Brian Eno Productions

Besides being one of the most unique, influential artists of his generation, art rocker-turned-ambient godfather Brian Eno is a groundbreaking producer whose outside-the-box approach helped some of rock's biggest names reach another level. He played midwife to new wave, aiding Devo in revving up the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" with gloriously robotic riffs, and getting Talking Heads to go for the groove on their biggest hit at the time, a simmering, soulful stab at Al Green's "Take Me to the River." In the '80s, Eno ushered U2 to superstar status by spreading cinematic atmosphere across the band's rock punch on "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "Where the Streets Have No Name."

In Next Steps, Eno gives an audio overhaul to seminal synth-poppers and restless superstars.

As a producer, Brian Eno has brought his unorthodox ideas about the architecture of sound to work for everyone from arena rockers to ambient adventurers. On his watch, Ultravox went from raw post-punk provocateurs to elegant electro-pop artistes with "My Sex." And after conquering the world, Coldplay knew just who to call to bust out of the Britpop box — if you notice a similarity between their '08 techno-folk instrumental "Life In Technicolor" and ambient harpist Laraaji's enchanted garden of sound on 1980's "The Dance No. 3," we'll reveal the connection in just three letters: E-N-O.

Brian Eno took the innovative techniques he discovered as a musician — from his art-rock exploits with Roxy Music to his trailblazing electronic "sound paintings" — and applied them to his work with a dazzling array of artists, for a peerless production career four decades long and counting. Only a producer whose tools include a custom-made series of "Oblique Strategies" cards with instructions like "give way to your worst impulse" and "do nothing for as long as possible" could've helped everyone from Talking Heads to U2 leave their old selves behind and discover bold, new musical identities. From the exotic ambient textures of Jon Hassell to the jagged, jolting new-wave wackiness of Devo, here's the highlight reel from Eno's shockingly stellar production résumé.