Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) | ||||
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Studio album by Eno | ||||
Released | November 1974 | |||
Recorded | September 1974 | |||
Studio | Island Studios, London | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 48:14 | |||
Label | Island | |||
Producer | Eno | |||
Eno chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Blender | |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
Mojo | |
Pitchfork | 8.6/10 |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
Select | 4/5 |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 |
Uncut | |
The Village Voice | A− |
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is the second solo album by English musician Brian Eno. Produced by Eno, it was originally released by Island Records in November 1974. Unlike his previous album Here Come the Warm Jets, Eno used a core band of five instrumentalists (keyboards, guitars, bass, drums and percussion) and used fewer guest musicians. Also participating was guitarist and co-writer Phil Manzanera, who had played with Eno in Roxy Music. To help guide production of the album, Eno and Peter Schmidt developed instruction cards called Oblique Strategies to use through the creative process of the album.
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is a loose concept album with topics ranging from espionage to the Chinese Communist revolution. The album's music has an upbeat and bouncy sound but with dark lyrical themes. The album did not chart in the United Kingdom or United States, but received greater attention from the rock press. It was re-issued in a remastered version in 2004 by Virgin Records. The album has received critical attention, with varying opinions on its style and quality compared to Here Come the Warm Jets.
The album was inspired by a series of postcards of 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."
To further explore the possibilities of the studio setting, Eno and his friend Peter Schmidt developed instruction cards, called Oblique Strategies. During recording of the album, he would allow the cards to dictate the next unconsidered action in the recording process. Describing the words on the album as an expression of "idiot glee", Eno and Schmidt eventually expanded the Oblique Strategies set to over 100 "worthwhile dilemmas", which would be used in nearly all his future recordings and productions. Schmidt also designed the album cover, which consists of four prints from an edition of fifteen hundred of his unique lithographs, as well as Polaroids of Eno, credited on the album sleeve to Lorenz Zatecky.