The Joe Jackson Album by Album Thread

To me, those three are his masterpieces, and nothing else will quite live up to them. However, almost everything else is still pretty darn interesting. I personally think the releases that come closest are Blaze of Glory and the latest one, Fast Forward, though I imagine opinions will vary greatly among fans. Rain is also very strong, and I really love the vocal songs on Night Music (but find the instrumental tracks surprisingly weak, unlike in Body & Soul where they arguably steal the show).

 

I could have written this post word for word! I too went to a "workshop" concert, was completely blown away by the new songs, and then disappointed by the subsequent album (in spite of a few very good songs).

 

Yeah, I was really confused. Those songs absolutely exploded onstage at The Chance, then Laughter and Lust just....embalmed them. Coming off one of his most artistic triumphs(Blaze Of Glory) made it worse. Something about the sound of L&L did not have the punch that those songs needed.


Dan

 

Looks like I'm amongst friends, so I feel o.k. to ask this (going out of order from the album by album idea): What's everyone's feelings about Volume 4, the Band reunion album from 2004? I thought it was great.

 

+1 for Blaze of Glory. I guess it's not appealing to everyone, but I think it's a very solid album. Songs on each album side run together in a clever way.

 

Yeah, Blaze of Glory is very solid.

 

I'm no doubt in the minority on this, but I actually enjoy it more than I do the original band albums.

 

Look Sharp
I'm The Man
Night & Day
Those are my 3 favorites in that order, my favorite song Of Joes is Sunday Papers the bass guitar riff gets me everytime.

 

I love Blaze of Glory, and in some ways consider it his last "classic" album--great individual songs that have a sense of an overarching theme (Cold War coming-of-age issues) without having the theme seeming overbearing (as would be the case with some later albums). However, I can also completely understand those who would consider it the first "non-classic," as it begins the trend toward a more sterile sounding production. It has some of the retro atmosphere of previous albums, but that atmosphere is balanced with a more clinical aspect that makes it feel somewhat more contrived and constrained to me (ironically enough). I often wonder how it might have sounded if David Kershenbaum has produced it.

 

At one point I ripped Blaze of Glory and changed all the track breaks, because I find almost all of them to be wrongly-placed for shuffle-play purposes.

 

Listening to Blaze Of Glory vinyl right now. I think it is a fantastic album, always have.