Rising Above Bedlam

You remember that kid from your floor freshman year with the guitar? This is what he makes when he’s in his 40’s, after a trip to India in which he thinks he’s found some life-changing revelation while talking to the first yogi he can find. He’s not deep, he’s not insightful, and he’s certainly ignorant. Oh and he paid for the trip to India with the money from the divorce settlement. A marriage in which he hypnotized a business student to fall for his false sensitivity during college. By the time he’s 30, she realizes he’s going to live up to nothing and all that talk about changing the world was BS. By the times he’s 40, he can’t even maintain an erection without his guitar in his hands and she’s plowing her boss, a Fortune 500 CEO. She ditches him, but not before he can suckle off her teet one last time and take half the money. After the trip to India, he spends the rest of the money on American Bald Eagle tattoos and studio time. He makes the album cover himself, because no one else could quite possibly understand the tortured artist that is him. He can’t afford Adobe Suite by this time, so he has to settle for a bootleg version, risking his computer’s health while downloading it off a foreign website. His computer, a thrifted 1998 IBM, “it’s vintage”, more like he’s “poor af”, does eventually concede to the virus it extracted from “freecomputersoftware.cn”. After releasing, he waits for the praise from all his loved ones, as well as his adoring fans. Unfortunately for him, he has no loved ones. His family distanced themselves after a story went viral of him attempting to live in the ceiling of a Starbucks after hours because he couldn’t afford rent. He only got caught because his late night diet of caramel macchiato’s and pastries led to terrible IBS, and without a bathroom to use in the ceiling, he had to come down during the day or risk sh***** all over his living space. Once he did, he still didn’t reach the bathroom in time, because a group of 15 year old’s were in there doing Tik Tok’s to a Meghan Thee Stallion song where she queefs the National anthem. Furthermore, he has no fans because no one likes the album and the small minority of people that do hate him more. After crapping any ounce of hope away, literally, he is booked by local PD for trespassing. As he is walked to the car in handcuffs, he intentionally trips himself and claims police brutality. The judges rule in his favor and awards him $1.3m in damages. By the time he’s 50, he’s spent all his money investing in a penis growth serum. Naturally, it fails, like his erections, and he’s left wandering the streets of Chicago with nothing but a shopping cart full of Rising Above Bedlam CD’s. He tries to pawn them off to other homeless people, but they bark at him that “physical media is so not in style anymore.” He is found one morning, frozen to death, the last ember of his fire gone out. In the fire, Chicago PD discovers that he had burnt the last of his CD’s to stay warm. The coroners office cannot decide whether the cause of death was from freezing, inhaling burning CD’s, or broken heart from a dream lost. Without a clear answer he writes: “cause of death - Covid-19.” Not on Apple f*** Spotify Free has ads and Random songs throughout Haiku aside, I can respect the experimental nature of this. It’s very interesting to listen to and I’d give it a 2.5 if I could. It’s not bad, and much better than some of the 2’s I’ve given. Idk if it’s a 3 tho. Also, I had to listen on Spotify Free which included ads and random songs in between songs. It definitely did not help this album. It also meant I couldn’t listen in order which was soul-crushing.

Jah Wobble's Rising Above Bedlam feels like a genuine attempt at cross cultural fusion, which is commendable. But on the evidence, Wobble's understanding of the musical traditions he's borrowing from are skin deep, and that's being generous. The songs are dull and obvious and Wobble invariably makes the least interesting choices possible when it comes to timbres and instrumental colors. This music would be at home in a Starbucks Putumayo collection cd. One star for basic musical competence. Zero stars for the songs, arrangements, production, and lack of taste.

This is a mouthful, I'm listening to a band named 'Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart' with an album named "Rising Above Bedlam." I have no idea what to expect here. Allmusic says they specialize in experimental ethnic pop and fusion. The first track is pleasant so far, it reminds me of Primal Scream and their landmark Screamadelica album. The album as a whole breezes by nicely, and I'm enjoying the different voices that come together to make a cohesive album. Despite how eclectic and experimental the whole thing feels. I'm not sure I will revisit this at any point soon, but I enjoyed the ride and how nice it floated through my life.

feels like cultural appropriation

What an interesting album! I had not heard of "Jah Wobble" (stage name of John Wardle that came about as a drunken Sid Vicious mumbled his hame), but now I know he grew up with John Lydon and other Sex Pistols members. I've also now learned that Wobble was the bassist for PiL. This album is great. Influenced by reggae, world music, and the rock/punk world in which Wobble grew up, it all comes together quite nicely here. I hear some of the tracks as "Velvet Underground moves to the Caribbean." Really cool.

