The
thing about Joe Jackson that confounds his critics is you
never know what the guy's going to do. The musical pundits
like to think they can predict the future. They like to think
they know what the next release will sound like. Well, after
a series of classically-styled albums and a positively stellar
live album the man from Trent is back with a sequel (!?).
A sequel to what is considered by most to be his best album,
Night and Day. Night and Day was Joe's New York
album. It was a snapshot of the Big Apple at it's bustling
best/worst. Fast forward through nearly 20 years of global
homogenization and the near abandonment of pop music by Joe
Jackson and what do you get with a sequel? It's not 1982 anymore
and that's about the only thing that can be said with any
certainty.
Night
and Day II has a slow build, beginning with a prelude
reminiscent of some of his latter symphonic pieces. "Hell
of a Town" is the intro to the journey. New York has everything
but you'd better do your business or you might not get to
be in it. "Stranger Than You" is a smart and well-written
cut. It's fairly standard in it's structure and is a bit of
a departure from some of the more experimental pieces we've
heard from Jackson as of late. It's one of the few cuts that
could stand as a single. "Why" combines a Mid-Eastern feel
with the piano/violin work that can be found as the albums
common thread. It features vocals by Sussan Deyhim, and those
vocals are not necessarily lyrics. She's mostly there for
melody, like an instrument. "Glamour and Pain" is another
strong song that could stand alone as a single, (although
trying to find a radio venue these days could be a daunting
task). Like the first Night and Day, this album often
flows from track to track without any silence between cuts.
Flowing from "Glamour and Pain" is "Dear Mom," a sweet song
about someone searching for his sister and gets caught up
in the scene and tries it out for himself. The apex might
just be the next song, "Love Got Lost." With Marianne Faithful
on vocals "Love..." is about someone who is totally crushed
with loneliness. It's not your typical blues jam though. Our
hero in this song tries to maintain her dignity and place
in a society that doesn't really need her anymore, kind of
keeping a stiff upper lip. She's hard but she wants love.
The problem is she chases it off when it comes around. In
"Just Because..." Joe even gives young upstarts a nod when
he paraphrases a few lines from Nirvana's "Territorial Pissings"
when he sings 'Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're
not out to get you." On "Happyland" is about the tragic night
club fire in a New York hotspot of the same name. It's got
a sweet Latin beat to go along with its sad story of a one
woman's last night in Happyland. "Stay" features some slight
reprises from the first Night and Day, this time "Stepping
Out." In fact, there are common threads from the first Night
and Day throughout this album. Sometimes they surprise
you and make you smile because this is a very good album but
it is a little on the bleak side.
Fans
of Jackson's recent work like Heaven and Hell and Symphony
#1 will eat this up like a fat guy at an all out can eat
bacon buffet. If you left Joe when he left pop then you might
not. Still you should give Night and Day II a chance.
It's a fairly complex work, full of good piano work and a
very good string section. Night and Day II should put
you somewhere between Heaven and Hell and Night
and Day. A strange, but interesting, place to be indeed.
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Joe
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