAA! I love how eccentric and zany this album is! Would not have expected this from "the ambient music guy" Brian Eno, but holy crap is this really great. Me thinks a chronological deep-dive of his discography is in the near future.

Brian Eno you delightful kook, you! I'll admit I came into this holding my breath, I'm also mostly familiar with Brian Eno from the ambient stuff and Talking Heads and Bowie collaborations but I know he has a reputation for being more difficult to access in his solo stuff. But this was a blast! You've got a little bit of everything in here, sometimes it sounds like surf rock, sometimes it sounds like early poppy Beatles, sometimes it sounds like later tinkery Beatles, sometimes it sounds like Heads, sometimes it sounds like "Heroes," the breadth is really something. This might become a repeated re-listen for me. The more I absorbed it the more I was into it. A really cool thing about this project is the way it's helping me understand and refine my own tastes. I don't think I would have said I was a big glam rock guy before we started this but the glammy portions of this album were some of my favorites and have consistently been among my favorites in a lot of what we've listened to so far. How fun to learn about yourself with your buddies! Second act montage needle drop in my biopic: "Needles In The Camel's Eye"

BRIAN ENO COME OVER TO MY HOUSE AND LET ME BRAID YOUR HAIR CHALLENGE Lotta great noises on this album, the cicadias on Cindy tells me made me squeal with delight, sometimes this album made me feel like I needed to downgrade every other five album to a four but also sometimes I was only medium into it, so five it is. Added needles in the camels eye and some of them are old to my rotation. Beautiful album and I'm so glad this project introduced me to it, I'm definitely going to listen to this one more.

i feel like i’ve run out of things to say about this record, it’s one of my all time favorites. an album that i will always recommend to people when talking about music, it’s the album i often throw on to just bop around the house to. 5/5 the warm jets are guitars , not piss

Those warm jets really take you places. I've skipped this album for so long, there doesn't seem to be any difference between it and early Roxy. I think he hadn't left the band yet and some bandmates followed his lead. I'm a fan of this Roxy era and i'm liking the quirkier songwriting style of Brian's.

This is odd as I did not immediately dislike this nor did I love it either. But I found it interesting. Half Bowie and half talking heads and half as good .

This was a slog. Can't say I enjoyed any of it. Would be a 2 star but #freepalestine

Good album nothing too crazy very brian eno lol

Brian Eno’s voice kind of sucks.

This is the work of a musical genius and a one-of-a-kind creative mind. There just isn't anyone doing it like Brian Eno and the amount of people has influences is immeasurable. This is such an awesome debut solo album. It's fun, exciting, and just so different. Really loved it! Top Songs: Needles in the Camel's Eye, Baby's on Fire, Cindy Tells Me, Blank Frank, Some of Them Are Old

All this time I thought Eno was just ambient records and the guy behind Bowie's low period. I'm sorry I wasn't aware of your game, Brian.

Stupid Taxi accident. Why cant we have more of this instead of the ambient bullshit

This was such a great album that carried the spirit of this 1001 albums thing of listening to stuff I wouldn’t otherwise all the way through, and I’m so glad I did. At first quite unsettled, I soon started to really enjoy the unpredictability, playfulness and expansion. 4.5/5

wow, I had no idea Brian Eno made music other than ambient, and it is fantastic

excelente disco para escuchar mientras lavas zapatillas y tu vida sigue pasando.

I actually liked his instrumental albums better ... How does he have 4 on this list?!?!?

I love Brian Eno. I loved this album. What a solo debut! No notes!

Lots of stuff that seemed like it would have been new and different at the time... But not all that much that was fun to listen to.

