Joe Jackson - Rain (w/ bonus DVD)
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Music CD Cover Artist: Joe Jackson Edition: Music CD CD Release Date: 2008-01-29 Music Label: Rykodisc Soundtracks: Music CD 1
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Free Music Notes for Rain (w/ bonus DVD) Album
Free Music Review: Another Wonderful Look at Jackson's Journey
Hit: 5 Stars
Joe Jackson makes records worth listening to for many reasons. He always has. And Rain is no exception. It's a beautifully written, stripped down to the basics, eclectic record that gets better the more you listen to it, just like a great record should.
And THAT is as qualitative as I'm going to get. Reviewers may try and tell you differently, but they don't' actually know more about a record than the person that wrote it. Therefore, with the exception of the some of the churned-out formulaic garbage that passes for a pop record these days, the concepts of good vs. bad or success vs. failure are useless when used by a reviewer. A general opinion may be relevant (at the very least to the opinion holder), as in "hey, I really like this" or "meh - not so much", but success vs. failure? That's for Jackson to decide.
So then what's up with me writing about Rain? Again: Joe Jackson makes records worth listening to. I've been a Jackson fan since his first record, and have pretty much every non-compilation record he's released so you may take this with a grain of salt, but the reason I keep buying his records is simple: he follows the music where it leads him, and we get to come along for the ride.
Listening to his hugely diverse catalog clearly demonstrates that Jackson is disinterested in making the same record over and over. He's done straight pop, Louis Jordan-style jazz, ska, classical, soul - and not one style, or record, or song feels like a gimmick. To the contrary, each record shows us a skilled musician, writer and arranger continuing to push himself and take risks because to do otherwise would be insulting to the art form he so clearly loves. And each time he commits his work to tape we are treated to a look at what he's doing, what he's experimenting with, where he is musically. Even when he makes a record that could be considered a follow-up (as one might argue in the case of Volume 4) it doesn't come across as following a formula for money, but rather following the music for the fun.
And for those of us that love all of those things about Joe Jackson records, this latest release is no letdown. Rain is Joe Jackson music stripped to the basics. There is no guitar on Rain, just Jackson's piano accompanied by his longtime bassist Graham Maby and drummer Dave Houghton (who was an original member of the Joe Jackson Band and performed on the above-mentioned Volume 4). I'm personally a huge fan of Jackson's chord progressions and voicing, so this works just fine for me. Commenting on Maby's playing is almost a waste of time; he's been playing with Jackson for so long that he just slides perfectly into whatever vibe Jackson is working with. And as for Houghton, perhaps it was a function of working as a three piece, perhaps it was just kismet, but I love the drumming on this record more than any previous Houghton/Jackson work. It's that good.
So what does it sound like? Like a Joe Jackson record of course, which is to say not a rehash of a prior work. Which is also to say fun, thoughtful, evocative, beautiful, snarky, smart and playful. Great melodies, tremendous bridges and even a false ending. I love it. If you really need to know more, listen to some of the sound samples here. At first listen you might be reminded of Body and Soul, or Mike's Murder, or Night and Day (the reissue of which is great, and I have linked to it) or Look Sharp!, or even "In With The In Crowd" (The Uptown Train, which makes me smile every time I hear it).
But grab the whole record and what you'll find is a musician that, even after 30 years of making records, (and I still can't believe it's been that long since I first heard Look Sharp) still gives a damn about what he does, still follows the music where it leads him, still honors his calling, and still lets us all listen in. And THAT is a beautiful thing baby.