Brian Eno is MORE DARK THAN SHARK

INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS & RELATED ARTICLES

Record Collector AUGUST 2024 - by Chris Roberts

JOHN CALE: SHIP OF FOOLS - THE ISLAND ALBUMS

Former Velvets man's early '70s London era

Asked to put a band together for John Cale's solo work, Phil Manzanera "got lonely" in the studio, he once told me, as Cale wasn't always there ("he liked to womanise," was one reason he put forward). So he brought Eno in to keep him company. As always, Eno now gets the credit from critics. Yet this trilogy of 1974-75 albums is robustly dominated by the voice and attitude of Cale himself, who the industry then hoped might become as talked about as former Velvets frenemy Lou Reed. That didn't quite pan out, but Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy, gathered here (with alternative takes and singles), remain edgy, volatile and multi-faceted works, from the chilling version of Heartbreak Hotel to the literate snaking of The Jeweller.