Disco de Joe Jackson: “Live 1980/86”

"Live 1980-1986" is assembled like 4 separate live E.P.s rather than a traditional live album. Each of the two discs presents two different tours, so four are represented in total. Each tour gets 5 or 6 songs. The bands are different for each tour so it's easy to trace the evolution in Jackson's approach to music making. Casual fans may be put off by the fact that the versions of his two biggest hits are all quite different from their original studio incarnations. He gives three different takes on "Is She Really Going Out With Him", and frankly, none of the three appeal to me nearly as much as the original. On his other big hit, "Steppin' Out", he slows the song down dramatically, and the result is hypnotic - it's my second favorite cut on the album. My favorite is "Fools In Love", which is played at a slow tempo similar to the original, but is fleshed out and stretched out to over 7 minutes. Most of the other tracks stick closer to their original arrangements, but with some interesting variations, such as the punchy horns added to "Sunday Papers". I think this collection is a great souvenir for the true believers, but I think those with only a casual interest in Jackson's music will find it unessential.

Quite simply this album is a "must have" for Joe Jackson fans (or for anyone who has yet to discover this unique talent who has never been given his due). It contains all your favorite numbers live. The sound quality is superb and it gets me rockin' while I work.

Critics love to slam live albums for some reason but there's nothing to hate on here. Many people who have never even heard of Joe Jackson hear it playing in my office or in my car and always ask "Man, who's that, that's way cool!"

If I have one complaint it's the somnambulant version of "Steppin' Out". It's a bit of a disappointment for those of us who wanted to end the CD with a real rockin' flourish.

This live collection by Joe Jackson taken from a 6-year period with 4 different touring line-ups is truly worth the treasure. Just to hear your favorite Joe Jackson songs performed in different styles are highly amazing. My favorite line-up was the original JJ band from the Beat Crazy tour in 1980[Who were on Jackson's first 3 albums], my second favorite line-up was from the Big World tour in 1986[With the similiar style], while the expandable line-ups during tours in between these other two were almost experimenting a little more latin approach to them. Therefore you get 3 different versions of "Is She Really going Out With Him?"[Performed the regular way, acapella and acoustic, respectively], an instrumental classical version of "Steppin' Out", a more rockabilly sounding version of Cab Calloway's "Jumpin' Jive"[These two hail from the Big World Tour and the latter one is my most personal favorite, especially since they replaced the horn section from its titled album with a guitar Brian Setzer style]. It's interesting to note that on 3 of the 4 personells included bassist Graham Maby(since the Look Sharp! album) and that the second 2 personells included drummer Gary Burke. Even though a few songs from Look Sharp![Title track included] performed on the Night And Day Tour lack the use of guitar, it's nice to know they're included regardless.

Even though many out there prefer these songs studio versions, it wouldn't hurt to own this cd though. Get this while you can!

A Somewhat forgotten, but excellent musician; & a champion of smoker's rights. Energetic Live collection of some great, and even commercially successful, tracks from the first half (+1 year) of the 1980's. Could have done with perhaps *one* less version (there are three) of probably best-known song "Is She Really Going Out With Him", or at least have included the very cool a-capella version, which is not present. But overall a well recorded, well engineered collection of funky, jazzy, ascerbic & heartfelt hits.

Here is a record that has been largely banished to non-US release. The major labels always tend to ignore and hide some of music's best gems and this is no exception. If you can choke down the price, you will find this record well-worth it. I prefer the rugged, raw energy of the first CD, where we hear the original Joe Jackson band pound through favorites such as `I'm the Man' and `Beat Crazy'. Graham Maby on bass especially shines on the old material. One could argue that while Mr. Jackson wrote the songs, Graham brought them to life.

OK, I am old and was in my late teens when Joe blasted on the music scene in the late 70's. He offered something new, exciting and driven. At the same time his music was unapologetic in injecting their songs with almost too cute pop hooks and melodies. Call it New Wave, Second Invasion, Punk, or simply Pop, it was great stuff.

For reasons that were never entirely clear to me, Joe Jackson and his contemporaries like Elvis Costello and the Police got tired of the cool, rockin' sound and moved to softer, more complex compositions and turned their backs on what made them popular in favor of something new. You can hear the start of this transition in the second CD. `A Slow Song', `Be My Number Two', and `Breaking Us In Two' are fine songs and the performances are brilliant, but they really are a clear deviance from the band's pub-scene roots. Time proved that the new musical directions Joe took were not particularly well-regarded by the critics or his core fans and he has recently "rediscovered" his old band and has put out some new "old" stuff that I have yet to listen to.

Listening to this live collection brings back memories and reminder to me of what were some exciting - if not short-lived - days of music in the late 70's and early 80's. There is not a true loser song in the bunch. The trio of `Is She Really Going Out With Him' show how he could take a loved favorite and throw it at you in new interesting ways. Heck, the original is out there on Look Sharp! if that is what you want.

If there is a negative for this collection, it would be the too-slick production of the numbers in the second half of CD 2. `You Can't Get What You Want' for example is layered with busy synthesizer soloing, and crisp, live digital effects, and a big, over- reverbed drum sound. That overdone sound was an earmark of the Big World band (with Ford on bass) and thus four stars note five.