Customer Reviews

After the Heat

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the second and final lp for Eno and the German synth duo Cluster, and more so than "Cluster and Eno," this lp is a much more cohesive, yet no less strange, album.

Eno tends to be the more dominant force on this recording, going so far as singing on a few of these tracks, and the whole lp has a kind of "Before and After Science" feel to it, which is certainly not a bad thing.

Cluster would go on to make excellent lps after this point (not that they hadn't to that point), taking what they gained from Eno and putting it to good use. Eno would also take much from these meetings, and those influences do pop up on several lps he made after this one.

Both Eno and Cluster lps are essential listening and belong in your cd collection.

This is the companion work to "Cluster and Eno", and really should be taken in along with that wonderful work for maximum impact. Not that the absence of its tracks diminishes this release any, as this is definitely the stronger of the two albums. Cluster, at this point in time, was well into their near-classical approach to ambience, and pairing this with Eno's full-flowered approaches to atmospherics and complex arranging creates a masterpiece recording that has only improved with time. Description of what's going on in here is rather hard; it should just be sufficient to say that you should buy this CD if you have even the slightest interest in any of these artists, in ambient music, or electronics. An aside note: this was Eno's last lyrical effort for many years; he only found voice again on his collaboration with John Cale, "Wrong Way Up", over a decade later. When one listens to "The Belldog", though, it's clear why...what _does_ one sing about after creating such a work? A critical, essential album.

I consider this album to be the perfect soundtrack for the weird future we're going be be having. Hard to beleive it's twenty years old. It was before it's time then, it's before it's time now and will probably still be before it's time ten years from now. It combines odd little pop songs and glacial sonic landscapes.

"After the Heat" is the second collaboration between ambient pioneer Brian Eno and electronic experimentalists Cluster (Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius). While their first collaboration (released as "Cluster & Eno) is simply astonishing, this album, while quite an enjoyable listen, is a bit more pedestrian.

All of the tracks are based on basically the same sort of framework-- piano or keyboard lines tend to form the core of each piece with arpeggiated keyboards, swirling hazes, and oddly effected guitars contributing to the ambience of the whole thing. On three tracks, Eno adds a vocal. By and large, the whole thing works quite effectively ("Tzima N'Arki", featuring a bass performance by Holgar Czukay, the simply lovely "The Shade"), but at times it gets a bit tired (Base & Apex", "Oil"), and occasionally you find yourself wishing they'd've left the simply beautiful piano melodies alone rather then adorning them with additional keyboards ("Luftschloss"). One thing that is consistent is that the vocal tracks are fantastic-- I don't know if it's having an additional focus or if they seemed particularly inspired when a vocal was present, I suspect the latter. Take "Broken Head", Eno rambles an odd half-spoken vocal on top of a driving rhythm and eventually gives way to a noisy guitar lead that, while structurally unimpressive, is nonetheless captivating.

I'm not overly familiar with previous issues of this album (I had borrowed a copy from a friend but was never able to get my own copy), so I can't readily compare the sound on this one to the older issues, but it certainly is crisp, clean, and allows the subtleties of the music (of which there are many to really come forth). The liner notes provide a discussion of the music and of each of the tracks. Their first collaboration was somewhat more enjoyable then this, but "After the Heat" is well worthwhile for the already initiated.

This reissued CD "juggled" the original running order of the tracks as they appeared on the original LP, which detracted from the finished product. The original LP featured the Cluster-inspired tracks on side one, with the Eno tracks on side two. Indeed, the three Eno vocal pieces were the last three songs on the original release.

If you can afford it, and if it isn't too late by the time you are reading this as it is/was a limited edition of 1,500, get the mini-LP version recently released by Captain Trip records (still available at the time of this writing from Amazon). Not only does it restore the original running order of the songs, but perfectly reproduces the original album cover art. The sound was greatly improved too. The first album, Cluster & Eno is also still available in this format.

There is also one more album that features Eno, Moebius, Roedelius, and this particular case, Michael Rother, under the band name, Harmonia. The album is entitled Tracks & Traces, was recorded in 1976, and completes the trinity of Eno/Cluster collaborations.

you'll have to listen to this record with the appropriate song following order , that is the one of the original vinyl, that is:
1) oil
2)foreign affairs
3) luftschloss
4)the shade
5)old land
6) base & apex
7) light arms
8) broken head
9)the belldog
10) t'zima narki ( lyrics of king'slead hat sung backwards)

I wonder why they modified it.....it was really perfect in the original version

no one reviewed this yet? unbeleivable. if you like eno, you'll love this. if you like electronic music, you'll love this. I can't believe no one's said anything about it. Classic eno vocals like "the belldog," "broken head" ("i am just a broken head I stole the world that others plundered now I stumble through the garbage, slide and stumble, slide and stumble") and "tzima n'akari" and the charming, haunting, intrumental pieces that make up the rest of the lp don't deserve comment? buy this cd now, you'll thank yourself for years to come.

For those who don't warm to Eno's ambient recordings and whose interest ended with Before and After Science, the lesser-known Old Land, recorded in collaboration with the German group Cluster, offered some final enjoyable moments. The pieces were shorter and recognizably melodic, albeit very idiosyncratic. There was nothing resembling a pop tune and no up-tempo rocker, but there were echoes of both the oddly skewed and quiet, introspective tunes from Another Green World and Before and After Science. There were even three vocal pieces (Eno's last for many years)- one sung, one recited, and one sung and played backwards. This album was reissued on CD on the Relativity label back in 1986 with lackluster sound quality.

After the Heat, issued on the Water label, is a sonic delight, equal to the Astralwerks reissues of Eno's solo recording. The sound is clear, sharp, and displays a full dimension. However, After the Heat is not exactly a reissue of Old Land. Not only is the title different and the cover art similar but different, and the recording credited to Eno Moebius Roedelius instead of Cluster & Brian Eno (a distinction without a difference), but the ten-track Old Land and the nine-track After the Heat have only four tracks in common (including the three vocal tracks). The remaining tracks are from the Eno & Cluster album (their first collaboration), and the missing tracks from Old Land have been shuffled over to what is currently being offered as Cluster & Eno. I don't have any argument with the quality of any of the music, though the vocal tracks are the ones I like the best- but you should be aware that if you're replacing an old album or CD you may not be getting what you expected.

the CD is absolutely magnificent...i constantly listen to it in my car and i have recommended it to my friends

This vinyl reissue by Four Men with Beards is horrible, billed as "audiphile quality 180 gram vinyl", brand new, it sounds as if I bought it at a garage sale. My copy contains pops and hiss, as if the album was mastered from someone's old copy of the original lp. Such racket is especially painful on this quiet, haunting album. Check online, many people make the same complaint about their other releases.

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It pains me to report this, because the company is reissuing many wonderful albums. However, if you value sound quality enough to seek out vinyl, you are going to be very disappointed with this release.