Joe Jackson "Big World" - direct to two tracks

Nothing Like The Sun is four sides on vinyl. (and it sounds like a million bucks, too!!!!) Must be a different album.

 

I definitely disagree here. To me, Big World is only equaled by Night & Day, although I think Blaze of Glory is fantastic and comes very close. Laughter and Lust was a huge disappointment to me, completely lacking the atmosphere that his previous four albums had. It was especially disappointing in that the only time I've seen JJ live was at one of the "workshop" shows that preceded the L & L album, and the songs sounded so much more interesting to me live. I think there is some good material on L & L, but somehow it just doesn't cohere as an album to me, and sounds a bit cold and sterile--the exact opposite of Big World. (All IMHO, of course).

Night Music I didn't hear until several years later, but I think it's better--although still not in the same league as Big World. It brings back some of the atmosphere missing from the previous album, but I think the "Nocturnes" were a bit too new-agey in places, and "The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy" feels kind of trite and contrived to me. The other vocal songs (and some of the instrumental bits) work well, though.

The Symphony does very little for me--it seems like a less interesting version of the material from Will Power. I didn't know that he had been talking of completely abandoning pop music at the time--I assumed it was meant to be the one-off that it turned out to be.

I like Heaven and Hell, but would have preferred more of JJ's own vocals. There were some great moments on it (especially "Angel" and "Tuzla"), but a lot of it came across as overly-schmaltzy show tunes. I thought the stripped down live album he did next (Summer in the City) was quite wonderful. Night & Day II, though? I don't know--the over-wrought lyrics and dated-upon-release synthetic percussion effects kind of ruin that for me, despite some good individual songs and a fantastic guest performance by Marianne Faithfull. I played it recently and found it kind of embarrassing.

The two studio albums since, I thought, were the best he's done since Blaze of Glory, with solid songwriting and no trace of the schmaltzy gimmickry he'd been employing through most of the '90s. I'm hoping for more in that vein.

 

Just playing my A&M Canada vinyl copy now.



Robert Ludwig fans take note. Noticed RL in the deadwax. Checked the liner notes sheet.

"Direct to Metal Mastering by Bob Ludwig at MASTERDISK."

 

Actually there was thematic element to it as well - I saw Joe on that tour and the concert (and the stage) was divided into a "trypych" format.

 

I remember there was something funny about the vinyl for "Nothing Like The Sun". If it wasn't three sided, then each side was extremely brief.

I bet it sounds like a million bucks because each side is very short (with respect to time) leaving more room for grooves on the record.

I bought the vinyl when it came out. I bought my first CD player a few months later. I remembering picking up one or two 3" cd singles at the time to get a few non-album tracks.

 

Yup, that's the one.

I, too, remember when ... NOTHING LIKE THE SUN was first released there was some talk about it being Sting's "new double album."

 

Wow, I agree with many of your observations, especially regarding the overlooked and underrated NIGHT MUSIC, which took me quite some time to get into. Now I love it. I saw JJ on that tour, also.

 

No, he didn't. He has mentioned in a radio interview that he just had too much material to fit on a single album, but couldn't stretch it out to a double album either. So he just ended up somewhere in between.

 

I was managing a record store at the time, and a couple of customers brought the album back, claiming side 4 was defective because it was grooveless. They were a little surprised when I explained the concept of a 3-sided album.

 

I really like this album, too. One of my faves of 86/87. However, I've spoken with people in the band who told me that it wasn't a great live OR studio experience. And, audience noise ruined a superior take(so I'm told) of Home Town.

JJ has had some strange ideas, to be sure. It's a shame some alternate takes from this time don't circulate. I wish we could hear some of the alternates. Someone applauded? Who cares, Joe?



Dan

 

At least two of the alternate takes are on the aforementioned 8" LaserDiscs in glorious PCM sound. On one Joe completely muffs up the words - I can't remember what went wrong on the other one... a bad guitar part I think.

