None of the songs could have been top-40 material, but only because Eno didn't work that way. The songs themselves come off as fun, annoying, menacing, punkish, beautiful, and always interesting. It was quite a debut, by any standards. Based on postcards of China in some way or another, it comes off as a pseudo-concept album. The songs, for the most part, aren't quite as energetic as those found on Here Come the Warm Jets, and are more conventional, in a screwy sort of way.
New developments do occur, however.
Overall, this release refines Warm Jets ideas without really going too far beyond them. But, the single and Tiger Mountain would pale in comparison to Eno's releases of the following year. The backup band changes with nearly every song, lyrics are rare, and for nearly half the album, Eno plays all the instruments. Keyboards and synths dominate the soundscapes, but this isn't new age music, it's all too quirky for that. Coming across more like a painting than music, Eno challenges the audience's method of listening, which is something he would attempt to do on most of his subsequent work.