Not the worst thing in the world but not anything I would ever come back to. Just plain boring, but not on the same level of a 1 star. Those albums hold a special place in hell.

I know Jah Wobble more from PIL and his collaborations with Holger Czukay of Can. I like him as a support player/collaborator but maybe not so much as a solo artist. He's got a ton of releases and I wonder why this particular one was chosen. I feel like this list is pretty solid in its picks the further back it goes but right about here in the timeline going forward it gets a little more spotty. Can't say I really enjoyed it, like I don't want to listen to it again, but it wouldn't really bother me if someone had it on in the background. Okay, skipped through the tracks again and I like the first song alright as a single but the rest of the album doesn't have the same vibe. 2.5 rounded down I guess?

QUE SOM MALUCO E INESPERADO EU AMEI SOCORRO

Seen as John Lydon's a massive tory cunt now, this is a very good alternative. If PiL was pop and dub instead of prog and punk. Proper quality aye.

Not terrible or anything, but nothing I care to go back to and listen again.

Just kind of... meh. Had some fun instrumentals, but the vocalist was the bad type of annoying

This was not too much fun.

The arrangements are repetitive, the vocals are just plain bad (or irritating, take your pick), the sound is dated, and the ideas were already done better in the 80s. Nothing salvageable here at all.

Fresh and experimental, I absolutely loved it. Every song and every turn is completely unpredictable and as a result very new and fresh. Great mixture of industial/electro sounds with Hispanic/African/Eastern/Indian motives

love wobble’s bass so much

Very groovy and electric!

I really enjoy world music that doesn't sound or feel cheesy. Sometimes it's hard to find. This album really delivered. I'm impressed, and would totally listen again.

This album was soooo good. Nice airy songs with a lot of cool overlays

Great album! And I get to see him perform live in Toronto next month.

absolutely vibes for some reason. 5/5

Groovy, loved it

A gem! This is why we 1001

So cool! So many great musicians

Jah Wobble hero of course and I loved this one with exotic music, even sometimes thought I heard Fad Gadget! 5 stars

World music deserves the highest rating.

An upbeat, mellow, album that goes down smooth. It feels almost mystic at times. I wasn't sure about the album when it started but by the end I was enraptured. The album made me happy, and I don't know that there's higher praise I can give than that.

81% Best: Visions of You; Ungodly Kingdom; Erzulie Must-Hear? Sure

I can't decide what it says about my music taste that I actually enjoyed this record quite a bit. I can't tell if it's genuine world fusion or if it was just a white dude that went to India once and was inspired. I think I'm leaning towards genuine. The male vocals were not great and were kind of annoying but the female vocals were pretty solid. Where this record really shines is with the instrumentation. Lots of different instruments and styles that in my opinion were really interesting. I really enjoyed Erzulie. Everyman's An Island was pretty solid too. It reminded me a lot of the Tel Aviv band Satellites.

Man, Jah Wobble has got to be the most discontented white man on planet earth. And I'm not even saying it like its a bad thing. He clearly set out to make a punk post / brit indie record and then realized that he likes other music way more. I was pleasantly surprised by this record. It kind of had everything: ska, middle eastern music, salsa music. He had guest vocalists that sing the entire song? Was the producer on drugs when they produced this??!? Anyway, I really enjoyed this. It was weird but really fun and interesting. Oh, and his voice reminds me of Dan Bejar from Destroyer, so that was fun.

This is very original. I like the world music aspect, and just the overall variety and creativity. There’s a lot of talent in these compositions, and I love that Sinead is in the first song. I especially liked Ungodly Kingdom too.

i NEVER would have found or listened to this album without this site which is what it’s all about. a pretty good listen too, never tiring and some genuinely fun music

Had no idea what I was expecting here. I have vague recollections of Jah Wobble doing a collab with The Edge, but I couldn't pull up anything else from the dust of my brain. You know, what a pleasant surprise this album turned out to be. Thoroughly enjoyable in a weird sort of way. Definitely would be an acquired taste for some, but I found it interesting and listenable.

