Joe Jackson
FOOL

Joe Jackson, an unpredictable artist, unconventional and eternally counter-current, moved from the rock-punk of his early albums to the classical melodies of the great "Night and Day" (1982), from soundtracks to classical music with the great "Will Power" (entirely instrumental) and the beautiful "Night Music" (only half-instrumental).

In recent decades, he has returned to a more classic form of pop-rock, with albums that rethink the melodies of his beginnings (for instance, with the excellent "Volume IV" from 2003) or that took heavily from classic albums like "Body and Soul" (1984) and "Big World" from 1986 (see albums like the beautiful "Rain" from 2008 and the excellent "Fast Forward" from 2015). All works of high quality, but this latest "Fool" is at least one step above the latest releases of the great English artist, approaching the level of his best works ("Night and Day," "Night Music," and "Night and Day II"). Surprisingly, the album is also a return to a certain commercial success, as it reached the 25th position on the USA sales chart (Billboard).

"FOOL" was released on January 18, 2019, and calling it "magnificent" might be an understatement. It's a "powerful" album, and by "powerful," I mean an album that immediately strikes you, it's impetuous, irreverent, but also warm and enveloping. It manages to merge all the different souls of Joe Jackson in just 42 minutes of music (8 songs), blending Joe's most romantic and melancholic side with his more rock and edgy aspects, once again demonstrating all his genius.

It's an album that is somehow touching, warm, and emotional (in the slow and romantic tracks) and impetuous in the pop-rock tracks, of high genius.

Jackson somehow bares his soul; you can perceive his spirit, his heart, as if he were tearing it from his chest and offering it to us, his listening audience. How? With a highly "engaged" way of singing, both in the more rock tracks and the more romantic ones, where Jackson often whispers, speaks, and seems to want to take us by the hand to accompany us into his enchanted world, that of a magician capable of enchanting and astonishing like few others, even with just a few notes of piano.

We are not in the realms of "FAST FORWARD," the excellent 2015 album, which was made up of complex arrangements and played with rather numerous bands (4 bands to be precise, one for each of the 4 sides of the album), nor in the realms of "RAIN," the beautiful 2008 album (very intimate and singer-songwriter in nature) that showcased Jackson dealing with refined and "chamber" pop (his most minimal album, just piano, bass, and drums). "FOOL" adds only a guitar, but, especially compared to "Rain," it is decidedly a superior album. In its songs runs something truly powerful, whether it's the melodies or Jackson's way of singing, but here his intimacy has something different from usual, as if within it one could perceive, even in the most languid moments, a "happiness" and "vital energy" that perhaps was missing in his most recent albums.

Perhaps it's because Joe recorded the album right after finishing a long tour where, together with the old material, he presented the new songs to the public. So when he arrived at the studio (the day after the last tour date), he managed to pour into the songs that "live feel" which (as Joe himself revealed) often was missing in his studio recordings. Joe mentioned that in the past, when he started touring to promote the new album, he realized every time that if he had recorded the songs during the tour (or immediately after), he would have made decidedly better albums because the songs developed and matured during the "live" performances. Thus, for this latest "Fool," he wanted to do just that. Record the tracks after trying them extensively in "live version" during a long tour.

On July 29, 2018, Joe concluded his summer tour at the Egyptian Theater in Boise, Idaho, and the day after, he was already at the Tonic Room Studios in the same city!

Here Jackson relied on only 3 musicians, in addition to his piano (but what musicians, one might say!):

Teddy Kumpel on guitar, Doug Yowell on drums, and Graham Maby on bass, the same musicians who accompanied him on the "Fast Forward tour" and for whom these songs were conceived and written (and you can tell, indeed you can!), songs that were recorded just the day after the last date of the summer tour (summer 2018), immediately after which Joe and his 3 musicians rushed to the studio to record the album.

