BRIAN ENO - TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN (BY STRATEGY) @ 50

Marking half a century on the shelves this month is the sophomore solo LP from former Roxy Music electronics wizard, Brian Eno, with Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) being released in November of 1974. The album continued his trajectory into the "art-pop" genre, though his focus was more refined, even opting for a very tight group of musicians for the album, rather than the large list of guest musicians credited on his solo debut.

One of the key innovations in Eno's process came about during the recording of this album, as he and artist Peter Schmidt developed their first iteration of their Oblique Strategies card system. The initial version took the form of a deck of 7-by-9-centimetre (2.8 in × 3.5 in) printed cards in a black box. Each card offers a challenging constraint intended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking. Examples of suggestions include: Honour thy error as a hidden intention, Use an old idea, Try faking it, etc. The deck would eventually include over 100 cards, with some later web editions topping 200. The system would end up becoming integral to Eno's creative process, for both his own works and all his collaborative projects, throughout his career.

Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is a loose concept album that references themes of geopolitical intrigue ranging from espionage to the Chinese Communist Revolution. The album was inspired by a series of postcards depicting a Chinese revolutionary opera titled, Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy. Eno described his understanding of the title as referring to "the dichotomy between the archaic and the progressive. Half Taking Tiger Mountain – that Middle Ages physical feel of storming a military position – and half (By Strategy) – that very, very 20th-century mental concept of a tactical interaction of systems."

The core musicians for the album include former Roxy Music band-mate, Phil Manzanera on guitar, Robert Wyatt on percussion, Freddie Smith on drums, and Brian Turrington on bass. Guest musicians include Phil Collins playing drums on Mother Whale Eyeless, which came about as repayment for Eno helping produce the Genesis album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

The lyrics for the album introduce another technique that would become a regular tactic, not only for Eno, but for people like David Bowie during their work together in subsequent years. Eno would begin developing lyrics by singing nonsense words along with the music, focusing on the phonetic qualities of the sounds before attempting to evolve them into recognizable words. It's a process that, like the Oblique Strategies cards, could often reveal unique and unexpected word couplings that might not have otherwise become apparent. By the time they took their final forms, the lyrics, inspired by the aforementioned theme, took on a decidedly darker and more sinister tone than his previous album.

While the album failed to chart on either side of the pond, it received widespread critical acclaim, and has since become considered essential listening as far as Eno's solo releases are concerned. As it was instrumental in introducing certain key processes for Eno, its influence has been significant, far beyond what it may imply by its limited commercial success.