Rising Above Bedlam

A bit dissappointing, not bad but not great

A couple of these songs are really interesting, with widely varying global influences. Some of them have just truly awful vocals.

Deep, meditative bass anchors a fusion of dub, Middle Eastern/North African/Indian textures, and ambient/post-punk DNA—less confrontational, more transcendent. Wut? Anyway it was good background, 3 for me.

Exceeded expectations. The addition of Spanish influence to the bass and beats was a good idea.

Liked this more than I thought I would at the start. Still not the best but some interesting ideas and decent execution. 58

Uneven but I give Jah credit for experimenting and trying new things. HIs bass playing is solid but his voice leaves much to be desired. The songs with the female singers, including Sinead O'Connor are the best songs on here. As well, it's hard to find. Not on Spotify. I did find it on YouTube.

This was ok, didn't really grab me, but was fine as background music

An interesting album. Bomba and Relight the Flame were enjoyable.

Неоднозначные ощущения, как будто бы накуреным посмотрел свадьбу в сериале "Клон". Хоть где-то треки и показались излишне перезатятнутыми, но за счёт восточных мотивов они оказались гипнотически чарующими.

Could not find the whole album but the pieces I found were okay. I would say 3 stars or C-.

Dub/triphop, music was ok to listen to but some of the lyrics ruined it for me

Enjoyed the album as background, I could see myself revisiting. I like the more worldly met this cast, some pretty cool sounds explored.. 3.5/5 but I’m gonna round down as I didn’t find any single songs particularly stand out amazing, more good overall

Decent. I’ve never heard this artist before.

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.

One of the most random albums I’ve listened to. All different kinds of influences made me feel like I was changing albums constantly. Not sure what to think about it..

I like this album a lot more than I thought I would, especially with Jah Wobble's connection with Public Image Ltd (which I don't personally care for).

It was alright, some parts I really liked and thought it had potential, but overall it didn't interest me that much.

The first half reminded me of Sinead O Conor and Destroyer. The second half mostly just seemed “exotic”. I thought this was decent and I’m sure more instrument inclined folks got more out of it. High 3 for me.

grew on me as it continued, but would not listen again

Don't really hate this... kind of like it actually. Very late 80s early 90s UK sound + world, but has enough interesting instrumentation to hold up. I don't know if it's consistently good enough to be regular listen but was better than I expected.

I really liked the album. The music is solid with some great bass lines.

well I cant find a place to listen to it and I'm not shelling out cash to do so.

Could not find anywhere to listen to this album

A little quirky but altogether backgroundable.

Eccentric and beautifully enchanting. Great, enchanting vocals and ethereal harmonies create a vibrant world of sound on this record. Sultry and sexy throughout - this is a really cool record.

Odd. Unsure what it's trying to be.

Patchy will some glorious moments. Visions of You as a perfect song, with Sinead O'Connor delivering one of her best vocal performances. The rest of the album ebbs and flows with experimental dub and demo quality tunes. Not bad but overall not fantastic

Nothing burger. Feeling kind. 3.

better than I expected

very, very different with a lot of sounds that comes from different genres

This doesn’t feel like an essential or groundbreaking album, and it’s predictably been panned in the reviews section of this site, but I liked it. The various ‘world music’ style tracks went down easily, and even the ones that fused said music with eccentric cockney vocals worked reasonably well. Nice bit o’ bonus Sinead, too.

Eclectic, but some very solid songs!

3,5

ganz nette Cover und Eigenes, Elektroragamuffinweltmusik, inkl. Natasha Atlas u. S. OConnor

Man I have not had time to finish listening to this, and I will at one point. But so far I'm enjoying it. From what I've heard I'll give it 3 stars

Interesting album. Enjoyed the listen for its quirky trance-like rhythms and spoken word lyrics. 3/5!

I couldve done without his singing, but I nodded my gead throughout. He did sonething right.

The musicality is fantastic but the singing left something to be desired

The style fusions are quite hit or miss. The female vocals are nice.

Eh 5/10

I had similar thoughts as other reviewers of cultural appropriation. To be fair, all music is a form of cultural appropriation but this was rubbing me the wrong way in parts. But it was still fun.

Not the kind of music I'm ineresed in, but that appeared quite interesting and sometimes bizzare, but in a good way

It was quite difficult to get ahold of this album, but I did, and it wasn’t particularly worth the effort. It was ok. Listenable experimental / electronic kinda music but not repeatable.

Es un buen disco, tranquiloni, buenas guitarras... muy para estudiar, cositas tribales, mucha percusión. Buena calidad.

Special! Not to repeat, but special. I can't put less than ⭐⭐⭐

2.7 - Dunno just didn't really do much for me honestly

Funny one, feels like another strange inclusion. Not bad per se, but also struggling to see what differentiates this dub album from any other dub album. Fave Tracks: Bomba, Ungodly Kingdom 2.9/5

I really liked the middle third of this album

This album is an example of an objectively weird combination of styles that accidentally sounded kind of good. It's easy to hear the influence of Public Image Ltd (of which Jah Wobble was a member) in the form of brutish, ambling (yet melodic) basslines and a punk/post-punk freedom in the vocal and percussion. In fact, the basslines are some of the most impressive elements of these tracks. Mr Wobble definitely knew what he was doing in that regard. There's also a distinctive foray into world music, sort of like the very-post-punk equivalent of Paul Simon's Graceland. The world influence is butchered slightly, focusing heavily on a bright, positive, celebratory atmosphere while kind of ignoring cultural nuance. Feels kind of like cultural appropriation, almost. But it's fun music... what else could you ask for? Well, you could ask for a male vocalist that suits the band. There are two lead vocalists – one male and one female – and while the female one, as well as the backings, are generally very strong, the male one is so incongruous that it feels like a tipsy British bloke had a stack of five quid slapped into his hand and was asked to freestyle-ramble about philosophy. I actually didn't mind it too much. It was such an odd sound that it ended up being pretty entertaining and engaging. Still, it's nowhere near a masterpiece. The album cover is horrendous. Key tracks: Visions of You, Relight the Flame, Bomba 3/5

