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Rising Above Bedlam
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
1991
Wikipedia
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!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.
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.
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 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.
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?
Just kind of... meh. Had some fun instrumentals, but the vocalist was the bad type of annoying
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.
Интересный микс стилей, культур и инструментов. Понравилось сочетание народной музыки и современной.
Loved it, nice change of pace. Slightly alternative music nice background for working.
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!
This was a fantastic mix mash of styles…..unusual but familiar at the same time. Enjoyed it!
Complete shift from what he was doing with PIL, but still a great album. A melting pot of different musical cultures, but surprisingly unified. Closer to a 3.7
The main guys voice was really not good but the music was incredibly cool. Erzulie was fun, some of the others got long. 7.5 for me
Scrapes a 7 from me. Cool except the English lyrics are corny and when the guy sings his voice is almost unbearable
Brilliant ! I wasn’t expecting it to be so good. Some excellent Zumba tracks. I shall probably play it again while I’m cooking and have a dance along! I was reserving 4* for classics but this was an unexpected ****
This is weird and wild for sure. Worth an occasional, maybe even party lounge listen? Eno collab
4/5 Solid music, different from what i would normally listen to, and probably ain't gonna hunt it out again later, but did not mind listening to it, at all. However, got at bit samey over time.
Wereldmuziek in de letterlijke vorm van het woord. Vanuit alle hoeken heeft dit album invloeden. Eentje om nog eens op te leggen in de zomermaanden, onder het zonnetje
I knew this album as my dad was a fan - and love the opening track 'Visions of You' - it's amazing and you think you are on the verge of greatness, but sadly doesn't rise to such peaks again, still a great album
Somehow I never checked out Jah Wobble's work back in the nineties, so I was unfamiliar with this album. It serves up an interesting melange of different musical styles. Not everything works, and some of the electronic elements sound a bit dated, but overall I enjoyed listening to it.
Interesting, and seemed quite familiar despite it being my first time hearing any of it, I guess due to the 'eastern' influences that I hear on the radio where I am.
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.
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.
Pretty funky, can't believe I've never heard of jah wobble before, will definitely be checking out more of his albums
Usually I strongly dislike world music, but this album really hit some of the right spots and I really enjoyed it as background music.
4/19/2022 Today's Album: "Rising Above Bedlam" by Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart - This album was a really fantastic surprise. It seems to be a collection of music from around the world and each song has a ton of really bright and interesting instrumentation amongst it. I really love the opening track Visions of You. It sounds so sweet and has this really nice chilled out guitar line and bongo groove, not to mention the incredibly catchy chorus. The male vocalist throughout the album really toes the line between a performance that feels kind of off and creepy and one that sounds clear and confident. I really like the instrumental break in the song Ungodly Kingdom. It has that great island vibe and incorporates a ton of pacific instrumentation to back up that idea. Some of the tracks don't pull me in as quickly as others, like the track Rising above Bedlam, but most of them have really engaging sonic ideas right off the bat. I like the song Erzulie for it's chilled out eastern vocal performance and I like how melodic the bass guitar is in it too. It's a really great Latin dance track with a lot of different levels of energy throughout. Everyman's an island takes a sort of psychedelic approach, with this groovy meditative bassline and some really strung out electric guitar. I like just how groovy it is and how much they are switching up the sound even just measure to measure. It reminds me of a lot of King Gizzard's microtonal music, but with a bit of a softer edge. The opening drum beat of Soledad is so welcoming and brings you into a sort of Arabian dream. The, what I think are Latin, vocals would usually turn me away from the track, but not knowing the lyrics feels okay because the vocal performance is just so hypnotic and eastern sounding. The bass line and drum beat keep the song so sturdy throughout as the guitar and auxiliary percussion solo on top. The solo sections of this album really feel reserved and like they only are doing what they must to add to the experience of the track and I really appreciate the subtlety of it. Sweet Divinity is a very strange track to me because it sounds extremely unique. There's these weird sections of trumpet and trombones sort of just going ham on this dueling fanfare and it breaks up the verses in a very engaging way. It feels like a song that I wouldn't like under usual circumstanced, but the sheer skill of these musicians keeps me engaged in this sort of creepy and uncomfortable tune. The closer Wonderful World is a great way to pick up from the weird spot we were left in with Sweet Divinity and I really like the instrumentation and vocal performance here. It's a bouncy and playful track with a really chorus and some nice chorus vocals backing things up. They play with the reverb subtly in some of the vocal sections in a really pleasing, yet experimental way and I just really like whatever effect is on the guitars because they sound so tropical and bubbly. It ends things off in the same really cheery optimistic vibe introduced in the first track Visions of You and it's a great way to end. As a whole package, this is a really great album if you like stuff that sounds like it's from outside of the good ol' USA. There's fun microtonal sounding stuff, a lot of eastern and Latin influence, and all of the cultures on display also showcases a huge variety of talent. I think there are some tracks that are a little worse than the majority and the vocals can be a little off putting at first, but if you can just put this on in the background while you're doing something and vibe along to the grooves, I think it'd be a nice time for almost anyone. Score: 8.5/10 Best world music I've heard yet Highlights: Visions of You, Bomba, Ungodly Kingdom, Erzulie, Everyman's an Island, Soledad, Sweet Divinity, Wonderful World
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I was going to. It's going to require some more listens, but I'll definitely be back!
