Another Day on Earth

In 1991, when Brian Eno encountered a delay in the release of My Squelchy Life, which would've been his only solo vocal album since 1977's Before and After Science, he ditched most of it in favor of an inferior, instrumental-dominated disc, 1992's Nerve Net. For Another Day on Earth, the producer-provocateur returns not only to the vocal intimacy of My Squelchy Life but also to the music itself: The brooding prog-funk of Life's "Under" reappears here virtually untouched. It's a highlight of a low-key but often lovely disc that offers glimpses of the Eno that revolutionized art rock via his work with Roxy Music, David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2, and his similarly fine Seventies solo output. Whether coasting through the underdeveloped melody of "This" or snuggling up to the string-laden folk of "How Many Worlds," Eno brings a master's touch to both substandard material and fleshy little marvels that pick up where Before and After Science left off.