Editing Before and After Science (section)

== Music and lyrics ==
Jim DeRogatis, author of ''Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock'', described the overall sound of ''Before and After Science'' as "the coldest and most clinical of Eno's pop efforts".{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=245}} David Ross Smith of online music database [[AllMusic]] wrote that "Despite the album's pop format, the sound is unique and strays far from the mainstream".<ref name=Allmusic>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=David Ross|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/before-and-after-science-mw0000193718|title=Before and After Science – Brian Eno|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref> According to [[David Bowie]]'s biographer Thomas Jerome Seabrook, the album is "split between up-tempo art-rock on side one and more pastoral material on side two",{{sfn|Seabrook|2008|p=160}} while Piotr Orlov of ''[[LA Weekly]]'' categorized it as an [[art pop]] record.<ref name="ArtPop">{{cite news|last=Orlov|first=Piotr|url=https://www.laweekly.com/lit-up-and-emotional/|title=Enorchestra at the Knitting Factory, December 8|newspaper=[[LA Weekly]]|date=16 December 2004|access-date=16 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917042159/https://www.laweekly.com/2004-12-16/music/lit-up-and-emotional/|archive-date=17 September 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The album's opening tracks "No One Receiving" and "Backwater" start the album as upbeat and bouncy songs.<ref name=Allmusic /> "King's Lead Hat" is an [[anagram]] of [[Talking Heads]], a new wave group Eno had met after a concert in England when they were touring with [[Ramones]].{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=246}}{{sfn|Gittins|2004|p=36}} Eno would later produce Talking Heads' second, third and fourth albums, including ''[[Remain in Light]]''.<ref name=MoreSongs>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/more-songs-about-buildings-and-food-mw0000650866/credits|title=More Songs About Buildings and Food – Talking Heads {{!}} Credits|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=16 October 2020}}</ref> The last five songs of the album have been described as having "an occasional pastoral quality" and being "pensive and atmospheric".<ref name=Allmusic />

Eno referred to the music of ''Before and After Science'' as "ocean music", as opposed to ''[[Another Green World]]''', which he described as "sky music".<ref name="BangsVoice" /> References to water in the lyrics appear in songs such as "Backwater", "Julie With..." and "By this River".{{sfn|Reynolds|1996|p=203}} Author [[Simon Reynolds]] noted themes of "boredom" and "bliss" through the album, citing "Here He Comes", about "a boy trying to vanish by floating through the sky through a different time" and "Spider and I", about a boy watching the sky and dreaming about being carried away with a ship, as examples.{{sfn|Reynolds|1996|p=203}} Eno's songwriting style was described as "a sound-over-sense approach".<ref name=Allmusic /> Influenced by poet [[Kurt Schwitters]], Eno consciously did not make songwriting or lyrics the main focus in the music.<ref name=Allmusic /> Tom Carson of ''Rolling Stone'' noted this style, stating that the lyrics are "only complementary variables" to the music on the album.<ref name=rollingstone>{{cite magazine|last=Carson|first=Tom|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/117241/review/5940433|title=Brian Eno: Before and After Science|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|location=New York|date=18 May 1978|access-date=29 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619210507/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/117241/review/5940433|archive-date=19 June 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Lester Bangs]] commented on Eno's lyrical style on  "Julie with..." stating that the lyrics' themes "could be a murderer's ruminations, or simply a lovers' retreat... or Julie could be three years old".<ref name="BangsVoice" /> Schwitters' influence is also shown on the song "Kurt's Rejoinder", on which samples of Schwitters' poem "Ursonate" can be heard.<ref name=Allmusic />{{sfn|DeRogatis|2003|p=246}}