Das erste Album, das ich nicht bei Apple Music finden konnte. Groovige Musik! Teilweise richtig gute Tracks, wenn nicht gerade der monotone Sänger, bestimmt Jah Wobble höchstselbst, uns die Ehre erweist. Er bringt natürlich eine Form von Charakter mit sich, aber ich hab es lieber schön.
I liked some of the songs, like the one with Sinead O'Connor, but there were some tracks that just sorta vibed! Overall an enjoyable experience~!
World music, algumas faixas sao ok (gostei das q sao em espanhol e arabe(?)), percursao ainda tá com cara de anos 80 q me desagradou.
Never heard this before! First struck me as a precursor to Thievery Corporation. I was a little put off by the ridiculous canned drums and twerpy basslines, but I think the music got better as the album went on, and it also just grew on me.
Tried to be very experimental but mostly came off as bland and overstayed its welcome. 6
No tiene estilo definido. Alguna se parece a James. Otra es como música de honololú. Otra como samba latina. Otra como árabe. Un poco Enigma. Le daré un 3 porque alguna canción no está mal.
6. There was definitely some interesting stuff going on, but it started to feel a little long and a little too chaotic
Never even crossed my radar before but liked it. The fact Jah Wobble used to work for LU is also cool.
Not sure I will be able to make it through the album.. too repetitive to be enjoyable -
Another weird and strange experiment album which is a recipe for disaster in my book but against all odds, I really enjoyed this. I had an extremely productive day and I can’t say it wasn’t because of this album. I especially enjoyed the song with Sinead O’Connor. It just works!
Got some interesting sounds on there and I like the collaborative element of it. Bit too conceptual for my taste but I do like the world music vibe.
Never heard of this before... a new experience. I did read that Jah Wobble was a guitarist from PIL, so I did have some expectations.... Visions of you. I recognized Sinead O'Connor right away. Radio-worthy track. Relight the flame has a familiar quality. It made me think of Robbie Robertson. The song feels right. I consider it a standout. Bomba...what language is that? Spanish? It's nice. Rising Above Bedlam got me with the drums...the spoken lyrics...Robbie Robertson (feel) again... (Somewhere down that Crazy River)... Those drums in "Soledad" are, in a word: powerful! I wanted to look and see if Phil Collins was featured. The other songs seemed ok. Nothing much else stood out to me. Stand out tracks: Visions of You Relight the Flame Soledad Bomba. Overall, the album was nice to listen to. I probably won't listen to it again unless something brings me back to it ( such as it being on a list like this). It is a solid 3/5 for now.
I missed this one when it came out, although I do recall the Sinead O'Connor-voiced "Visions of You" getting some play on college radio. That is a great track, probably the best on the album. "Soledad" is also really beautiful, with Arabic-style vocals in Spanish by Natacha Atlas. The mixture of various "world" sounds is well done, but very much of that time. "Relight the Flame" and "Erzulie" have a cool mingling of Spanish-style guitar with a dub/Reggae rhythm and lovely Arabic-style vocals by Natacha Atlas. You wouldn't think some of these sounds would be necessary together, but the prevailing attitude is "why not?" and it mostly works. Some of the beats and keyboard sounds/ arrangements are a little dated. Wardle's own vocals stand out in contrast to the other vocalists, and not in a good way. His best vocal is on is "Rising Above Bedlam," which relies less on the world beat sounds and is a sold early-'90s alternative track. A mostly enjoyable/interesting listen. I'd have to be in a particular mood to revisit it though. Fave songs: Visions of You, Soledad, Everyman's an Island
Some funky rhythms. Feels a little pretentious and overly artsy for me. I like it better than Lou Reed but not my favorite.
