Joy Division - Closer

 

New Order were one of my favourite bands in the late 1980s/early 1990s but that wasn't always the case. I hadn't really paid too much attention to them until 1986 when "Shellshock" got some air-play on late night radio stations, and after "True Faith" was released in 1987, I decided to buy the "Substance 1987" compilation album.

Fortunately, I liked that album and then randomly started the process of buying up the New Order back catalogue. Back in the day, I had already purchased the Joy Division single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" shortly after it had been released, but that was mostly down to it having been in the charts for several weeks but without any radio play. Out of curiosity, I purchased the single and quite liked it, but not enough to invest in any other Joy Division record.

Having subsequently heard "Ceremony" and "Atmosphere" I decided to buy the "Closer" album, and the sticker shows it cost me £5.69 from Our Price records. Although I liked the "Faith" album by The Cure, "Closer" was too depressing even for me, and I think I only played the LP three or four times. I thought I had wasted my money.

"Closer" had been released only two months after singer/song-writer Ian Curtis had committed suicide, after which the surviving members of the band formed New Order, with the addition of keyboard player Gillian Gilbert.

Looking at the album sleeve I can honestly say I have no recollection of any of the 9 tracks, so this could be a very interesting experience !

Side One opens with the six minute long "Atrocity Exhibition" which has the same single funky bass riff hypnotically repeated over a tribal drumbeat. The screeching guitar creates a chaotic sound which is mostly just distorted noise and succeeds in conjuring up the image of an atrocity. However, it all somehow works and it is a tremendous song. "This is the way, step inside".

"Isolation" is the shortest track on the album at just under three minutes long. A relatively cheerful dance track beat with a synth-pop keyboard riff which wouldn't be out of place on an early Depeche Mode song. In many ways it is similar to some of the music on the subsequent first two New Order albums.

The pace changes with the slow and ponderous "Passover". The guitar is reminiscent of that on The Cure's "Pornography" but the song is driven by the bass and drums. The drum fade out ending reminded me a little of "Other Voices" from the Cure's "Faith" album.

"Colony" has a heavy bass and thumping drumming, and what is now referred to as a post-punk guitar riff. However, it is mostly forgettable and easily the worst track on the album.

"A Means To An End" has an almost toe tapping, catchy bass line and guitar. "I put my trust in you !"

The Side Two opener "Heart And Soul" has a menacing bass line clashing with the controlled drum beat, and perhaps the most haunting vocal on the album, sounding uncannily like Jim Morrison from The Doors.

"Twenty Four Hours" has a mournful vocal and bass line before leading into a raging guitar. Again, the playing reminded me in parts of The Cure circa 1981/82. There is also an early New Order song with a similar change up to the frantic guitar, although I can't for the life of me remember which one !

"The Eternal" is an extremely bleak, funeral procession. A plodding bass intro leads into some solemn piano. It's apparently Robert Smith's favourite Joy Division song and clearly had an influence on the "Faith" album. It probably should have been the last song on the album though.

The album closes with the synth dominated "Decades" but has the most depressing vocal on "Closer", which is some accolade. The music is quite beautiful but the vocal makes it extremely dark, and it's practically a requiem. The synth chords hint at those on "Every Little Count" on New Order's "Brotherhood" album

Having played "Closer" again, I was a little surprised as to why I originally disliked it so much, given my musical tastes at the time. Admittedly it can be a hard listen, with depressing vocals and lyrics, and an austere, foreboding sound. I can see why one critic subsequently described it as "a suicide note put to music". 

However, I thought "Atrocity Exhibition" and "Isolation" were really good, and I enjoyed much of the music, particularly a lot of the bass lines. Many of the songs were good in parts, and this might be an unpopular opinion, spoiled by the singing. However, I now think this is an excellent LP.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Atrocity Exhibition
2. Isolation
3. Passover
4. Colony
5. A Means To An End

Side Two :

1. Heart and Soul
2. Twenty Four Hours
3. The Eternal
4. Decades

Released 1980
UK Chart Position : 6

Holly Johnson - Blast

 

I never liked Frankie Goes To Hollywood, finding most of their music to be unlistenable and their over-the-top, in your face image and posturing to be off-putting. 

The one exception to this was the ballad "Power Of Love", which I thought was tremendous, and contained some poetic lyrics. "I'll protect you from the Hooded Claw, keep the vampires from your door. When the chips are down, I'll be around with my death defying love for you. Envy will hurt itself". 

Around the same time there were two other songs with the same title, but the one by the Frankies was a lot better than those by Huey Lewis and the News and Jennifer Rush !

When Frankie Goes To Hollywood split up and singer Holly Johnson went solo I didn't expect much. However, his first two singles, "Love Train" and "Americanos" were unexpectedly good, so much to my surprise I decided to get the album. Probably after it had reached number 1 in the album charts !

