being a huge jj fan, i've always been a little disappointed that folks haven't been up on what i consider to be joe's "second half".

i think "Blaze Of Glory" and "Laughter and Lust" are absolutely stellar pop records.

Al is so right, but he forgot a recent release, 2000's live Summer in the City. A bunch of old Jackson tunes mixed with covers ("Eleanor Rigby," "Summer in the City," and a cool version of Becker/Fagen's "King of the World"), rocked by just JJ, bassist Graham Maby and drummer Gary Burke.

This is piano-trio music that's intricate and smart and well-played and can be considered a sort of return to JJ's pop style for those unwilling to follow him during his twenty years of genre-hopping. I love this record.

Summer In The City was my first JJ album, and what a standard that set!

I just received a used copy of Live 80/86 and have to add this to the "why is this no longer in print?!" file. What a great, raw, natural live album. The Night And Day portion has been remastered and released on the Night And Day Deluxe Edition, which sounds like Live 80/86 is not going to be reissued, unfortunately.

As for Jumpin' Jive - killer stuff!

I'm glad you mentioned Elvis with JJ (but left out Graham Parker, who is even more underappreciated than JJ): besides making the scene at about the same time with vocal and stylistic similarities, they have had very similar career arcs as well, brilliant retro/new wave rocking early sound, genre hopping, a need to be seen in a much larger continuum than "just" rock and a resulting dilution of focus and quality level. Why is Elvis in the rock hall and JJ and GP not?

you are so right eric.

i borrowed "Squeezing Out Sparks" from a friend and was hooked...went out and bought everything else.

and for some reason, the guy's almost invisible.

Parker has been remarkably consistent throughout his career - his latest "comeback," Deepcut to Nowhere, from 2001 is excellent as well.

I think Parker just isn't nearly as good a songwriter or as broadly talented a musician and bandleader as the other two. These three still get linked in people's minds because they debuted within a couple of years of one another and a they share a vague similarity of voice.

I disagree strongly that Parker has displayed any genre-broadening at all. It seems his early records were blistering singer/songwriter affairs, while his later ones are less-blistering singer/songwriter affairs.

I liked everything up to Another Grey Area, but that's pretty long ago, no?

I wasn't comparing GP with JJ and EC career-wise, just mentioning that he had a similar beginning, sorry if I was unclear. I think Elvis has the deepest songwriting catalog of the three, JJ is the most disappointing over the long haul, and GP is the most consistently listenable, though as Clubhouse says, within a much narrower range.

Have heard Deepcut? I think it's his best in about 20 years.

Deepcut to Nowhere was terrific. I was an appreciator of GP and the Rumour years ago and rediscovered him after having drinks and conversation with him quite by accident while at a club in upstate NY. Nice guy, and on the whole, a very consistent songwriter.

I would agree that EC is the best of the three on many levels. But man, do I love Joe Jackson's early stuff and Laughter and Lust. (And I agree with the comment on Jumpin' Jive v. Almost Blue.) I hear Jackson's current tour shows him in top form again -- can't WAIT to see him when I go stepping out Wednesday night. Joe's the man.

Fantastic, Natalie.
I am going tomorrow night, after a JJ interregnum of about 14 years. Yay! Just to make everyone even more jealous, I am seeing BOB DYLAN the very next night.

Guiltily: I've never been able to get into Laughter and Lust or Blaze of Glory. They both seem catchy but insubstantial to me, and L&L is even a little sneery. I like this new Volume 4 much better.

And I like Jumpin Jive AND Almost Blue.

Almost Blue may not be such a successful record, but it opened up a whole new world of music for me, as I became seemingly the only 15-year-old in New Jersey trying to find George Jones and Merle Haggard records. So to me, it's great.

I will stop to buy GP's Deepcut on my way home tonight, as I'm obviously the last one to know this is a great one.

Enjoy it, CC! I'm trying to see Dylan again this summer myself; cross your fingers that it works out. (First priority: Seeing Hugh Jackman on Broadway next month. Tickets are expensive!)

L&L: I like sneery. :)

I would agree, though, that it wasn't the most substantial of JJ's career.

Oh, and if I didn't make it clear, I enjoyed Almost Blue, just didn't consider it EC at his best.