It's quite unusual to see a credit for makeup maven Bobbi Brown on a Joe Jackson album, but such is the case for his 1991 release Laughter and Lust. While she gets her props for transforming him into a Boy George-esque mime in the liner notes, Jackson deserves recognition for some of the strongest compositions of his career. Much familiar ground is covered, the samba of Night and Day shows up in "Jamie G.," "Hit Single" is a return to his New Wave roots (even if it sounds more like Elvis Costello than Jackson), "Stranger Than Fiction" may be the poppiest tune he's ever written, and there's social commentary in "Obvious Song" (which was released and didn't chart) and "It's All Too Much." And from way out in left field there's a synth cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" and the strange, Beatlesque "Drowning" that closes the album. All of these work marvelously, and while there's a few lagging tracks, there's nothing that's an obvious loser here. Grade: A -
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Walburgh's BlogMostly retro, mainly music, but generally whatever's on my mind. Archives
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