My memory is that whilst there were a couple of Frankie Goes To Hollywood style songs I didn't like, overall I enjoyed what a thought to be a collection of mostly catchy pop songs.

Looking at the track listing now, I can only remember three of the four singles, with "Atomic City" completely erased from memory, apart from that I didn't like it........

The opening track "Atomic City" is over 6 minutes long and is overblown Frankie Goes To Hollywood disco/dance pop. Co-written with Dan Hartman of "Instant Replay" fame, it is the only song not solely written by Johnson. There are lots of synths, horns, funky bass and Johnson's trademark haw hawww vocals. "We've got no ozone, we got radiation. See the air pollution from the power station". I still don't like it.

In contrast, "Heaven's Here" is a jaunty, toe-tapping pop song, with a soft vocal and a glorious uplifting chorus. It's a fantastic song and should have been a huge hit, but wasn't. The fade out is a little annoying as the song deserves a big finish !

"Americanos" is a fantastic, happy singalong number, but underneath it is a critique of the American way of life. There are jazzy bouncing horns, sax, girly backing vocals and so many great lyrics "There's a place where a kid without a cent he can grow up to be president", "Americanos, blue jeans and chinos, Coke, Pepsi and Oreos, "Satellite stations across the nation, that's cable TV for you and me", and "Everything's organized from crime to leisure time", with "leisure" sung in an American accent for emphasis !

"Deep In Love" has a funky bass and brass, with a catchy melody for the chorus. It is perhaps the best of the non-single tracks.

"S.U.C.C.E.S.S" has a few notes of Beethoven's 12th at the start before becoming a fairly bland disco dance pop number.

"Love Train" is another song with an uplifting melody, a great vocal and ooh ooh ooh backing vocals. The guitar solo is played by Brian May.  The line "you're a work of art, you're a Trevi Fountain" was educational as I had never heard of the Trevi Fountain before, so I made a point of seeing it when I eventually got to visit Rome. The promotional video for "Love Train" clearly inspired The Smashing Pumpkins.

"Got It Made" starts with some standard electro synth pop beat but the verse has a decent melody, and there is a short guitar solo. "We've got it made, we've got it, straight from the hands of the Marquis de Sade"

"Love Will Come" is a slower number. Again, there is a bold brass intro but the verse is musically fairly sparse with a liquid bass and drums to the fore, but the brass returns for the rising chorus. The guitar break could have come from New Order circa mid 1980s, but overall the song is more in the style of ABC.

There is more brass on the 1980s "Perfume" which is reminiscent of Prince, especially with some of the vocals, but it is the weakest track on "Blast".

"Feel Good" has gentle swirling synths to begin with before becoming a slow ballad. The instrumental break could be from The Cure. It is quite nice but without being anything truely memorable.

I had forgotten just how good "Heaven's Here" was and "Americano" and "Love Train" remain classics. I also liked "Feel Good", "Deep In Love", "Got It Made" and "Love Will Come", leaving just three tracks I wouldn't be bothered about never hearing again. 

So overall, "Blast" is a pretty decent album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Atomic City
2. Heaven's Here
3. Americanos
4. Deep In Love
5. S.U.C.C.E.S.S

Side Two :

1. Love Train
2. Got It Made
3. Love Will Come
4. Perfume
5. Feel Good

Released 1989
UK Chart Position : 1

 Singles :

Love Train ( No 4 - 1989 )
Americanos ( No 4 - 1989 )
Atomic City ( No 18 - 1989 )
Heaven's Here ( No 62 - 1989 )

 

The Jam - Sound Affects

After the success of "Setting Sons", The Jam achieved their first UK number one hit single with the non-album track "Going Underground". This success was repeated with "Start !", the lead-off single from their next album "Sound Affects", which was released a couple of months ahead of the LP.

Frankly, I didn't like "Start !" as it was very similar, especially the bass and guitar lines, to The Beatles' "Taxman", which was one my least favourite songs by the Fab 4.

I didn't buy the album when it was released, but I thought "That's Entertainment" was a great song so bought the single. Eventually I got around to be buying the album, with the stickers on the cover showing it had been reduced from £3.49 to £2.49 in W H Smiths. 

At the time I was disappointed with the album, with a much softer, less rockier sound than "Setting Sons", and whereas there wasn't a bad song on "Setting Sons", there were a few tracks on "Sound Affects" in addition to "Start !" I didn't like, and I felt there was a shortage of killer songs. In particular, I wasn't fond of "Set The House Ablaze", "Music For The Last Couple" and "Scrape Away". On the positive side, I thought That's Entertainment" was brilliant, and "But I'm Different Now" and "Boy Around Town" were good. A couple of the others were in the category of nice but not outstanding.

