More from the Brian Eno Diaries - Eno’s Work with John Cale: John Cale’s Fear & Eno and Cale’s Wrong Way Up

So there’s been a lot of Eno obsession on the website as of late; to catch you up to speed, check out the previous Eno posts here: Eno's Another Day on Earth (2005) and Eno's Before and After Science (1977).  The above mentioned albums showcased Eno's finest, alchemic moments of ambient/pop beauty as a solo artist; Eno is also known, however, for his many collaborative efforts over the years - his work with David Byrne, for instance, or his experimental project with German krautrockers, Cluster.  Eno’s work with Talking Heads’ frontman, David Byrne, has been well celebrated over the years, and rightly hailed as innovative work that influenced the emergence of musical sampling as well as other forms of electronic experimentation.  (Check out Eno and Byrne's seminal 1980 release, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Sire Records)) There is an equally significant musical partnership, however, that stands out in Eno’s discography, a collaborative effort that has failed to capture the same sustained, enthusiastic attention of critics, and I am referring to Eno's previous work with legendary multi-instrumentalist, John Cale.  The two worked together closely on several occasions, producing some of the best pop albums in both artists’ careers.  Two such occasions are the John Cale release, Fear (1974 Island Records) and the more recent Cale/Eno collaboration, Wrong Way Up (1990 All Saints Records). 

Brian Eno & John Cale in the studio circa 1970s

Introducing John Cale’s Fourth Studio Album, Fear (1974 Island Records)

John Cale is a Welsh musician, most known for his role in the band, Velvet Underground, where he played viola, keys, and bass guitar until 1968.  He then left Lou Reed and the group to pursue a solo career as well as production work (producing legendary works such as The Stooges’ self titled debut and Patti Smith’s breakthrough, Horses...), and his solo career, in my opinion, has proven to be more prolific than any other Velvet member.  In fact, I would like to argue that John Cale’s fourth studio release, Fear (1974 Island), is the best Velvet-related solo rock album ever, surpassing Reed’s Transformer (1972 RCA Records) and Nico’s Chelsea Girl (1967 Verve Records).  The album was the first of what’s known as his “Island trilogy” (followed by two more solid Island Records albums, Slow Dazzle (1975) and Helen of Troy (1975)). John Cale had recently collaborated in the supergroup live performance known as June 1, 1974, a group that featured Cale, Nico, Kevin Ayers, and Roxy Music’s Brian Eno, and shortly after, Cale invited the Roxy Music crew, minus Bryan Ferry, to record and collaborate on his upcoming album - these recording sessions led to the creation of Cale’s finest release, Fear. John Cale played many parts: producer, guitarist, violist, bassist, keyboardist, etc., but one cannot deny that Brian Eno’s fingerprints are all over the soundboard on this one.  There is a tension to this album; tightly crafted pop songs venture soundscapes of noise that threaten their unravelling. Much of this tension is due to Eno’s electronic interventions.

Check out the opening track of the album, “Fear is a Man’s Best Friend,” and note how an otherwise commercially promising composition dissolves into a frenzied expression of artful noise:

I love that song; such a good, noisy pop tune!  Another favorite is the playful pop song, “Barracuda.”  I love the nintendo-like sounds and Cale’s strained viola voicings, but I almost don’t want to link the song here.  The YouTube video is very poor quality! Download this album to give it a fair sampling, but here’s the track regardless:

I really apologize for that sound quality; it’s pretty much unlistenable. The album’s rock’n’roll highlight is the 8 minute “Gun,” a track that best demonstrates Eno’s contribution.  I have no sample of the song; definitely download the link and listen for the guitar solo several minutes in.  Eno’s sampling and electronic tinkering really shines on this track.

The album does have its moments of John Cale piano balladry as well, but even those songs experiment with Eno-esque ambience in ways that distinguish such tunes from Cale's previous albums, such as Vintage Violence (1970 Columbia Records) or Paris 1919 (1973 Reprise Records).  One of the greater, mellower moments on the album is the 2nd track, “Buffalo Ballet”:

This is my favorite John Cale album and maybe my favorite post-Velvet rock effort for all time. Check this one out; it’s an essential for Eno fans as well.

John Cale's Fear (1974)

(The link is a .rar file. Don’t let that deter you; this one’s totally worth it. Look to the top right part of the webpage for link to instructions for converting .rar files to be itunes-playable....)

Introducing Brian Eno and John Cale’s Wrong Way Up (1990 All Saints Records)

After the release of Fear, Eno and Cale parted ways creatively to pursue very divergent directions as solo artists.  Brian Eno, of course, journeyed more and more towards minimalist, ambient soundscapes, abandoning all straightforward, vocal-centered efforts of songwriting. For more than a decade, Eno did not sing; in fact, until the 90s, the previously posted Before and After Science (1977 Polydor) was the last album to feature Eno’s vocal work.  In 1990, however, Brian Eno and John Cale reunited and began to record a series of very “mainstream-sounding” pop songs in Eno’s private studio.  Their efforts became the album, Wrong Way Up (1990 All Saints Records).  The album is a very polished, tasteful pop record, a more straightforward, radio-friendly version of Eno’s later pop effort, Another Day on Earth (2005 Hannibal Records).  In fact, the album featured, “Been There Done That,” the only Eno single to make the American charts.  The Lp lacks the artful tension of the previously mentioned Fear, another reason for its potentially commercial quality.  Ironically, the recording process was reported to be rife with tensions and personality conflicts; John Cale has clearly stated his refusal to work together again, suggesting that there was little space for collaboration in the airless laboratory of the audio-obsessive Eno. That’s unfortunate because the album is absolute pop perfection; I prefer it easily over Eno’s latest pop collaboration with David Byrne, Everything that Happens Will Happen Today (2008 Todo Mundo Records).  Here’s the first track, “Lay My Love”:

Like I said, it’s really good pop that lacks the experimentation of the earlier Cale release, Fear. The second track, “One Word,” maintains the same upbeat pace; it’s my favorite track on the album, but I could not find a decent sample. (Just download the sample link below...) Another memorable, catchy track is the song, “Spinning Away” - why this song was not promoted more for the charts is beyond me. It stays with you; check it out:

That’s a beautiful song.  I really love both their voices.  Definitely check out the entire album; it’s one of the lesser known pop classics in the annals of Eno rock.

Brian Eno/John Cale's Wrong Way Up (1990)