Editing Before and After Science (section)

== Production ==
Unlike Eno's previous albums, which were recorded in a very short time, ''Before and After Science'' was two years in the making.{{sfn|Tamm|1989|p=107}} During this two-year period, Eno was busy working on his solo [[ambient music]] albums ''[[Music for Films]]'' and ''[[Discreet Music]]''{{sfn|Tamm|1989|p=107}} and collaborating with [[David Bowie]] on the latter's albums ''[[Low (David Bowie album)|Low]]'' and ''[["Heroes" (album)|"Heroes"]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Perone|first=James E.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6bz2BFdPawC&pg=PA57|title=The Words and Music of David Bowie|p=60|location=[[Westport, Connecticut]]|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-27599-245-3}}</ref>{{sfn|Seabrook|2008|pp=161–162}} Due to the very positive critical reception accorded his previous rock music-oriented album, ''[[Another Green World]]'', Eno was afraid of repeating himself but still wanted to release a high-quality product.{{sfn|Tamm|1989|p=107}}

As on his previous rock-based recordings, Eno worked with a plethora of guest musicians. Several artists from German and British groups of the era contributed to the album, collaborating with Eno for the first time. Guitarist [[Fred Frith]] caught Eno's attention with "the timbral possibilities that [Frith had] been discovering" on his album ''[[Guitar Solos]]''.<ref name=moffom>{{cite web|last=Jónsson|first=Darryl|url=http://www.moffom.org/en/articles-and-interviews/interview-fred-frith|title=Interview with Fred Frith|publisher=[[MOFFOM (Music on Film-Film on Music)]]|date=January 2007|access-date=16 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214042237/http://www.moffom.org/en/iaf-fred-frith.php|archive-date=14 December 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Jaki Liebezeit]] of the German [[krautrock]] group [[Can (band)|Can]] played drums on "Backwater", and German [[ambient music]] group [[Cluster (band)|Cluster]] contributed to the songwriting and instrumentation of the track "By This River".<ref name="albumNotes" /><ref name=Allmusic /> Eno had previously worked with Cluster on their album ''[[Cluster & Eno]]'', released in 1977.<ref name=AllmusicCluster>{{cite web|last=Waynick|first=Michael|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/cluster-eno-mw0000647074|title=Cluster & Eno – Cluster / Brian Eno|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref> Other musicians included [[Dave Mattacks]], who played drums on "Kurt's Rejoinder" and "Here He Comes", and [[Andy Fraser]] (normally a bass guitarist in British [[blues rock]] band [[Free (band)|Free]]) who played the drums on "King's Lead Hat".<ref name="albumNotes" /><ref name=AllmusicFraser>{{cite web|last=True|first=Chris|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/andy-fraser-mn0000031432/biography|title=Andy Fraser|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref><ref name=AllmusicMattacks>{{cite web|last=McDonald|first=Steven|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dave-mattacks-mn0000689854/biography|title=Dave Mattacks|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref>

Several musicians who had worked with Eno on previous albums returned. [[Percy Jones (musician)|Percy Jones]] of [[Brand X]] and [[Phil Collins]] of [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]] played bass and drums respectively.<ref name=Allmusic /> Other returning contributors included [[Robert Fripp]], [[Paul Rudolph (musician)|Paul Rudolph]], [[Bill MacCormick]] and [[Phil Manzanera]].<ref name=AllmusicQuietSun>{{cite web|last=Mills|first=Ted|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/quiet-sun-mn0000859928/biography|title=Quiet Sun|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref> "Shirley Williams" is credited on the album sleeve for "time" and "brush timbales" on "Through Hollow Lands" and "Kurt's Rejoinder"; Williams was a pseudonym for [[Robert Wyatt]].<ref>{{cite AV media|last=Maconie|first=Stuart|author-link=Stuart Maconie|title=A Quantity of Stuff – The Brian Eno Story|publisher=[[BBC Radio 2]]|date=1 February 2003}}</ref> Working extensively with the musicians and his instructional cards—the [[Oblique Strategies]]—during the two years working on the album, Eno wrote over one hundred songs.<ref name="albumNotes" />{{sfn|Tamm|1989|p=107}}<ref name="BangsVoice">{{cite news|last=Bangs|first=Lester|author-link=Lester Bangs|title=Eno Sings with the Fishes|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]|location=New York|date=4 March 1978|page=49}}</ref>