I subsequently read an interview with Paul Weller where he said the album was intended to be a crossover between The Beatles' "Revolver" and Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall". Whilst I can see it is heavily influenced by "Revolver" I can't say I see anything that might have come from "Off The Wall". Indeed, I would say there are the usual Kinks/The Who 1960s influences here, and the more experimental sounds are reminiscent of perhaps XTC, or even Devo !

Side One begins with "Pretty Green", which was apparently the record label executives' choice for the first single, but were apparently persuaded to release "Start !" instead. It is a nice song but not particularly outstanding. It has a bass intro, and then crisp drums, after which the far from catchy "I've got a pocket of pretty green" refrain comes in. The song does have a pleasing middle-eight though which leads into a decent Beatles style guitar ( or is it sitar ? ) solo from their Maharishi period.

"Monday" is a slow, dreamlike slab of 1960's pop which might have been in the Kinks play-book. Like many Jam songs it has a prominent bass and strong harmonies but perhaps more unusually there is some piano in lower down in the mix. The bass at times made me think of XTC's "Senses Working Overtime", which admittedly came after this ! Lyrically the song is about a shy lad who dreams of seeing a girl at work again after the weekend.

"But I'm Different Now" changes the mood. It's short, less than 2 minutes of raw, two chord energy, and has a great ending. It could easily have been on one of the first two albums. "So glad that you're my girl"

"Set The House Ablaze" in contrast is over 5 minutes long, with Ruts "Babylon's Burning" style guitar, whistles, and the vocal so low in mix at times it is hard to hear the lyrics. It's the angriest song on Sound Affects and better than I remembered it to be !

"Start !" still sounds like "Taxman" but with attitude. I still don't like it much and I'm surprised there was no law suit, especially as there have been so many less obvious claims in recent years. Perhaps George Harrison was reluctant as he was being sued around the same time for "My Sweet Lord" sounding like "He's So Fine" ?

The acoustic ballad "That's Entertainment" remains a classic, with the poetry of depressing urban squalor with just a faint hint of optimism towards the end. I love the acoustic guitar, bass, harmonies and the very understated percussion.

Side Two starts with "Dream Time" which has some backward pseudo psychedelic sounds to start before launching into a standard rocker that would not be out of place on "All Mod Cons". It has a great 60s hook. "I saw the lights and the pretty girls and I thought to myself what a pretty world. But there's something else here that puts me off, and I'm so scared dear, my love comes in frozen packs bought in a supermarket".

"Man In The Corner Shop" is pretty but musically lightweight.  It is very The Beatles, and has plenty of sing along la la la's alongside the jangly guitar. "They know that god created all men equal".

The first minute of "Music For The Last Couple" is essentially a collection of noises before the bass and guitar riffs come in after about a minute. It's a instrumental apart from the line "I think of boats and trains, and all those things that make you want to get away" which gets repeated a few times. Musically it reminds me of XTC circa 1979.

"Boy About Town" is bouncy pop song with a horn arrangement that hints at the later soul influences sounds on "The Gift". It has a gimmicky vocal ending but I like it ! The drumming on this song is also really good.

I had to listen to "Scrape Away" several times and gradually started to appreciate it a little. It has some funky bass playing and excellent drumming. The guitar sounds like it belongs in a 60s or 70s detective/crime series but overall it is another song that sounds more like XTC than The Beatles. For me, it remains the low point of the album.

Listening again to "Sound Affects" it has risen in my estimation. It's still not as good as "Setting Sons" thought !

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Pretty Green
2. Monday
3. But I'm Different Now
4. Set The House Ablaze
5. Start !
6. That's Entertainment

Side Two :

1. Dream Time
2. Man In The Corner Shop
3. Music For The Last Couple
4. Boy About Town
5. Scrape Away

Released 1980
UK Chart Position : 2

Singles :

Start ( No 1 - 1980 )
That's Entertainment ( No 21 - 1980 )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jam - Setting Sons

 

After the success of "All Mod Cons", The Jam released two top 20 singles, "Strange Town" and "When You're Young" both of which I rushed out and bought. "Eton Rifles", which I also bought, was released ahead of the new album, and became their most successful single to-date in The UK, reaching number 3.

The fourth album "Setting Sons" was eagerly awaited, and I quickly purchased my copy, although the sticker on the cover shows I only paid £2.67. I think W.H.Smith at the time had discounts on Top 20 LPs....

I wasn't disappointed and I thought every song was a gem, and the album was relentlessly played on my turntable. "Thick As Thieves" and "Burning Sky" were particular favourites and the album easily fitted into the category of that with no bad track on it. The only oddity was the inclusion of Martha And The Vandella's "Heat Wave", and whilst the version here was good, a Motown cover didn't seem to fit with the rest of the songs.

