Joe Jackson – Big World (1986) Review | Around the World in ‘80s Days

Kronomyth 9.0: A trip to nowhere.

Some people like to tick off a list of places to visit. Joe Jackson apparently has a list of places that tick him off. You’ll find the same acerbic wit and finely crafted arrangements at work on Big World, but you may need a vacation after taking it all in. This is a tuneless travelogue packed with bitter ruminations, as Jackson takes aim at the Americans, the English, the Germans, the Chinese, and I think the French catch a few strays. Choosing different locales is an interesting twist, but wait, there’s more! Jackson also recorded the album live in front of an audience over three nights, then removed any audience noise to capture the energy of playing live without the distracting crowd noises. That’s right: it’s a gimmick with a gimmick. Joe Jackson sets the bar higher for himself on every album. But somewhere around Body and Soul, I think he started to sail over the heads of his original audience. There’s no questioning the man’s genius; anyone who can write a song like Right and Wrong has little to prove. Yet what’s left after Right isn’t enough to sustain interest for sixty minutes. Another complaint is the state of Jackson’s voice. Elvis Costello became a better singer with every album, to the point where you would listen to the man just to hear him sing and not for what he said. At this stage, I’d say the opposite is true for Jackson: I like what he’s saying so I’ve learned to live with the voice. On a more positive note, the new backing band—Gary Burke (who passed away this year), Vinnie Zummo and Rick Ford—gives Jackson’s morose musings a much-needed jolt of electricity. All in all, Big World isn’t the big deal it could have been, although it’s a far better bet to please than his next album, Will Power.

The Product

A1. Wild West (4:36)
A2. Right and Wrong (4:35)
A3. (It’s a) Big World (4:43)
A4. Precious Time (3:23)
A5. Tonight and Forever (2:29)
B1. Shanghai Sky (5:10)
B2. Fifty Dollar Love Affair (3:33)
B3. We Can’t Live Together (5:27)
B4. Forty Years (4:33)
C1. Survival (2:19)
C2. Soul Kiss (4:43)
C3. The Jet Set (3:50)
C4. Tango Atlantico (2:58)
C5. Home Town (3:11)
C6. Man in the Street (5:03)
D1. (There is no music on this side)

All songs written by Joe Jackson.

The Players

Joe Jackson (vocals, piano, recorder, accordion, melodica), Gary Burke (drums), Rick Ford (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), Vinnie Zummo (guitars, vocals) with Joy Askew (extra backup vocals, backup vocals coordinator), Nikki Gergoroff (extra backup vocals), Peter Hewlett (extra backup vocals), Curtis King, Jr., (extra backup vocals). Produced by David Kershenbaum and Joe Jackson. Recording engineered by Michael Frondelli. Remote recording technician: Guy Charbonneau. Onstage technician: Dave Roberts. Remote recording production co-ordinated by Dave Hewitt. Digital tape technician: Eddie Ciletti. Digital editing by Scott Hull.

The Pictures

Package concept by Joe Jackson. Art direction by Laurie Rosenwald. Cover illustration by Serge Clerc. Photography by Gary Green.

The Plastic

Released on 2LP, compact disc and cassette in March 1986 in the UK (A&M, JWA/JWD/JWC-3), the US and Canada (A&M, SP/CD/CS-6021), Australia (A&M, RML-540012), Germany (A&M, 396 021-1/2) and Japan (A&M, AMP-5007/8) with lyric booklet. Reached #41 on the UK charts and #34 on the US charts.