On this week's episode, we jump into Joe Jackson's fantastic sophomore LP, 1979's I'm the Man.
When Joe Jackson's hit the airwaves in fall of 1978, critics labeled him as one of the new "angry young men" on British music, the other two significant members of that group being Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. This was lyrically mature music that owed a debt to the early 70's UK Pub Rock scene, but played with the aggressive attitude of Punk. Jackson's debut Look Sharp was released in January of 1979 and went top 40 in the UK and the US. After the success of Jackson's , many wondered what he would do as a follow up. Thankfully, its more of the same.
Released a mere 10 months later, I'm the Man didn't stray too far from the debut's formula, but to see it as simply Look Sharp Pt 2 does the album a significant disservice. This time, Jackson and his amazing band ups the energy on the simple instrumentation and well-crafted melodies he introduced on Look Sharp. The band is tight, the songs are crisp, and the music immediate resulting in an album that full of accessible pop tunes, clever and sardonic lyrics, and post-punk aggression.
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