On first listen, this caught me right and I thought I had a four star album. Second time around I was less engaged- maybe I was already wary of the world-influenced, dub-flavoured, Britpop-foreshadowing cocktail and started to see it more as a composite of influences than something truly original. Or maybe I just realised a lot of it was quite boring. Not to deny a lot of it works: "Visions of You" is an obvious lead single, from the Sinead O'Connor feature to a borderline singalong chorus. "Ungodly Kingdom" has a strong refrain, and the chants work well embedded against the main vocal line. "Erzulie" is hypnotic in the way it builds up and moves through various sections: my other favourite on offer here. There's no way anyone would choose to listen to this on the strength of Wobble's vocals, so it's a good job the guest vocalists and rhythm section are consistently strong across the record. Some of the percussion sounds are dated (for a surreal moment I thought "Relight the Flame" was going straight into Genesis' "Invisible Touch") but it all holds together well enough sonically. The dub bass is consistently up front in the mix- unsurprising as it's Wobble's primary instrument- and there are some groovy lines to hold together the songs. All of this leads me to my main criticism: the music is often great, but the lyrical content is either distractingly bad or not making any effort to match the atmospherics. Attempts at social commentary in the weak spot "Everyman's an Island" were especially eye-roll inducing (hey guys, did you know the word "fun" was invented by marketing executives to sell soft drinks? Nope, me neither.) It's background music and might reward repeated listening, but I don't think I'll be rushing back to it.
Dubby, loping beats. Bomps along nicely in a world music vibe. Whoever told Jah Wobble he should take lead vocal on most of the tracks needs a pop in the chops. I mean, he's got Sinead O'Connor right there backing him on a couple of tracks...
Absolutely unsure how to rate this album. Guess I'm glad I heard it. It was very unique especially when you consider the other music that was released around this time. Definitely didn't like it though. Also didn't hate it. Giving it a 3, but I don't know if that's right.
This one was alright, but I got tired of it before I reached the end. No recognized songs
It’s ok but nothing special I guess - some decent reggae and dub but it’s a very 90s ‘WORLD’ music album - emphasis intentional
I didn't remember this until I heard it, and it brought back so many memories, of that Stone Roses/Happy Mondays vibe. I never realised Jah Wobble wasn't black either. Great stuff — especially Visions of You.
When the first track started I thought this would be an album that I could really like. Then the lyrics/vocals came in and it brought it down a notch on the like-scale. It was just okay for me.
WILD! Wenn man sich das Cover anschaut kriegt man einen echt guten Vorgeschmack darauf was drinnen steckt. Total zeitlos auf eine eigenartige Art und Weise - man hat das Gefühl es würde zu jedem Zeitpunkt total unpassend wirken! aber irgendwie auch nicht blöd - schön was zu hören was man sonst NIE angehört hätte. Gesang is STRANGE. Aber das ganze ist schon tanzbar. Irgendwie 90er Walt Disney Musical IRGENDWAS.
Hard to rate. Liked a lot of this individually but I will probably never listen to this again.
Olihan tuossa hetkensä. Varmaan toimisi eri tilanteessa ja fiiliksessä paremminkin. 2,5*
Really liked some of this and thought some was boring and really disliked a song or two. Seemed to live in between genres
Not on Apple Music, but it is on Spotify. Based on the name Jah Wobble I was expecting reggae, but this is a British group? Not even sure what genre to call this, but some pretty cool groove/vibe music to throw on in the background. A few tracks I'd like to add to my playlist on Apple but we'll see if they're on there. Favorite tracks: Visions of You, Bomba, Ungodly Kingdom. Album art: Very Native American-inspired design with the quadrant and what appears to be feathers. Again, few if any clues as to what genre this would or should be considered, but it's a bold cover. 3/5
Interesting to be sure. The grooves are very open and spacious with lots of room for the variety of sounds and textures to inhabit. This allows the music (and language of the lyrics) to be incredibly varied while still being intelligible as a coherent album. That being said, there's nothing in this album that feels cutting edge to me though the album is pleasant to listen to. I am biased of course and think that what we call 'world music' should be refined quite a bit to reflect that there is not just one dominant form of music with other minority categories.
sounds very dated, cool music combos though I dont what it is the vocals or the production which does not appeal to me at all
I kinda love this, though I don't understand any of the acclaim. Except, perhaps, for Soledad, which weirdly fits and weirdly sticks out. The soundtrack for a movie (or something) documenting an altered series of karaoke numbers.
Initial cover art I was like "oh boy, this is either Hip Hop or something really dumb". Immediate thought listening was: is this the eponymous category of "World Music"? Also surprising that the guy named "Jah Wobble" is white, heh. Guess he was part of Public Image Ltd. It feels like this is using various sources of music, instruments, etc without any conclusion. Music that sounds just "there", feels very 90s Best Buy World Music CD section. I find it sort of cheesy. Especially the voiceovers. It's like, look at my super unique music cause I have these other instruments! Everything is so on-the-nose. The level of introspective goes as deep as a philosophy major in freshman year who smokes a lot of pot and thinks they are super smart, braaah.
