Brian Eno Desert Island Selection CD

Personnel includes: Brian Eno (vocals, guitar, acoustic & electric pianos, organ, synthesizer, bass, bells, percussion, various instruments); Paul Rudolph (guitar, bass, snare drum); Robert Fripp, Phil Manzanera (guitar); Brian Turrington (piano, bass); Robert Wyatt (piano, percussion); Rod Melvin (piano); Andy MacKay (keyboards); Busta Cherry Jones (bass); Percy Jones (fretless bass); Rhett Davies (Stick, agong-gong); Dave Mattacks, Phil Collins (drums); Simon King (percussion); The Simplistics (background vocals).
Personnel: Brian Eno (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, synthesizer, mini-Moog synthesizer, Moog synthesizer, bass guitar, percussion, bells, snake); Paul Rudolph (guitar, bass guitar, snare drum, castanets); Phil Manzanera, Robert Fripp (guitar); Brian Turrington (piano, bass guitar); Roderick Melvin, Melvin (piano); Andy Mackay (keyboards); Busta Cherry Jones (bass guitar); Percy Jones (fretless bass); Dave Mattacks, Phil Collins (drums); Robert Wyatt, Simon King (percussion); Simplistics (background vocals).
Unknown Contributor Role: Rhett Davies.
A CD-only expansion of the 1986 compilation More Blank Than Frank, Desert Island Selection is Brian Eno's handpicked summation of his first few albums, now thought of as his pre-ambient pop phase. It's actually not a bad selection at all, and Eno seems to have taken care to choose and sequence the songs so that the whole thing hangs together. The only problem is that the album's unerring focus on the mellower, almost proto-ambient side of Eno's early music -- "Here He Comes" and "On Some Faraway Beach" instead of "Baby's on Fire" or "King's Lead Hat" -- gives a skewed and not entirely representative view of these albums, which were much more cacophonous and weird than prettily poppish tracks like "I'll Come Running (To Tie Your Shoe)" and "Taking Tiger Mountain" would suggest. This set hints at what was to come with the addition of two slightly later instrumental tracks, "Spirits Drifting" and a six-minute condensation of the first track from Music for Airports, "1/1." ~ Stewart Mason
This compilation was released on vinyl and tape as MORE BLANK THAN FRANK in 1986 and belatedly issued on CD in 1989 with a less enigmatic title more in keeping with Eno's stated intention: "Instead of trying to compile a representative sample, an historical archive, or a best-of, I just put together a record I'd like to listen to."
DESERT ISLAND SELECTION favors Eno's later pop work. Seven songs--including the swirling "St. Elmo's Fire" and the kinetic, African-influenced "King's Lead Hat"--come from ANOTHER GREEN WORLD and BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE, with only two from the concept album TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN (BY STRATEGY) and one, the incandescent "On Some Faraway Beach," from his solo debut HERE COME THE WARM JETS. While all four of Eno's '70s art-pop albums are essential listening, DESERT ISLAND SELECTION is a thoughtful condensation that's both an excellent introduction to Eno's pop work and a wonderfully listenable album itself.