Joe Jackson has, for nearly five decades, completely destroyed me with his musical awesomeness. From the early days of the Joe Jackson band's insanely great pop and through all of his other stylistic exploration, Joe Jackson is dragon level awesome. Just a complete fucking gem of the music universe, bowing to no one on what style he wants to try.
His latest is called Hope and Glory and boy oh boy does it start off with a bang...
Just crazy...
After that, vintage Joe...
Later, he breaks my heart...
Joe Jackson is titan! Start listening to this record!
Joe Jackson is out on the road and he has never sounded better. I caught him last night at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee and it was a dazzling show filled with hits, old and new. His current backing band, comprised of ever present bassist Graham Maby, guitarist Teddy Kumpel, and drummer Doug Yowell, is the best he has ever had.
Joe has always been an impeccable performer, achieving near perfection in musical arrangements, in particular with vocals. His whole band can sing very, very well and all of this was evidence in his nearly two hour set. My faves were "Nineteen Forever" and "Fool."
If you get a chance to catch him when he is near your town, do it! He is playing all over the country in some very interesting places
Joe Jackson stormed back at the very beginning of 2019 with a true return to form. Fool is an extraordinary record that will be in my top albums of this year. A stand out track for me is my ninth best of the year. "Strange Land" reminds me of all the reasons why I heart Joe Jackson and have for nearly four decades. It also creates some new reasons to love him.
I've been a fan of Joe Jackson from day one. For four decades, the Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire man has been a staple of my musical autobiography, supplying a soundtrack to nearly every phase of my life in an incredibly diverse way. From punk pop and scat jazz to samba love and heavily orchestrated pop, Joe has been there delivering stunning aural landscapes.
His latest effort, Fool, is an excellent piece of work. Working with the a fantastic four piece band, the eight songs on this record are stellar. They all represent the various phases of his career. "Fabulously Absolute" could be on Look Sharp!. "32 Kisses" could be from the Night and Day/Body and Soul era. "Alchemy" sounds like a lost track from Blaze of Glory. Yet, they all sound fresh and groundbreaking at the same time.
My favorite track channels Joe's inner Burt Bacharach.
My only beef with the album is that it is only eight tracks but given that his last album, Fast Forward, had sixteen tracks, I shouldn't complain.
Joe is on a world tour. Check him out if he comes to your town. I had the pleasure of seeing him last summer and it was bloody mags!
