Taking Tiger Mountain Album: Nov 1974

Brian Eno sharpens his art‑rock vision with a conceptual, collage‑driven masterpiece

SUMMARY

Released in November 1974, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) was Brian Eno’s second solo album and the follow‑up to Here Come the Warm Jets. Where the debut was a glam‑art explosion of chaotic energy, Taking Tiger Mountain pushed further into conceptual territory, blending rock structures with experimental processes, tape manipulation, and Eno’s emerging interest in systems‑based creativity.

The album was loosely inspired by a set of postcards depicting scenes from the Chinese revolutionary opera Taking Tiger Mountain. Eno used these images as a springboard for a series of songs that feel like fragments of a larger narrative, though he deliberately avoided a literal storyline. Instead, the album plays like a surreal travelogue through espionage, technology, and dream‑logic landscapes.

Eno again assembled an eclectic cast of musicians, including Phil Manzanera, Brian Turrington, Freddie Smith, and members of Roxy Music’s orbit. The album also marked the first major use of Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies — a deck of creative prompts designed to disrupt predictable thinking and provoke unexpected artistic decisions.

Taking Tiger Mountain did not chart upon release, but its reputation has grown steadily. It is now regarded as one of Eno’s most influential works, bridging glam, art‑rock, proto‑punk, and the conceptual frameworks that would later shape his ambient and production careers.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Released November 1974

• Eno’s second solo album

• Issued on Island Records

• Inspired by postcards depicting scenes from a Chinese revolutionary opera

• Features Phil Manzanera, Brian Turrington, Freddie Smith and others

• Early use of Oblique Strategies

• More structured than Here Come the Warm Jets but still experimental

• Did not chart on release

• Now considered a landmark of art‑rock and conceptual pop

TRACKLISTING

Burning Airlines Give You So Much More

Back in Judy’s Jungle

The Fat Lady of Limbourg

Mother Whale Eyeless

The Great Pretender

Third Uncle

Put a Straw Under Baby

The True Wheel

China My China

Taking Tiger Mountain

CHART PERFORMANCE

United Kingdom

• Did not chart

United States

• Did not chart

Certifications: None

Awards: None

Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) — Pressing Variations

UK FIRST PRESSING

Label: Island Records

Catalogue: ILPS 9309

Notes:

• Pink rim “palm tree” Island label

• Matte sleeve with lyric inner

• Earliest and most collectible UK edition

• Distinctive textured sleeve on some copies

UK LATER 1970s PRESSINGS

Label: Island Records

Catalogue: ILPS 9309

Notes:

• Blue “sunset” Island label

• Standard sleeve

• Widely distributed throughout late 70s

• More common than the first pressing

US FIRST PRESSING

Label: Island Records

Catalogue: ILPS 9309

Notes:

• Distributed by Warner Bros

• Tan/blue Island label variant

• Slightly different typography and layout

• US copies generally less scarce than UK first pressings

US REISSUE (1980s)

Label: Editions EG / Polydor

Catalogue: EG/Polydor variants

Notes:

• EG branding added

• Clean, minimal label design

• Common in US second‑hand markets

• Often paired with other Eno reissues of the era

CD REISSUE (1990)

Label: EG / Virgin

Notes:

• Early CD transfer

• No bonus tracks

• Part of the first wave of Eno catalogue CDs

REMASTERED CD (2004)

Label: Virgin Records

Notes:

• Part of the 2004 Eno remaster campaign

• Improved clarity and EQ

• Widely available and still in circulation

MODERN VINYL REISSUES

Label: Various (Island, UMC, Back To Black)

Notes:

• 180g audiophile pressings

• Faithful reproduction of original artwork

• Some editions include download codes

• Generally excellent sound quality

SOURCES

Island Records release documentation

Discogs catalogue references

UK and US chart archives

Album liner notes and reissue documentation

Wikipedia summary