About the album, Joe revealed:

“When I realized I would be recording at the end of July and mixing the tracks around my birthday, which is in August, I was amazed that this had happened before, but only once. And it was when I worked on my first album, forty years ago. There are a lot of songs I wrote, some even halfway, and that didn't make it. Only eight survived, and I think they are enough. .... Usually, when I start writing songs, I don't have a specific theme in mind, but sometimes it can come about spontaneously. In this case, I speak of comedy and tragedy, and the way in which they intertwine in our lives. These songs deal with fear and anger, alienation and loss, but also everything that's really worth living for: friendship, laughter, music, and art itself. I couldn't have written about all this in 1979 because I hadn't lived enough.”

The album starts with "BIG BLACK CLOUD," whose initial drumming instantly brings to mind the start of "Obvious Song" (a 1991 song contained in "Laughter and Lust"), but then the actual song is quite different, and it is the first MASTERPIECE of the album. The track is urgent and powerful, a pop-rock with an absolutely brilliant chorus. A successful mix between the first "Night and Day" and certain atmospheres (precisely) of "Laughter and Lust" (which was nevertheless a great album, one of his most underrated).

The second track, "FABULOUSLY ABSOLUTE," is also great, perhaps not at the level of the first song, but still great music, a rock-punk that takes us back to the realms of Jackson's first two albums.

A frenetic rhythm, a powerful, energetic, ingenious song.

DAVE is the third track, a song with a great atmosphere. The melody is extraordinary, and Jackson's inspiration reaches truly high levels. His voice is so inspired that, especially in the chorus, it sends shivers down your spine.

This song is already a classic in Jackson's discography.

The fourth track on the list is another masterpiece called STRANGE LAND. A slow track of the highest level and emotional tension. Jackson's voice is almost whispered and reaches truly touching levels in the falsettos of the chorus, so languid and emotional they tear at your heart, while the author's hands fly over the piano keys as if they were those of a wizard descended to earth to pulverize any rival.

The fifth track is the opposite of its predecessor. FRIEND BETTER is a great pop track with an energetic and cheerful cadence. A perfect pop song, one that Jackson occasionally manages to pull out of his magical hat, "perfect" in the union of high compositional skill that merges with accessibility and usability typical of chart-topping hits. Perfect also in what seems to be a union between the "sixties" rhythm of "Down to London" and the fun and whimsical atmosphere of "Stranger than Fiction."

The sixth track is perhaps the TRUE MASTERPIECE OF THE ALBUM, the title track FOOL is indeed a track that to call "BRILLIANT" might still be an understatement. Jackson dons his "jester's" hat (the "Fool" of the title) and brings out a track that lives in a "crazy" atmosphere, frenetic, full of humor, the atmosphere in which dreams live, those in which the "fools," the "crazies" of society, live, so far removed from power games as to mock the power itself. Jackson's filtered voice, the frenzied and danceable rhythm, a marvelous union of Eastern and Western that once again brings the album to exorbitant levels, especially in the central piano break, a break in "Latin" style, where we suddenly seem to be catapulted back into "Night and Day," as if the song were a mad juke-box where all the genres Jackson has explored over 40 years of career can suddenly be revived. An incredible track.

Hear it to believe it!

And here we are at the last two tracks of the album, and when the notes of "32 KISSES" start, it’s like seeing a myriad of lighters lit in the dark. Indeed, this is one of those pop tracks, so romantic and melancholic that it warms your heart suddenly, as if it were a good vintage wine that slips into your soul in the coldest of winters.

Here’s Jackson’s piano, and here’s his voice laying divinely upon it. The ending is truly touching, and the melody is truly memorable.

The grand finale of the album is entrusted to ALCHEMY, a suave track, as if it were a red velvet carpet rolled out in front of the listeners, as if to say: "Come, follow me into this magical world of music." Jackson's voice lays upon this sonic carpet almost whispering. The ending builds up with an electric guitar instrumental that ultimately knocks you out (if you’re still standing by this point in the album).

What to say in conclusion?

FOOL is a GREAT ALBUM created by an artist I would define (without fear of exaggeration) as the greatest pop songwriter in history.