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Rating: Anyone who was a boy in the eighties, with or without Timberland boots, with or without jeans from "acqua in casa", cannot forget this little elf bouncing between keyboards, big keyboards, synthesizers, and other pre-computer gizmos. He made songs of an intelligent pop, with a structure that was delightful to listen to and absolutely not silly in its composition (a composition that was, even back then, evidently piano-based, meaning it was clearly not guitar-based). He was in the realm of Joe Jackson, but with a decidedly more commercial note, even though, I assure you, back then, the difference between ballads like “No One Is To Blame” and “Steppin’ Out” was very, very slight: both well written, well composed, interpreted by similar voices, and both supported by a very fake and electronic rhythm section, but nonetheless suggestive. At least… : certainly pleasant for those who were youngsters back then, like I was. Surely, kids from the late nineties will find some things enjoyable, twenty years from now, that I have judged and still judge as unbearable imitations. But so, at least in my opinion, it wasn’t in the eighties: there was still some experimentation, there was still someone who liked to sit down and write a song with more than three chords and with a theme or melody that didn’t simply end up being a sad squiggle on the tonic. Then there were the last signs of “light” experimentation, and Howard Jones was one of its creators, despite an appearance of being “light-pop.” In short: he might have seemed like a fool, but he wasn’t.
This album, however, is from 2000. And, I must admit, if it weren't for the record store in my city closing down and having splendid sales, I probably wouldn't have bought it. Wrongly. The liner notes reveal that the album stems from a question asked repeatedly during the previous eighteen months of touring: “where can I buy what I heard tonight?” And we're not imagining stadiums or large theaters. The question was likely asked in small clubs, and the album was undoubtedly conceived as a niche product. In fact, had I been at one of those concerts, I would have asked the same question. Inside are the old four glories of Jones, four big singles that bring tears, for anyone who was there in those years, plus ten other songs of which I neither know the origin nor the year of composition. Anyway, it's all his work, and it confirms that this writer and performer deserved to survive the much-reviled eighties better. Maybe not like the Depeche Mode, undoubtedly better (but are we sure?), but at least like the Simple Minds or Simply Red or Duran. At least a bit of the huge success of the overrated Madonna, come on… But that's how the world goes, as we know: two beautiful comebacks, like this and that of Tears For Fears last year deserved the attention that a tired and paid-off critique and a public now deprived of even the slightest critical sense failed to give them.
Coming to the album, what's most striking are the arrangements, appropriately very different from back then. Here there is a band, very in sync and capable. There is a fabulous drummer, unfortunately passed away just after the recordings (truly fabulous, trust me...: by listening closely, you recognize all the schools, reread and interpreted with wisdom and infinite lust), a bassist and guitarist up to the task, and then there is Howard Jones, primarily on the organs, but also, of course, on the piano. The whole is almost devoid of the ultra-electronics that made him famous worldwide. That period, however, is over, and he has realized that, producing an album of rare beauty, elegance, and honesty. All this, however, if one admits that pop can be beautiful, elegant, and honest. In my opinion, it once was, without a doubt.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
08 Pearl in the Shell (04:24)
And the fear goes on shadows
And the tear flows on for nothing
And the fear goes on shadows
And the tear flows on for nothing
Under his nose was a dream come true
Been there all the time and he almost knew
And the fear goes on shadows
And the tear flows on for nothing
And the fear goes on shadows
And the tear flows on for nothing
Under his nose was a dream come true
Been there all the time and he almost knew
Thoughts of people in misfortune stopped him doing things well
His duty was to use it - left his pearl in the shell
09 Hide and Seek (10:32)
There was a time when there was nothing at all
Nothing at all, just a distant hum
There was a being and he lived on his own
He had no one to talk to, and nothing to do
He drew up the plans, learnt to work with his hands
A million years passed by and his work was done
And his words were these...
Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it, hope you find it
Hope you find me in you
So she had built her elaborate home
With it's ups and it's downs, its rains and its sun
She decided that her work was done, time to have fun
and she found a game to play
Then as part of the game
She completely forgot where she'd hidden herself
And she spent the rest of her time
Trying to find the parts
Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it in everything, everything that you see
Hope you find it, hope you find it
Hope you find me in you
There was a time when there was nothing at all, nothing at all
Just a distant hum
14 Things Can Only Get Better (07:43)
We're not scared to lose it all
Security throw through the wall
Future dreams we have to realize
A thousand sceptic hands
Won't keep us from the things we plan
Unless we're clinging to the things we prize
And do you feel scared - I do
But I won't stop and falter
And if we threw it all away
Things can only get better
Wow wow wow oh, wow wow wow oh oh oh oh
Treating today as though it was
The last, the final show
Get to sixty and feel no regret
It may take a little time
A lonely path, an uphill climb
Success or failure will not alter it
And do you feel
Wow wow wow oh...
And do you feel...
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