Compared to their previous releases the sound was harder and grittier, moving into mainstream rock anthems territory, whilst being packed with infectious melodies, intelligent lyrics and fantastic bass and drums to support the guitar playing. The general theme was anti-war and class warfare, with Weller's cutting social commentary, and it essential buried any previous mod or punk associations.

I subsequently learnt "Setting Sons" was an unfinished concept album based on friends reunited who discovered they no longer had anything in common. "Thick As Thieves", "Little Boy Soldier", "Wasteland" & "Burning Sky" clearly belong to this assessment.

I could clearly remember all the songs on the track listing, so this was not a voyage of re-discovery, but rather an enjoyable remembrance. 

"Girl On The Phone" is an energetic opener about a girl who won’t stop calling and seems to know everything. "Girl on the phone keeps a-ringing back, knows where I get my shirts and where I get my pants, where I get my trousers, where I get socks, my leg measurements and the size of my cock". It ends by putting down the phone, leading to a girl saying "hello, are you there ? Stomping, catchy, and probably tongue in check.

"Thick As Thieves" is about the changing nature of friendships and is probably one of the finest songs ever written by Paul Weller. "Times were so tough, but not as tough as they are now, we were so close and nothing came between us or the world. No personal situations. Thick as thieves us, we'd stick together for all time. And we meant it, but it turns out, just for a while, we stole the friendship that bound us together".

"Private Hell" is a fascinating view of suburban life from the perspective of a middle age women. The song has some fantastic bass lines along with lyrics such as  "Think of Emma wonder what she is doing, her husband Terry and your grand children. Think of Edward - still at college, you send him letters which he doesn't acknowledge, cause he don't care, they don't care, cause they are all going through their own private hell"

"Little Boy Soldier" is in three sections, with a gentle introduction leading in to mid-pace tempo. Military drumming, sounds of gunfire, strummed guitar, a whispered vocal follow before the climatic finale. It may be the best anti-war song ever written. “Then they send you home in a pine overcoat, with a letter to your mum saying find enclosed one son, one medal and a note, … to say we won”. There are several stunning distinct movements in less than 4 minutes.

A poignant silence follows before a jaunty recorder starts the melancolic "Wasteland". "And there amongst the shit - the dirty linen, the holy Coca-Cola tins, the punctured footballs, the ragged dolls, the rusting bicycles. We'll sit and probably hold hands"

Side Two opens with "Burning Sky" which is written in the form of a letter from one old friend to another, who now finds they have little in common with, and contains a busy businessman's list of excuses. The staccato, slashing guitar lines are fantastic and it remains one of my favourite Jam songs.

Bruce Foxton's "Smithers-Jones" was converted from a guitar based B-side on "When You're Young" into a cello-led string version for the album. It's apparent a song about Foxton's father who travelled every day on the train from the surburbs to Waterloo and just when he was expecting a promotion, was brutally made redundant and chose to retire. A song of the story of a man’s slavish devotion to the rat race, only to be ‘let go’ by his employer when no longer required. The string version of the song hints at The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" and Cat Stevens "Matthew And Son".

The toe-tapping "Saturday's Kids" has snapshots of working class life which were to be repeated on "Boy About Town" on "Sounds Affects". I was always annoyed by the line "Drink lots of beer and wait for half time results", as I certainly waited for full-time results, usually watching through the window of Radio Rentals whilst waiting for the bus home after watching the local match !

The single "Eton Rifles" rightly remains a classic, and former Prime Minister and ex-Old Etonian David Cameron has apparently commented it was a favourite of his his whilst at school in 1979. Regardless of him missing the irony of the class warfare of the song against the ruling elite, it can easily be seen as a drinking song for the Eton Boys. My favourite part is the few bars of organ in the middle break  but “all that rugby puts hairs on your chest, what chance have you got against a tie and crest?” is probably the most iconic lyric.

The album closes with a punchy cover of Martha and the Vandellas "Heat Wave", but despite the sax and jazzy piano,it begs the question of what it is doing amongst this collection of songs.

In conclusion though, "Setting Sons" remains an outstanding album.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Girl On The Phone
2. Thick As Thieves
3. Private Hell
4. Little Boy Soldiers
5. Wasteland

Side Two :

1. Burning Sky
2. Smithers-Jones
3. Saturday's Kids
4. Eton Rifles
5. Heat Wave

Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 4

Singles :

Eton Rifles ( No 3 - 1979 )

 

The Jam - All Mod Cons

 

"All Mod Cons" was the third album from by The Jam, and after their first two LPs were released in quick succession, this one was a year later. Although "This Is The Modern World" hinted at their future direction, this album marked a significant change, both with the increasing maturity of the musicianship, the story telling, and a shift from angry young men in the inner-city to observations on middle-class commuters and suburbia. There was only the odd remnant to remind you they were a punk band, but had moved to the mainstream.

