This record might just represent the zenith of eighties pop. This is not to say I think this is the best album of the eighties, but rather that it was a high water mark for British pop before the likes of S'Express, Soul II Soul and 808 State came along and turned the charts upside-down with dance music.
On this record Johnny Hates Jazz seemed to distil everything that had gone before into a mix of catchy tunes, danceable rhythms and considered lyrics. The production is refined and played out on the machines whose sound defined the decade. Yamaha DX7, Roland D-50 and Fairlight sounds mingle with live percussion, orchestra and Clark's vocals. There's even some palatable guitar work.
One reason I might be alone in regarding this album as some sort of apogee is the way the band were portrayed in the music press and a general perception of them as being "yuppies" (was there a worse insult in the eighties?). I also think the emergence of dance music in the early nineties led to a revisionist attitude which regarded groups like Johnny Hates Jazz as anachronistic. Yet, there aren't many albums that get to number one in the charts and spawn six singles in the way this one did.
Right from the start this record lands a series of knock out blows with the hit singles "Shattered Dreams", "Heart of Stone" and "Turn Back the Clock" delivered in an unrelenting barrage of pop. Whilst the next track "Don't Say It's Love" was less successful when it was released, it is still a pleasing slice of pop that will be appreciated by anyone who enjoys the bigger hits. The first side closes with "What Other Reason" which is a bit of a dreary ballad, but it does have a good hook in the chorus.
Side two kicks off with the impressive "I Don't Want To Be A Hero" which has a bright pop tune with quite solemn anti-war lyrics. Whilst "Listen" sounds a little under produced, it has some great hooks and I love the little organ refrain that runs through it. One of my favourite tracks feels like it was an afterthought as it is buried away at the end of the record. "Foolish Heart" was released as a the band's first single a couple of years before the album and it wasn't a hit. I can see why the song didn't strike a chord with the record buying public as it isn't an immediate catchy tune but something more nuanced and strangely seductive. As the song begins you could be forgiven for thinking this is standard fare with a simple octave bassline and a relentless Linn Drum pattern, but as the the piano begins to weave its spell you realise this is something quite grand. The track continues to build and release until it reaches its sinister conclusion, "Hey Johnny. Where you gonna go with that gun in your hand..." 4/5
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