While many people conceives Brian Eno due to his warm and eclectic personality as a producer and his ambient albums, it was not always like that. Here Come The Warm Jets it's his first solo album after abandoning Roxy Music. and the record as a whole it's a masterpiece when it comes to Art rock and glam rock. Entirely produced by him, musically speaking, what we have here it's an album that it's pretty close to his work with the one that used to be his band. For the recording and producing, Eno used some unusual methods like dancing for the musicians while they were recording or even singing unusual and unintelligible words to have a base for the ones that finally made it to the record. Musicians like Chris Spedding and Robert Fripp of King Crimson were part of this collection of songs and with a cover directed by his then girlfriend Carol McNicoll resembling his glam rock era, you can tell that this album was the most unhinged try of Brian Eno to take a step out of the pop and dance music Bryan Ferry was looking for Roxy, finally going for experimental ambience and a more art-influenced sound. Ranked at number 436 of 500 by Rolling Stone in their list of greatest albums of all time, there is definitely no surprise on why this is one it's a must listening when it comes to understanding glam rock and the 70's as a decade.

"Needles" makes for a huge opener- melodious, ahead-of-its-time, properly epic! I wasn't feeling "Baby's on Fire" until Robert Fripp performs this insane Buckethead-esque solo that lasts like 2.5 minutes. The rest of the album is not bad but pales in comparison to Bowie's Low and Heroes, which were clearly the next stages in the evolution.

Knowing what Brian Eno becomes later, it was interesting hearing his first album. This definitely had that 1970s experimentation feel mixing in American Pop and European avant guard. You can see the early signs of the ambient sounds but definitely are faced with the strong emotional draw throughout. Key songs for me where Cindy Tells Me because I liked the way he started feeling that raw—okay, somewhat raw—musicality in the bridge section. I also liked Blank Frank because it felt very New Wave before New Wave even began. Was Brian Eno the Father of New Wave? Actually, Blank Frank has some punk feel, so was he also the Father of Punk? And the techno influence was heavy too. Was he also the Father of EDM? Was Brian Eno the BBKing of musical genres? Get Jerry Springer… NOW!

Random thoughts: * I'm just not quite sure what to make of this one. This is the third Brian Eno album I have encountered on this 1001 journey. * I liked the last track (Warm Jets) as it just repeated the same few bars of melody over and over. * There was some campiness to the sound on other tracks that made me want to dismiss this. * I know it was groundbreaking for the time but I kind of find it just meh now.

I found this pretty charming if a bit whimsical

He left Roxy Music to make his own Roxy Music album, but the last song shows he would move onto something entirely new

i am loving this! 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Strange and creative but sometimes bordering on unlistenable. Hints of King Krimson, Vai, and Zappa.

Always inventive, Brian Eno has been his own side quest of discovery in this 1001 list. This album moves like wind, almost like a flow state of different artists but still coherent to be actual "music", unlike the last Eno album I had. My favorite one was Some of Them Are Old, it's pretty Beach Boys-y dressed in a dreamscape of instrumentals.

TL;DR: Experimental rock and innovative production with some...challenging vocal performances. BEFORE: I only know this by reputation. AFTER: The music is never less than interesting and innovative, and often moving. The production is absolutely jaw-dropping for its era - you can see why Eno was so sought-after as a producer. Some of the vocals and lyrics are pretty annoying but I suspect those will grow on you over time. HIGHLIGHTS: Needles in The Camel's Eye is an interesting slice of psychedelic garage rock. Baby's On Fire has a great instrumental and an incredible guitar solo. The extended intro that opens On Some Faraway Beach foreshadows Eno's later ambient experiments before the bittersweet vocal arrives. The title track pulls the same trick to great effect. I love the brief, weird noise experiment that concludes Dead Finks Don't Talk. Some of Them Are Old reminds me of the Beta Band, with its deadpan vocals and gentle instrumental freakout. LOWLIGHTS: I know it was the 70s, but The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch is a lyrical abomination (see also: Elton John's Jamaica Jerk-Off). The transition to Blank Frank is jarring and the vocals on Baby's On Fire and Dead Finks Don't Talk are hard to love, at least on first listen. VERDICT: 4 stars this time around, but I'll keep at it. The music is really interesting and I know plenty of other stuff that took a while to properly unfold.

9/10 – Great

A dab of Roxy Music's smooth veneer combined with Eno's experimental instincts