The title is an idiom for modern conveniences, the modern facilities in a house that make it easy and pleasant to live. It is also a pun on the band's association with the mod revival in the UK. The joke continues with the album cover, shot in an empty room apart from two basic chairs.

At the time it was released I thought this was a great album, and looking at the track listing there were only two songs I couldn't remember, one for them embarrassingly being the title track !

The opening track "All Mod Cons" has a slowly spoken 1-2-3-4 to start, then the guitar and bass come in, followed by aggressive drumming. It finishes with guitar feedback. The song is an angry outburst about being exploited by their record label. Short at 1 minute 20 seconds, it is one of the few moments that could have been on the first two albums, and gives a false sense of what is too come. "You waste my time when my time comes".

"To Be Someone ( Didn't We Have A Nice Time )" has a lovely tune and there is a hint of The Beatles "Taxman" with some of the guitar lines. It tells the story of wanting to be famous, getting there, attracting loads of hangers-on, then being left when everything has been squandered, but reflecting "didn't we have a nice time". It's one of the best songs on the album.

"Mr Clean" is the first song about the commuter belt, such as those in Paul Weller's home town of Woking taking the train into Waterloo for work. It starts slowly and the guitar is not too dissimilar to that of The Eagles "Witchy Woman". It has a mellow middle 8, then the drums and guitars lead to the crescendo of the rising coda "getting pissed at the annual office do, smart blue suit and you went to Cambridge too, you miss page 3 but The Times is right for you, and mum and dad are very proud of you"

Next up is "David Watts", an energetic cover of The Kinks song where Bruce Foxton sings the verse and Weller the bridge. A song in admiration of the head boy at school who leads the school team to victory, takes his exams and passes the lot but doesn't seem to be interested in girls. It has some fantastic bass, a thumping piano and the "fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa" sounds like The Rolling Stones "Let's Spend The Night together". The "Oi's" will later re-appear in "Eton Rifles". The first single from the album, I was surprised to see it only reached number 25 in the charts as I thought it was a huge hit. Well, it should have been !

"English Rose" isn't included on the track listing on the back cover nor the lyrics sheet. The suggestions were that Weller was embarrassed by a beautiful, delicate and touching acoustic love song. It begins with the sounds of waves and ship's horn sound in the distance. It is another departure from anything else previously released by The Jam. "No-one can ever tempt me from she".

Side one closes with "In The Crowd" a great jangle-pop song about being part of the masses. The tempo increases after a slow beginning and there is a nice gentle guitar break. It has a Beatles feel to it before a lengthy psychedelic guitar outro with "Away From The Numbers", a track from "In The City" and another song about being part of the herd, sung in the background. The outro goes on for a bit too long though. "As I catch falling cans of baked beans on toast, technology is the most" and "When I'm in the crowd I can't remember my name". I'm not sure what supermarket Weller shops at, but I've never seen cans of baked beans on toast anywhere !

The side two opener "Billy Hunt" is The Jam's equivalent of "David Watts" but instead a working class lad has delusions of grandeur. "No-one pushes Billy Hunt around, well they do but not for long". It has a catchy sing-along chorus of "Billy Hunt, Billy Hunt, Billy, Billy, Billy".

"It's Too Bad" is essentially a rework of The Who's "So Sad About Us" but it is still a very good track despite that, and on replay was my favourite song on the album. It's a lovely 1960's style song amd with the guitar break I keep expecting it to lead into The Beatles "She Loves You".

"Fly" is another gentle song with an acoustic guitar intro but builds up into a Who style crescendo, which will later be repeated on "Smithers-Jones" on "Setting Sons".

"The Place I Love" was one of the songs I couldn't remember and I am a bit embarrassed to admit to it. Starting with an pulsating R&B riff it has with a gorgeous melody  "I'm making a stand against the world"

"'A' Bomb In Wardour Street" is the Jam at their most bombastic as it describes the discovery of a bomb in a street in London where one of the more popular punk night-clubs was located whilst the police and the local yobs indulge in violence. The hand claps are perhaps the highlight.

"Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" was the big hit from the album and their can't be many people unfamiliar with the song. Essentially a song about a middle class, middle age commuter being beaten up by right wing thugs late at night late at night at a tube station. Starting with the sound of a tube train, it has a dominant bass riff , "A distant echo of fair away voices boarding far away trains" and "The smell of brown leather, it blended into the weather". There is some great train style drumming before a brief stop for the sound of noises from a tube station before the music cheerfully returns. It's a great production.