Nice fusion album with a focus on bass which I think is cool, it's not done often and it's done well even less often. Nice to hear Natasha Atlas on this album as a sign that the artist wasn't just appropriating styles wholesale but instead produced this music in collaboration. Also a bonus Sinead O'Connor sighting here!

I enjoyed this. No tracks stand out in particular, but all were very listenable and each was unique enough to be interesting without seeming out of place. Probably one of the few albums/artists that I would listen to again having never listened to them before.

Absolute banger

shit i liked it idk what the hates abt

Groovy, ethnic fusion and rich musical sounds from an unexpected source!

An excellent surprise, varied influences, some groove, a good listen.

Pretty good. Interesting in its stylistic diversity throughout. Consistently entertaining. 7/10

Some catchy tunes here. I wouldn't have normally found this album but I enjoyed it a lot

I liked quite a few of the songs, but I don't really like the narration in some of them, but overall, pretty cool songs

I don’t know what I’m listening to. Is it Indian, but she’s singing in Spanish? Is it techno-pop, trance, rock? Is that Caribbean flamenco?? It sounds the Middle Eastern acid-addled love child of Bowie, Shakira and Enigma was delivered by the B-52s! …and I like way more than I should! I get why I have never heard of it: it’s way to weird for a mainstream American audience. It’s a shame! Key songs for me are the opening track Visions of You and Ezequiel. I may be voting way to high on this but I’m blown away. This is getting a few more listens.

another little world endeavor like duck rock, and i'm being really honest with you? this one is better. even if there's a decent amount of it that's almost... intelligent slam poetry? that may be a weird description. there's a fair amount of sung but also a fair amount of really good beats over... sonnet-level spoken word. it's certainly good in its own right, but, at least for my first listen i was more stunned than interested in it,, there's plenty to like though! a lot of producing techniques are AMAZING.

This was fun and jaunty. Not something I'd listen to regularly, but I can appreciate the creativity. Surprised I've never even heard of this.

Very positively surprised by Jah Wobble, especially after I knew that he was the guitarist of public image and I had a somewhat painful experience with the latter. It was refreshing hearing some non-english stuff on this list of albums. I enjoyed it

Jah Wobble’s had a prolific solo career over many years, and he’s always experimented with different styles of music from different genres and cultures. ‘Rising Above Bedlam’ is no exception with its dance, dub, latin, middle eastern and African flavours, all often present in the same song. It’s already a lovely mix but things really take off when the female vocalists come in and do their thing. Natacha Atlas, Sinead O’Connor and Margot Vynia take ‘Rising Above Bedlam’ to places Jah Wobble’s monotone simply just can’t rise to and the album is all the better for it.

Did not expect to like this but I thought the music was really interesting and good. The sticking point was the male vocals: just lacking in strength and range - a weakness highlighted by the presence of singers like Atlas and O'Connor. Still, pretty remarkable.

Made the mistake of looking into this guy and seeing that he was a founding member of Public Image Ltd (PiL). I think think those guys succcckckkkk. So I went into this with a chip on my shoulder. Turns out the album rules! Really great mix of world musical styles and grooves.

Fun, smooth. I generally like Jah Wobble but had never listened to any solo material. I don't know if this is revolutionary, if I could give it 3.5 stars, I would... It's definitely above average musically but conversely I didn't find it all that super creative. Ah, second listen. Rare, but felt like it was necessary. Feeling four stars now. Very funky world music. Definitely some creativity and some energy.

I think that Natasha Atlas is the star of this album. The best songs she co-wrote and sang in, and probably got less credit then she deserved. As a side note I was surprised to hear her singing in Spanish, though Wikipedia tells me she started her career in a Belgian salsa band. Natasha's songs I would give a 5. Musically the rhythms and textures and bass playing are nice & I'd give the rest of the album a 4, except that Jah Wobble's voice ruins everything. He should know better.

I would say Wobble was one of the earliest and more influential purveyors of the emerging genre of World Music back in the 80s'. Him along with David Byrne perhaps. Kudos to him for being able to attract top vocal talent including Sinead O'Connor and Natasha Atlas, and later Delores O'Riordan. Coming from PiL you wouldn't guess that Wardle would be a fan of Jamaican reggae and dub but he was and and he plays his bass guitar here with aplomb channeling Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly and Robbie fame). I also really enjoy him mixing Latin and Middle-Eastern music seamlessly into this album. Spotify's algorithms also gave me some tracks from his 2004 album The Celtic Poets and I thought that was an even better album. Wobble's sound also reminds me a lot of Malcolm McLaren's forays into tribal/world music on his Duck Rock album. Overall, this album works really well and was quite enjoyable.

