Joe Jackson - Big World [A&M Records SP-6021] (March 1986)

Dynamic Range Released: March 1986
Country: US
Label: A&M Records
Catalog: SP-6021
Genre: Rock, Pop/Rock

Item# SR-AMSP6021
Ratings: C=NM-; LP=NM-

Note: Includes lyric booklet

T R A C K L I S T:
01 Wild West
02 Right And Wrong
03 (It's A) Big World
04 Precious Time
05 Tonight And Forever
06 Shanghai Sky
07 Fifty Dollar Love Affair
08 We Can't Live Together
09 Forty Years
10 Survival
11 Soul Kiss
12 The Jet Set
13 Tango Atlantico
14 Home Town
15 Man In The Street




Big World
Joe Jackson


LP to Digital [FLAC] transfer bundle
$44.99 plus shipping


Order ships in 3 to 6 weeks.




Submit an album review.

Album Review

Big World is a 1986 live album of original songs by Joe Jackson. The album was recorded in front of an invited audience at the Roundabout Theatre, East 17th Street in New York City on 23, 24 and 25 January 1986 (except ''Man in the Street'', recorded during rehearsals on 22 January). The songs are loosely linked by lyrics covering a general theme of post-World War II international relations and global travel.

Jackson's intent for the recording was to capture the intensity and spontaneity of a live performance, but without the distraction of noise from the crowd. He requested that the audience remain silent while his performance was recorded. The music was mixed live from microphones on each musical instrument and sent directly to a stereo digital tape recorder. Unlike most live recordings, no post-recording mixing or overdubbing was performed.

Regarding the album, Joe says: 'I want to clear up two myths about this record which still crop up all the time. Myth 1: During the live recording of the album, the audience was forbidden to applaud. Fact: There was plenty of applause. We were just playing a lot of unfamiliar material, and recording it for an album, so the audience were asked to hold it until they were sure a song was finished. They understood this and there was no problem. Myth 2: It's a double album with a side missing. Fact: This was my first album to be released on CD, where the running time was not an issue. I was having a hard time deciding what to leave out for the LP, though, and I suggested making a 3-sided one, and selling it for the price of a regular album. Much to my surprise, the record company said yes. So rather than a side missing, you got an extra side. Critics, of course, hadn't had to pay for it.'

The LP release was a double album, but only three sides had music. The fourth side label stated ''there is no music on this side'', and the record had a groove that quickly led to the inner so no damage could be done to the stylus. The CD release contained the same 15 tracks on one disc.

The front cover of the album features the phrase ''Big World'' in French, Persian, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Dutch, Korean, Thai, Russian, Irish Gaelic, Armenian, Hindi, Hebrew, Indonesian, Arabic, and Polish. The back cover features the same phrase in Vietnamese, Swedish, Swiss German, Turkish, Spanish, Swahili, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Welsh, and Hungarian.

The album included an eight-page booklet which included the lyrics to all fifteen songs and recording information in English, German, Japanese, French, Italian and Spanish. [wikipedia.org]