In summary, All Mod Cons remains as great album, and there isn't a poor track on it.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. All Mod Cons
2. To Be Someone ( Didn't We Have A Nice Time )
3. Mr Clean
4. David Watts
5. English Rose
6. In The Crowd

Side Two :

1. Billy Hunt
2. It's Too Bad
3. Fly
4. The Place I Love
5. 'A' Bomb In Wardour Street
6. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 6

Singles :

David Watts ( No 25 - 1978 )
Down In The Tube Station At Midnight ( No 15 - 1978 )

 

The Jam - This Is The Modern World

Rushed out 6 months after their debut album "In The City", "This Is The Modern World" is regularly seen as The Jam's worst album. However, for me it was more of a transitional piece as perhaps indicated by the picture for the front cover, with the band in smart, casual dress rather than suits.

The sticker on the cover shows I paid £2.99 for the album but it doesn't say from where !

When it was released I was also amongst those who didn't think it was as good as "In The City", but I liked the title track and "In The Streets, Today", and I knew "The Midnight Hour" was a cover, as the original was on one of my elder brother's R&B/Soul collections from the 1960s. I thought there were also a few reasonable songs, but looking at the track listing now although I recognised a few of the titles, I wasn't exactly sure how most of them went.

The almost title track "The Modern World" opens side one and remains the stand-out track. Aggressive and angry, it a tremendous anthem for its time and the vocals are great. "What kind of fool do you think I am ? You think I know nothing of the modern world". The line “Don't have to explain myself to you, I don't give two f***s about your review” was sanitised for the single.

The first of two Bruce Foxton contributions "London Traffic" is a 1960s riff meets punk. There are hints of early Beatles, especially "I Feel Fine", but it ends up sounding like The Vibrators on a bad day.

The next three songs demonstrate the band's increasing maturity and move to a more sophisticated sound. They could almost be a trilogy. "Standards" has a riff borrowed from The Who, somewhere between "I Can't Explain" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", which I kept thinking would morph into "Crazy, Crazy Nights" by Kiss.  "Oh, we make the standards and we make the rules. And if you don't abide by them, you must be a fool"

"Life From A Window" is something completely different from anything previously released by The Jam and gives an indication of the direction the band would move towards on their next album. A mid-paced, almost mellow song, and there is even some acoustic guitar which wouldn't sound out of place on New Order's "Technique" album, although the song's big finish is straight out of The Who playbook. "I'm looking from a skyscraper, I'm standing on the post office tower, So I can see all there is to see".

"The Combine" is another mid-paced song with some interesting guitar and great bass lines. "And life is very difficult, when you're in the crowd.When you're in the crowd, you see things as they really are"

Side One closes with "Don't Tell Them You're Sane", the second ( and last ) song from Bruce Foxton. It's another mid-pace track and is a critique of mental health treatment in the UK rather than a tribute to the ex-Liverpool German striker ! It's the album's low point. Lyrically it tries hard but actually sounds trite. Also, the feedback to finish is irritating.

Side Two opens in great fashion with "In The Street, Today". Short ( 1 minute 31 seconds long ), aggressive and with some fast drumming for the intro, a frantic guitar break and more nice bass lines, it could have been on their first album. "The kids want some action, and who can f***ing blame them now ?"

"London Girl" is unfortunately not the song of the same name by The Pogues. Instead, its a fast paced number with a gimmicky "La-La-La-La-La London Girl" chorus, and the main guitar riff made me think of Generation X's "Ready, Steady, Go". "Do you know what you're looking for ? Streets of gold, fame and fortune ? You didn't fancy working in a factory but your mum and dad didn't agree"

The mood changes with "I Need You ( For Someone )", a 1960s pop love song with an understated guitar break. Again, the bass playing is impressive.

"Here Comes The Weekend" starts with a spoken "OK, all right, here it comes" over the intro, the type of which was obligatory at least once on punk albums at the time. If features pulsating bass, a good tune and a glorious chorus and middle eight. A power pop song before the phrase was invented. "Here comes the weekend, I get to see the girls, long live the weekend, the weekend starts here"

"Tonight At Noon" has a whimsical introduction. I can't tell if it supposed to be Punch and Judy or a newspaper street vendor, but it fades away into a slower, mellow love song where the acoustic guitar dominates. The rhythm of the song sounds like a slowed down version of their earlier hit single "All Around The World". The lyrics include "When we meet at the midnight hour, I will bring you night flowers" which leads nicely into....

.....a workmanlike cover of Wilson Pickett's1960s R&B classic,"Midnight Hour". Weller is credited with playing the harmonica, for what I think it the only time on any The Jam track.

The retrospective appraisal of the album is that is much better than it is generally given credit for, and there are several moments of real quality. The instrumentation is impressive, and there is a clear road map of the transition from early punk to the future sophistication of the later "Setting Sons" album. 