I enjoyed this one! What a mix of sounds and cultures. A lot of the songs (especially the ones where the English guy sings lead) sound a little like the Happy Mondays album we had a while back. That clubby dance-rock style was called Madchester and I hear of lot of that in this music. But then there’s Spanish lyrics, African music and Middle Eastern melodies - each song seems to hop to a different country (and a few blend multiple genres together). There’s a druggy energy that ties it together and big drums on every track that sound like they were recorded in a vast warehouse. Highlights: “Visions of You,” “Bomba,” “Ungodly Kingdom”

I thought this would be brand new to me, but turns out I'd heard the first track before - very Screamadelica! This was quite a pleasant listen. Quite enjoyed the mix of dub, world music and electronics, though you can definitely have too much of that. Fave track - "Visions of You"

Really liked this. Spiritual feel to it. A suprising addition was Sinead O Connor's vocals included throughout the album. Her voice, combined with Jah Wobble's addictive basslines made the album. Personally felt the first half was better than the second half. Nonetheless, great album. Wobble's changed up his style compared with his days in PiL. Refreshing to hear music using a combination of different cultures.

Solid album. I could (and did) easily play this in the background over and over. Sinead O'Connor's vocals on Visions of You and Sweet Divinity were great adds. Wobble's regular vocals are just okay. The variety of musical styles from around the world were also pretty cool - Indian-style on Visions of You, African-style on Ungodly Kingdom, Latin-style on Bomba, Middle Eastern-style on Everyman's an Island, combo of the last two on Soledad. Although reggae/Spanish combo on Relight the Flame wasn't as good; wailing in latter half was cool. Love the guitarwork on Ungodly Kingdom - picking at the beginning and the electric stuff at around the 2:45 mark. Erzulie felt like something almost out of Bladerunner at the start; neat vocals and pace/change of pace throughout. Title track was a bit boring though the lyrics were intriguing. Only other song I didn't really enjoy was Wonderful World - sounded cheesy compared to the rest of the album. After looking back at what I liked and didn't, I realize I liked most of it, quite a bit.

This was a bit all over the place but I still enjoyed it alot

Usually I strongly dislike world music, but this album really hit some of the right spots and I really enjoyed it as background music.

Pretty funky, can't believe I've never heard of jah wobble before, will definitely be checking out more of his albums

1st time of listening and whilst I am an admirer of Mr Wobbles creativity and humour I wasn't sure what to expect. Pleasantly surprised by this album with traces of the "Madchester" sound on "Visions Of You" (with Sinead O'Conner on Vocals) The Latin/Bhangra "Bomba" to the more ethereal songs like the Title Track "Rising Above Bedlam" which is reminiscent of his PiL days are all spot on. As I say a lovely LP that is new to me and offers some great "Fusion" music. Rightfully on the list as far as I am concerned.

I don't know if I'm rating this high because I was surprised or if it really is good. Other vibe, world music albums don't really work for me, but this one hits the mark. I feel like if David Byrne could have gotten his hands on this band, he'd have had a whole other Talking Heads career!

This guy is from Public Image Ltd. The album mixes world music with some weird/cool grooves. Some elements reminiscent of INXS, Sugar Ray. A collection of very good musicians doing something they aren't taking all that seriously.

Musically, this album is kind of hard to classify, this site chose "world" as the genre, which seems like kind of a copout. I know of Jah Wobble from Public Image LTD and his collaboration with Brian Eno. I had no idea what to expect from this album. Its variety is quite nice, and I enjoyed the lovely Sinead O'Connor feature in the first song.

3.1 World/new age with a very solid groove and some interesting producing. I think this would be a good album to burn one to. I will check out more of the catalog

Sounds like the dude from the church went on Mr Toad’s wild ride and found himself in bed with a voluptuous siren only to wake up to find himself in bed with a shrivelled up cactus… surprisingly satisfying.

Decent. A bit of a random slice of world-inspired music. I particularly enjoyed the pulsating 'Ungodly Kingdom' and 'Erzulie', which both have a Middle Eastern style vocal. 'Rising Above Bedlam' - the song - is a good one but the vocals are pretty unlistenable. Overall, though, fairly interesting and enjoyable.

Sounds of togetherness.

