Before heading off into the realms of ambient noodling, Eno also created a number of straight-ahead
rock albums.
Here Come The Warm Jets (1973) is quirky experimental rock; entirely written and recorded in 12 days, the 10 songs include the excellent Blank Frank and Dead Finks Don't Talk, while the largely instrumental On Some Faraway Beach and the title track hint at more considered music to come.
Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974) is similar, but slightly more refined. There's less noisiness, although some of the tracks are whimsical; the godawful nursery-rhyme horror of Put A Straw Under Baby is worst offender. For all that, though, the majority of the tracks are good.
Another Green World (1975) and Before And After Science (1977) begin to pick up on and develop the ambient thread: both albums have an even mix of straightforward songs and ambient instrumental miniatures. The songs are more reserved, musically, and more rewarding in the long term; the short instrumental pieces are worthy, and make decidedly more tolerable listening than the later ambient behemoths.