However, it does sound rushed and some of the songs come across as unfinished. Perhaps with some more time lyrics could have been edited to better fit the tune, or not sound so clumsy or jarring. Furthermore, with a bit of finesse, some of the song's structures could have been fitted together better. 

Nevertheless, "This Is The Modern World" is an important album.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. The Modern World
2. London Traffic
3. Standards
4. Life From A Window
5. The Combine
6. Don't Tell Them You're Sane

Side Two :

1. In The Street, Today
2. London Girl
3. I Need You ( For Someone )
4. Here Comes The Weekend
5. Tonight At Noon
6. The Midnight Hour

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 22

Singles :

The Modern World ( No 36 - 1977 )

 

The Jam - In The City

I'm not sure if this was the first punk album I ever bought, but it was either this or the Stranglers' Rattus Norvegicus. 

Some would argue "In The City" wasn't actually punk and The Jam rode on the coat-tails of the punk movement. After all, they wore suits and ties, they were anti the Labour government of the day, and Paul Weller famously said he would vote Tory at the next election. They were not trying to cause anarchy and mostly sang about dancing, relationships and the frustrations of growing up and living in 1970's Britain. 

In "Sounds From The Streets" Weller actually sang "I know I come from Woking and you say I'm a fraud, but my heart is in the city where it belongs", virtually acknowledging The Jam were outsiders.

Musically, the production on "In The City" was rough and unpolished, but with the Rickenbacker guitar sound, strong melodies and 1960s R&B influences, critics regularly made mention of echos of The Who and The Kinks. Indeed, one critic commented that "In The City" sounded more like The Who than The Who ever did ! 

Instead, it was said that The Jam were in fact the leaders of The Mod Revival rather than The Lambrettas, The Merton Parkas or Secret Affair. I don't think they were ever photographed with mopeds though !

Shortly after the release of "In The City", The Jam came to play a gig in Crawley, but it sold out almost immediately so I wasn't able to see them.

Looking at the track list I could remember all the songs except the last three. "Away From The Numbers" and "Sounds From The Streets" were the songs I remember liking best.

Side One opens with "Art School", which is perhaps the most punk song recorded by The Jam. It has a traditional punk 1-2-3-4 at the start and guitar feedback at the end. Possessing choppy guitar and fast paced aggression but still catchy, the song calls for a rejection of the normal conventions and to do and wear whatever you like. "The media as watchdog is absolutely shit, the TV telling you what to think"

"I've Changed My Address" is one of The Who sound alike songs, with the 19 year old Weller calling out the dangers of getting married and settling down too young. "Never could see what was with this matrimony thing" and "Couldn't see me settling down with a mortgage and kids"

"Slow Down" is a cover of a 1950's song that was also covered by Beatles. There is a great bass line and  manic drumming, and a guitar solo.

"I Got By Time" is slightly slower and has a strong 1960s feel to it. I loved the middle 8 and the backing vocals from Bruce Foxton.

"Away From The Numbers" remains a fantastic song. Touching, melodic, almost mellow, and a glorious chorus, but it builds up to an angry chorus. "I was sick and tired of my little niche"

The "Batman Theme" was also covered by The Who, and is a joke that fades after a couple of plays. It always reminds me of the joke of how does Batman's mum call him to come home for his meals ? Batman, dinner, dinner, dinner !

"In The City" has a similar riff to the Sex Pistols' "Holidays In The Sun" and the two bands used to play the other song as an intro to their own song, It was the only single from the album, and I was surprised it see it only got to number 40 in the UK chart.

"Sounds From The Streets" has a super melody, great guitar and almost Motown style backing vocals. It's easy to imagine The Who singing this song.

"Non-Stop Dancing" is a stomping R&B song and another track with a great middle 8.

"Time For The Truth" is a critique of the then Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan. "I think it's time for truth and the truth is you've lost, uncle Jimmy" and "and you're trying to play the hero, but you never walk home in the dark". It's a good song, and I was surprised I couldn't remember it.

"Takin' My Love" is a standard rocker with the riff of the verse similar to "Slow Down". It is pretty much in the category of album filler.

The album closer "Bricks And Mortar" moans about knocking down houses to build car parks, but it has the least interesting tune of all the songs on the album, and a long guitar outro. I've already forgotten how it goes.

In summary, "In The City" remains a very good album, with a number of outstanding songs.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Art School
2. I've Changed My Address
3. Slow Down
4. I Got By In Time
5. Away From The Numbers
6. Batman Theme

Side Two :

1. In The City
2. Sounds From The Streets
3. Non-Stop Dancing
4. Time For The Truth
5. Takin' My Love
6. Bricks And Mortar

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 20

Singles :

In The City ( No 40 - 1977 )

 

Joe Jackson Band - Beat Crazy

 

 "Beat Crazy" was the third album released by Joe Jackson but the first that was credited to the Joe Jackson Band. Both "Look Sharp !" and "I'm The Man" were intelligent new wave/power pop which sold well and received much critical acclaim, with Joe Jackson being bracketed with Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Two ballads, "Is She Really Going Out With Him ?" and "It's Different For Girls" were top twenty hits.