Visions Of You does a good job of setting up the rhythmic style of Relight The Flame, but the vocals on Relight are a huge bummer. Bomba is cool. Ungodly Kingdom was a fun listen. Sweet Divinity has all the problems of Relight the Flame but none of the charm.
Not my taste but I guess I see the appeal? Very eclectic mix, lots of wordless singing, not my jam.
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
A collection traditional rhythms and styles digested for the 90s English listener. Mostly hideous.
A bit too out there for me. The main singer's voice (in a weird Britpop style) began to grate on me after a while. Rating it 2 stars in an effort to stop rating every album 3 stars.
Out there, which I somehow didn't immediately expect from "Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart". Learned my lesson. Some parts were interesting - I find it tricky to rate these ones as an entire album to be honest
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.
Absolute mess of an album. Some guy singing. A Spanish woman. A cockney man chatting. All over the place
It's all the very much the same: I have his later album, and 'Becoming More Like God' (my favourite track on it) is great, but it's the same as Visions of You on this album. Layers of sound and vocals over a bass riff which goes diddle-dee, diddle-dee, didddle-diddle-dum-dee. Very nice, but this is the sort of stuff anyone could write, with some studio time and session vocalists. I like it, but is it art? I think not. I'm beginning to think (no, that's a lie - I've always thought) I can do better than at least 25% of the stuff we've had so far.
This album in my opinion just wasn't good. The only reason why I'm not giving it 1 star is because of the song Visions Of You. That song was great! 2.5/5 stars.
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.
I only knew the single with Sinead O'Connor. The rest of the album is in a similar style - it is all 3* I would say, but -1 for the production/sound - I won't listen to it again.
Don't really know what to say except meh. Some nice bits but not all that interesting to me.
Meh. When the best that you can say is "This sounds just like....", and then can't even remember who they sound like, that's not much of an impression.
What starts out as an interesting and engaging exploration of world music ends up as a fairly disappointing listen by the second half. Favorite Tracks: "Visions of You", "Relight the Flame", "Ungodly Kingdom"
Sehr abwechslungsreich, klingt irgendwie nach Urlaub aber auch ein bissi weird. Ungodly kingdom motiviert zum dancen! schwanke zwischen 2 und 3, aber unbedingt hören wir ich’s trotzdem nicht.
A mal vieilli. Cet album me paraît intéressant sur le plan historique, car il évoque une esthétique très populaire dans les années 90. J'en profite pour me la péter et hurler que, sur les douze premiers que ce site m'a proposés, c'est le premier album dont je n'avais jamais entendu parler.
Meh. Not really my thing. There's a lot of 90s stuff in this list: the era where I was the most judgmental of music. But this isn't my thing.
I finally got to this album on YouTube. The music is fine. The talking male vocals don’t do it for me. I’m in between 2 and 3.
Upon discovering, prior to listening, that this was classified as world music by a guy named Jah Wobble, let's just say I didn't picture John Joseph Wardle from Stepney, East London. Then start listening, and try to imagine that this guy was inches away from being in the Sex Pistols. But since Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious are such better noms de plume than Jah Wobble, maybe it was for the best. I guess if 1973 Sid Vicious drunkenly gave me a nickname I would run with it too? Not 1978 Sid Vicious though. But Jah Wobble was too crazy for the Sex Pistols!? "Rising Above Bedlam" is not crazy. But going by the nickname your drunk and slurring 16-year-old friend gave you for the rest of your career and life. That's crazy.
Middle eastern jam band electronica with a 90's vibe. Nothing bleeds faster than the cutting edge. Listen at your own risk.
Not great. When the album finished on Spotify, it autoplayed the first track of the Massive Attack album we had a few weeks ago, and I realised that there's a lot of similarities between that and this, except that the Massive Attack album is basically better in every way. The songs with the woman singing in Spanish are generally OK, the ones with the bloke chuntering on generally aren't. However, the title track (particularly at the end) is so peculiar that I actually quite liked it for its bizarreness, 'oh look, a fragment of plastic! Oh look, a sports commentator. Or was it a disused railway line?' 2/5. Just.
Very hard to find this album on any platform... so I was disappointed by the ratio of enjoyment/time_spent_searching_for_the_album
This wasn't actively unpleasant to listen to, but for an album bursting with ideas it turned into background noise remarkably quickly.
Escuché algunas rolas de estos weyes de otros discos y están Chidas pero, o no escuchamos el mismo disco o no fumamos de la misma, nomás NE.
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.
Absolute crap. Unlistenable. You know back in the day when you'd go to HMV and they'd have the listening station pre-loaded with the picks of the week? This is like the random album they had to put in that to meet a genre quota mandated by corporate. It suuuuucks.
No, I don’t enjoy this music, it’s self conscious and cringey. All this world music sound like black faceing to me (I’m Mexican). Of course this has connection to that other cringe fountain PiL.
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.