Track Listing

1. Nocturne
2. Is She Really Going Out With Him
3. Happy Loving Couples
4. Fools In Love
5. Friday
6. It's Different For Girls
7. Mad At You
8. Kinda Kute
9. Tuxedo Junction
10. Another World
11. Target
12. Steppin Out
13. Breaking Us In Two
14. Be My Number Two
15. You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)
16. Soul Kiss
17. Tonight And Forever
18. Me And You (Against The World)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7170 in Music
• Released on: 2001-02-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 75 minutes

Customer Reviews

Brilliant album by criminally ignored singer/songwriter.
It's hard to believe, but for a while Joe Jackson was a pop star, he was on Top of the Pops and everything. But then the world came to it's corporate driven commercially acute senses and he disappeared off the radar, only returning as the occasional blink or you'll miss it blip from time to time. Nowadays of course he'd never have become a star or dented the charts at all, he's just too weird looking, and his songs are not bland soporific ballads or weedy hyperactive fluffy pop.
Emerging around the arse end of the punk scene his early material has a spiky sardonic energy and also like some of the punk champions showcases a love of dub and reggae. "Fools in Love" is good example of this. As indeed is "Mad at You" which is almost P.I.L. like with a fractured lyrical narrative over galloping deep bottomed bass. "Tuxedo Junction" sees him embrace swing and jive, which frankly isn't to my taste but is impeccably performed. The material from "Night and Day", released after Jackson had moved to New York sees him through some from of musical osmosis absorb the city's vibrancy and energy along with it's multicultural influences. He then flips from the jazz influenced "You can't get what you Want" to the virtually classical instrumental "Nocturne" via the power pop of "Tonight and Forever" and finally the terrific multi vocal harmonies and blazing horns of "Me and You (Against the World)". The guy is versatile and shows up many of today's singer/songwriters for the hollow charlatans they undoubtedly are.
And gee, all the hits are too. The incredibly prescient "Is she really going out with Him?" lets be honest chaps, who hasn't seen some sylph like beauty on the arm of a knuckle scrapping troglodyte and thought exactly what that song so eloquently describes? The superb "It's different for Girls" which brilliantly turns sexual politics on they're head and best of all "Steppin Out" which is just magical in it's ability to conjure up the tingling anticipation of heading off somewhere new after a period of torporous domesticity. This is one of the most evocative pop songs ever written and reasons enough on it,s own to own this album. But add to that two wonderful piano led ballads "Breaking us in Two" and "Be My number Two" and there is no excuse for not investigating further one of the most under rated artists ever to plonk his posterior on a stool in front of a piano.

Great budget intro to the joys of Joe Jackson.
This 18-track compilation of Joe Jackson takes in a well chosen selection of his oeuvre from 1978's Look Sharp! to 1989's Laughter & Lust. Much more than a poor man's version of Elvis Costello, this selection demonstrates the multiple sides of Jackson- whether cool new wave synth pop, classical instrumental or jazz-fusion that made Sting's Dream of the Blue Turtles look very, very silly (indeed).

Nice to see the album opening with 1987's Nocturne, prior to the likes of Is She Really Going Out With Him?, It's Different for Girls & Steppin' Out (the latter as cool and perfect pop as Hall & Oates Out of Touch, Carly Simon/Chic's Why? & Talk Talk's It's My Life- though not unlike Genesis' Turn it On Again. Apologies...). Songs like Mad at You and Friday are somewhere between cool new wave of The Knack & Costello's Armed Forces (with a hint of prime Squeeze).

The rest is as wonderful, from the sublime ballad Be My Number Two (one to put on those Nick Hornby tapes between Fall on Me & Cuddle Up), the knowing Happy Loving Couples (hate 'em!) and the zen pop of You Can't Get What You Want (till you know what you want).

This is a great selection of Jackson's works, my only doubt would be regarding the mastering which is a little poor in terms of sound quality. Apart from that, this is the Joe Jackson album for every home!

a great album at an incredible price!
highly recommended to everyone who knows Joe Jackson by name but who has never really approached his music. That was my case. The incredible price of £3,33 convinced me to buy the CD and I was not disappointed. One the contrary, I listened to a great album and I feel the musical freedom of an artist which is not bound to a single musical cliche. I recognized real instruments played by real musicians. OK, I could go on, but Jackson's music explains it better than my world! Buy it!