Track Listing
1. When You Gonna Learn (Digeridoo)
2. Too Young To Die
3. Hooked Up
4. If I Like It I Do It
5. Music Of The Mind
6. Emergency On Planet Earth
7. Whatever It Is I Just Can't Stop
8. Blow Your Mind
9. Revolution 1993
10. Didgin' Out
Review
I am slightly ashamed to realise how much I enjoyed this. First I'll go through the reasons not to like it: it's derivative, sounds too much like a Stevie Wonder rip-off, Jamiroquai is endlessly repetitive and all his other albums sound very much like this, so he is not really a great artist, more of a one trick pony. The lyrics are neo-hippie twaddle.
Secondly, reasons to like it: It's a very good Stevie Wonder rip-off. The singles are completely unrepresentative of the album as for example Too Young to Die is cut to half its length from the album version. The fact that the tracks are actually really long here, sometimes over 10 minutes long allows Jamiroquai to explore an Acid Jazz side which is not represented in the radio edits and the famous singles.
In the end I was surprised at just how good this actually is, but I can also tell you that you don't really need any more Jamiroquai albums. This is the one where he is freer with his form and is not playing for sales. It's funky, jazzy and a lot of fun.
Track Highlights
1. Too Young To Die
2. Blow Your Mind
3. Hooked Up
4. Whatever It Is, I Just Can't Stop It
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Entertainment Weekly (8/13/93, p.74) - "...turn out gritty organic grooves with enthusiasm..." Rating: B+
Q magazine (3/01, p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A funky and beautiful record, a contender for best British soul album of the '90s, and frankly better than anything Stevie Wonder has made since Hotter Than July."
Too Young To Die
Compare the single version:
With the album version:
1. When You Gonna Learn (Digeridoo)
2. Too Young To Die
3. Hooked Up
4. If I Like It I Do It
5. Music Of The Mind
6. Emergency On Planet Earth
7. Whatever It Is I Just Can't Stop
8. Blow Your Mind
9. Revolution 1993
10. Didgin' Out
Review
I am slightly ashamed to realise how much I enjoyed this. First I'll go through the reasons not to like it: it's derivative, sounds too much like a Stevie Wonder rip-off, Jamiroquai is endlessly repetitive and all his other albums sound very much like this, so he is not really a great artist, more of a one trick pony. The lyrics are neo-hippie twaddle.
Secondly, reasons to like it: It's a very good Stevie Wonder rip-off. The singles are completely unrepresentative of the album as for example Too Young to Die is cut to half its length from the album version. The fact that the tracks are actually really long here, sometimes over 10 minutes long allows Jamiroquai to explore an Acid Jazz side which is not represented in the radio edits and the famous singles.
In the end I was surprised at just how good this actually is, but I can also tell you that you don't really need any more Jamiroquai albums. This is the one where he is freer with his form and is not playing for sales. It's funky, jazzy and a lot of fun.
Track Highlights
1. Too Young To Die
2. Blow Your Mind
3. Hooked Up
4. Whatever It Is, I Just Can't Stop It
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Entertainment Weekly (8/13/93, p.74) - "...turn out gritty organic grooves with enthusiasm..." Rating: B+
Q magazine (3/01, p.124) - 4 stars out of 5 - "A funky and beautiful record, a contender for best British soul album of the '90s, and frankly better than anything Stevie Wonder has made since Hotter Than July."
Too Young To Die
Compare the single version:
With the album version:
4 comments:
So you're saying that you loved this one, but only with a little "l"?
exactly.
I have a question: is this guy a big as douche as the book makes him seem? Between that douchey picture and that quote about how music isn't as great as it was in the 60's/70's this guy seems like a giant twat.
Anon: Yes, probably a bigger twat than you think.
Post a Comment