More fun than some of the reviews led me to believe, but I do agree that, except for some great basswork here and there, this album is a a pedestrian 90's sounding affair underserving of a spot on this list. Also, if I didn't know better, I would assume the album art was AI generated. Altogether mid.

I did my best to stitch together as many songs as I could via YouTube. It wasn’t worth the work. This was an album by a white Englishman who calls himself Jah, and it sounded like it.

This is so 90s - conceptually it's all over the place. I'm assuming these are the kind of people that wanted Esperanto to be a thing. It's entertaining enough musically at times so I'll give it 2 stars.

Stockholm Syndrome: The Album I was almost immediately turned off by this record, but as it played on, I started noticing fleeting moments where I grew to understand, appreciate and sympathize with its goals. Those moments would quickly pass and I would be reminded that I didn’t like most of it and I was, in fact, a captive, unable to escape its grip until it ceased playback. Only then was I able to make heads or tails of my situation and truly see how willing I was to overlook its many flaws in favor of the fleeting moments of sympathy and understanding.

An eclectic collection of beats. Kinda sounds like generic resort music. Fun is a word invented by executives? Just a bit stereotypical for this time period and the album cover.

Just incredibly mediocre

what a confusing mash of styles and sounds.

Weird world music. Wasn’t terrible. Wasn’t good.

A pretty average experiment with a range of styles. Neither comfortable or showy, agile or clunky. All in all, pretty mild. But in a fun way?

This wasn't actively unpleasant to listen to, but for an album bursting with ideas it turned into background noise remarkably quickly.

Was expecting reggae from the name, but instead this is 80s-sounding British pop with some world influences. Nothing really stood out to me.

This was a very experimental experience. More than I was expecting when the first song started to play. Personally, I didn't like it too much, but it's very easy to note the virtuosos in the instrumental part and I got why this kind of thing deserves to be on this list. These guys are real musicians and no one can say the contrary. I'll keep my rate in 2 stars just because it's not exactly my kind of thing.

Poor attempt at a world music album. Combines all sorts of techniques but doesn't do anything with them, and so it becomes boring. Vocals (besides Atlas's) absolutely awful. Some instruments were annoying, and it gave the impression they had no idea how to really use them. Some tracks are decent, but damn those vocals make others unbearable.

A collection traditional rhythms and styles digested for the 90s English listener. Mostly hideous.

Boring, boring dub/"ethnic fusion". I can't say it's terrible but I'm certain if I live the rest of my life without hearing it again I won't be bothered. You shouldn't either. BT: Visions of You, Rising Above Bedlam, Wonderful World

Just fine, not amazing.

Not my taste but I guess I see the appeal? Very eclectic mix, lots of wordless singing, not my jam.

Not my thing but it's not the worst...

This list is losing all credibility. Still no Seger.

A nice surprise. Great album with great songs.

'I’ve done so many albums, I love the music. It’s an emanation of yourself in some way, but I don’t have an extreme attachment to it. I find that really tiresome when people worry so much about how they look or what represents them. I’m not too bothered to find something that absolutely represents me, it doesn’t matter.’

I loved this. Different and unique

Okay I know it’s going to piss off the anti-appropriationists because yes this sounds like a dude put a global music album in a blender and added some dope bass and Sinead OConnor in for fun, but it’s really dope bass plus Sinead OConnor!

Groovy album. This is so far outside what I normally listen to. Thank you generator for turning me on to something new and different.

Wonderful

"Everyman's an island And the time is coming in Till you not know yourself That is the ultimate sin"

Each song was very different. Some of them were great, others weren't really my vibe.

liked this more than expected - cool to read he was friends with Sid Vicious - wasn't expecting that based on this music :) sounds like world music? but more interesting to me

very cool

Marvelous! Genuinely something new to me, only knew him from PiL

Know JW

Never heard of them before but really liking the album. A mix of styles. A few songs sound like Soup Dragons meet Kate Bush. One sounds like Pet Shop Boys. One has a middle eastern or maybe Indian styled but the words are in Spanish.

Almost as much fun as SHACK being attacked by a wasp.

I had to listen to this album on YouTube as I couldn’t find it elsewhere. That is unfortunate because it will be hard to listen to again and I really loved this album! In has a pretty amazing world music vibe. I pretty much loved the whole album (aside from the annoying ads that interrupted periodically). It is lush, exotic and is really interesting! I don’t think there is a song on here that I didn’t like. Really great!