The alternates sound exactly like the takes which were released, with the exception of the minor muffs that happen. These songs were meticulously learned and played by the musicians. Recording a whole album of new material live was a novel idea, I guess. Personally I think all the tracks would have been much better had they been recorded in a conventional studio setting.

Here's a trailer for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5XqbZvenlE

 

In the USA release, side 4 is a silent run-out groove, not grooveless.

 

Ooooh!!!! I'm gonna program it in that order and give it a spin. That sounds way cool!

I've listened to this album and doing so would take me to places in my imagination, and I'd often wondered what it would be like to listen to this album while in one of those foreign locales. I can tell you all right now that there are very few experiences in my life that can compare with finally being able to realize that dream on a Saturday night in November 2007, when I went walking the streets of Beijing listening to this on my mp3 player, taking pictures of just about anything that looked remotely cool (which was practically everything). It was like everything I'd ever visualized while listening to this album back in the 80's. I was so moved by the experience, I wrote a blubbering fanboy letter to Joe Jackson telling him about it. I've yet to hear back from him, though. Can't imagine why! Now when I listen to BIG WORLD, instead of dreaming I am now cherishing the memories!

My all-time favorite JJ album, although RAIN is a very VERY close second.

 

Here in Europe it has a groove as well. A friend of mine has a copy and once told me that it plays silent and runs out after a minute or two.

 

I recall that the the cover for that LD has notes about which tracks match the takes that ended up on the CD -- but they are not accurate.

Yes, glorious PCM sound. I ripped the audio off my copy a while back.

 

RAIN is awesome. Right up there with Blaze Of Glory for me. BOG is probably what Big World could have sounded like in a studio setting.


Dan

 

I'm a diehard JJ fan, but for some reason it took me a really long time to warm up to Big World. Now, of course, I love it, but it's strange, for me the album feels really cold and lifeless at time. Not the sound, just a total feeling of isolation and sterility. It wasn't until I finally tracked down a copy of the Live In Tokyo DVD that I really felt that I understood exactly where he was going with this material. Side two is absolutely untouchable for me, for sure.

One of the big issues for my understanding of the record was that I didn't hear it until towards the end of the nineties, and a few things - "Right And Wrong" in particular - just sounded hopelessly dated to me then. Turns out that it was just an album that I needed to grow up a bit to fully appreciate.

 

Rain is frustrating to me. It's another one where Joe shoehorned himself as a musical exercise. As with "Big World" where I wonder how much better/different the songs would have been with a proper studio recording, with Rain I often wonder how much better the songs would have been had he opened up his ensemble in the manner of a studio album to incorporate more instruments and sounds. The piano/bass/drums trio is more compelling live than on record IMO.

LOVE "Volume 4" though.

 

One of the great production / mixing jobs in the history of music

 

Joe Jackon's 'Big World' -- Amazing.

I picked up a mint condition, shrink wrap in place, vinyl LP of this album.

It's an amazing recording. So, I decided to read the fine print and see what was up with it. He explains in the liner notes about the recording process and it shows. This album was made in 1986, and it's SQ is on par with any MFSL I have.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir, but in case anyone can find this on vinyl for $8-$10--I highly recommend it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_World

 

The original pressing of Metallica's ..And Justice For All was also a 3-sided LP, which came our around the same time.

Also, Neil Young's LP Rust Never Sleeps was also recorded in a similar manner

 

Hold it up to a light and you'll see purple through. During this time A&M was using audiophile grade vinyl for their pressings, and giving great care to the process. You can tell with any records from this period. Pick up "Body and Soul" if you get a chance for a real audio delight.

 

Thanks for that info.

Sadly, all my JJ albums have been on CD and Re-Issues. This one was the cheapest and from a lot of these posts, seems to be pretty respected.

 

The original AM+ cd of Body And Soul enjoys a good reputation on the forum, but I have found my vinyl copy beats it handily. A nice copy of the lp shouldn't set you back more than $5.

 

Just got this on vinyl for the first time after all these years via the forum's Classifieds (tip o' the thanks to dasacco!)

Indeed, sounds great!