Jackson, Joe: Look Sharp! CD Track Listing

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Jackson, Joe Look Sharp! (1979)
Look Sharp! (Original CD Edition)\n\nOriginally Released April 1979\nCD Edition Released 1988 ??\nRemastered Edition August 14, 2001\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: A brilliant, accomplished debut, Look Sharp! established Joe Jackson as part of that camp of angry, intelligent young new wavers (i.e., Elvis Costello, Graham Parker) who approached pop music with the sardonic attitude and tense, aggressive energy of punk. Not as indebted to pub-rock as Parker and Costello, and much more lyrically straightforward than the latter, Jackson delivers a set of bristling, insanely catchy pop songs that seethe with energy and frustration. Several deal with the lack of thoughtful reflection in everyday life ("Sunday Papers," "Got the Time"), but many more concern the injuries and follies of romance. In the caustic yet charming witticisms of songs like the hit "Is She Really Going Out With Him?," "Happy Loving Couples," "Fools In Love," and "Pretty Girls," Jackson presents himself on the one hand as a man of integrity seeking genuine depth in love (and elsewhere), but leavens his stance with a wry, self-effacing humor, revealing his own vulnerability to loneliness and to purely physical attraction. Look Sharp! is the sound of a young man searching for substance in a superficial world -- and it also happens to rock like hell. -- Steve Huey\n\nCMJ New Music Report Exclusive Review\nOn Look Sharp, his debut album on A & M Records, Joe Jackson establishes himself as a strong new force on today's pop scene. Each cut has that "instant pop single" quality; two of which are receiving considerable airplay: "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" and the racey post-punk "Got The Time." Jackson's sound is derivative of Elvis Costello, reflecting the early "British invasion," and is comparable to the first two lps by the Jam. However, Jackson's material is not a rip-off in any form. It's all fresh, slick and polished material. His originality emerges in the rhythm changes and the dominant syncopation throughout the album. Jackson's lyrics are definitely a sign of the times. "Baby Stick Around" seems to sum up the seventies: "Somebody telling me the latest scandals, somebody stepping on my plastic sandals...pushing and shoving in sweat, black leather up and down we go chained together." "Pretty Girls" is a catchy one, with its updated funky "doo-doo waps," and warning that the mini-skirt is coming back into style. Look Sharp is a sharp as the shoes on the album cover. It's mod, it's chic, it's then, it's now. \n

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