"Beat Crazy" didn't sell well, with explanations ranging from that there was no hit from the album to draw in sales, to the shift to a more reggae/ska influenced style of music put off potential buyer. The sticker on the cover shows that WH Smith had discounted the price from £4.99 to £2.49 to £1.25 to get rid of their stock when I purchased my copy !

I can't remember whether I liked this album or not. More confusion set in when I looked at the track listing as I could have sworn that "Kinda Kute" was on this album, but that song is actually on "I'm The Man". The only track I could recall how it went was "Pretty Boys" and I had a vague recollection of the chant "Beat Crazy" in the title track.

Having now sat through all eleven songs in one sitting my reaction was one of disappointment. Whilst there are plenty of well-crafted and clever lyrics, there is a shortage of killer tunes. It is dark and mostly moans and complaints. Joe certainly seemed to have a lot of anger to be released.

Being generous, there are 5 songs that I could bear to listen to again, whilst I have already forgotten the other six. The first two songs on side one are about as good as it gets.

"Beat Crazy" starts with a scream over the Duane Eddy style guitar intro. A reggae beat kicks in with the melodic verses sung by bass player Graham Maby with Jackson providing support. Its a sort of call and response duet but not in any sense that the B-52s might recognise. Lyrically, the youth of the day are either too busy enjoying themselves or too drugged up to fight for any cause. "Smoking LSD and such, it must be the reason why they can't talk much" & "If the Russians should ever come, they'll all be beating bongo drums"

Totally out of context with the rest of the album, "One To One" is a soulful piano ballad where Joe is frustrated over his lady's good causes and activism that leave her little time for him. "You were at the Monday Club or a Communist demonstration, who cares. You're going somewhere everyday, vegetarians against the Klan, every women against every man" & "I agree with what you say, but I don't want to wear a badge, I don't wanna wave a banner like you". I can almost see The Beautiful South singing this song.

There are three reasonable songs on side two. "Someone Up There" has The Jam style pulsating bass, and a pleasant backing vocals in the chorus.

"Biology" has a menacing Stranglers type bass riff leading into a ska beat with pounding drums. After "Hello, I'm Back again, I haven't seen you since I don't know when", Jackson tries to explain his being unfaithful is an act of nature, "It's not a process controlled by the brain" only to get stung in the third verse with the role reversal from the girlfriend "Now I feel no shame about Dave and Tony and Phil and James". There are hints of "Is she only going out with him" in the lead up to when Joe sings "B.I.O.L.O.G.Y can't you see ?"

"Pretty Boys" is a lively ska song with extensive use of a melodica in the lengthy outro. It sounds a lot like Bad Manners. 

Of the rest ? Well, "In Every Dream Home ( A Nightmare )" is vaguely in the style of dub. It is slow and tries to conjure a creepy atmosphere, but despite some decent bass playing, it's terrible, and virtually unlistenable

"The Evil Eye" has an uptempo, ska beat but is very dull.

At over 6 minutes long "Mad At You" is forgettable, with an over long dub reggae coda. The first half of the song is an angry rush over a reggae/ska rhythm. Apparently the album version is twice as long as the single, which was the first song released from the album. Unsurprisingly, it failed to chart.

"Crime Don't Pay" sounds unfinished. It begins was some more jaunty Duane Eddy style guitar,  whimsical piano and organ for a 1 minute 20 intro. Jackson sings for just under a minute after which there is long jazzy piano, organ and synthesizer outro.

"Battleground" is simply embarrassing. It is mostly spoken words as dub poetry but apart from it being an awful song, there is an over use of the "n" word even if prefixed by either black or white. I don't know if Jackson was trying to be controversial but if it was released today there would be an outcry and probably banned. There is a dedication to Linton Kwesi Johnson, who presumably would have been aghast to be associated with this drivel.

"Fit"  is a slow dirge about not fitting in. On the positive side, it has a nice guitar motif and a reasonable guitar solo, the only one on the entire LP. It is the best of the rest, but the bar isn't very high.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Beat Crazy
2. One To One
3. In Every Dream Home ( A Nightmare )
4. The Evil Eye
5. Mad At You

Side Two :

1. Crime Don't Pay
2. Someone Up There
3. Battleground
4. Biology
5. Pretty Boys
6. Fit

Released 1980
UK Chart Position : 42

Singles :

Mad At You ( - 1980 )
One To One ( - 1980 )
Beat Crazy ( - 1981 )