Visions of You 3 Relight The Flame 3.1 Bomba 2.6 Ungodly Kingdom 2.8 Rising Above Bedlam 3.3 Erzulie 2.8 Everyman's An Island 3 Soledad 2.7 Sweet Divinity 2.5 Wonderful World 2.4 Score: 2.82

Doesn't hurt... Bass lines are cool though...

就那样，融合得有点尬

Listened to this twice, and if you can I would recommend. On first listen it's a bit unfocused and the plethora of different voices can mean it slips by and doesn't really grab you. While there are passages that are more textural and ambient, on a second listen melodies and structures reveal themselves.

The point of this list is to expose you to things you don't necessarily know and Jah Wobble is the perfect example of this. Somewhere between the lines of prog, reggae, punk, country and whatever else you want to regurgitate you end up with Rising Above Bedlam. I don't know how I really feel about this, but it's very interesting. It's interesting to see someone who was present at the dawn of the post punk era as a member of PiL lean heavily into the reggae sound that he obviously liked. Listening is like reading a newspaper from this time period. You don't necessarily think you'd be interested in the weather or what the weekend sales will be from thirty years ago but yet you still keep reading. And listening. 3.5/5

It wasn't annoying? 2.5/5

This was certainly unique, I'll give it that. I found it pretty boring overall, though. I couldn't get into it even though it seemed okay? More of a 2.5 but I'll round up to be generous.

Interesante. 3/5.

A little Sinead O'Connor meets Happy Mondays vibe on opener bodes well and no surprise that one was the hit. But, despite the promising start, the rest drifts pretty quickly into generic world music vibes – not terrible, just not compelling.

I didn't have high hope for this. So I was almost pleasantly surprised.

It’s aight

I appreciate the effort but this was never more than OK. And sometimes it was worse. ehh could be a 2 or 3

Pretty good album when the main guy isn't involved in singing. Definite 90's smooth jazz production techniques in play.

Some interesting ideas and exploration into world music by a British guy. There were some stellar moments, but probably won't return to it (especially difficult since this album wasn't available on Apple Music).

Bem diferente

I read the reviews before listening to get an idea of what this was about, so I had very low expectations. but this actually had some interesting parts. It's probably not something I'll come back to often but I don't think it was as bad as some of the top reviews described

Had no idea what to expect here with such a strange band name, the first song reminded a lot of primal scream. The rest of the album is varied and interesting without completely loving this album, I found it interesting and makes me want to go back for more.

Funky beats. Danceable.

Certainly has dated production, but it still is some pretty decent pop tunes, nonetheless. And to think this dude, was part of the group that made Metal Box. A deserved glowup.

There is more to this than I was expecting. The world music influences feel authentic rather than novelties and there are some very enjoyable moments. Jah's vocals are the low point for me though, both lyrically and stylistically.

I don't know, man. It's not that I hated this, it just didn't feel... real. Like, all the "world music" bits felt forced. And that's weird, right? That said, the production was great. The songwriting wasn't too bad. Performances were all solid. It just had this veneer of falseness that I couldn't get past.

Interesting...cool mix of world sounds...some tracks a bit cliché. Solid.

Some interesting sounds but I listened to this album twice and nothing really grabbed me. Pretty mid album for me.

Idk, just kinda fine? Didn't really pull me in in any way, but perfectly decent background tunes.

What to make of this?..world-music vibe but his background is so punk…probably another one that deserves a 2d listen

I wouldn’t have played this on my own, thinking it wouldn’t be my type of music, but they actually liked it more than I thought I would.

Low key techno vibe

This is perfect. I was in need of something to listen to during my peyote ceremony tonight.

vocals are not my cup of tea, decent instrumentals, but also not enough going on

Liked a lot of this especially the tracks with Sinéad O'Connor. Good bass lines throughout but the vocals feel like they drag sometimes.

Unmemorable

Chilled out world-dub fusion. I wish I’d heard more of the bass because what I heard was groovy. A strong 3

Spes. Ágætis tónlist samt. Worldly hljómar og áhugaverðar blöndur. Meginþorrinn samt helvíti boring því miður. 2.5/5...

Any album containing a song such as "Visions Of You" is worth a listen and this album is no exception. It meanders a little at times, but overall I'd rate it as amongst the best of Wobble's work (that I've heard).

Better than i anticipated. The less Jah Wobble sings, maybe the slightly better it is... he has a talky, occasionally Robyn Hitchcock vibe that doesn't always align with the interesting mix of world and pop/rock. Visions of You is enjoyable, while the rest do start to blend together, but overall a good listen.

Great atmosphere record. Tribal EDM groove. Nice listen. Revist

Conceptually this album is very good. The album is fun and takes you on a journey with a mix of Spanish and Arabic styles of music along with a progressive bassline that refuses to quit. Some of these tracks are presented very well especially the songs featuring Natacha Atlas. Not a massive fan of Wobble's vocals but it works in some instances, especially the spoken word parts.

I liked it, cool fusion of music from different cultures. Every Man’s an Island stuck out as a good one. Overall, I enjoyed listening to the whole thing, it was surprising and strange and unique, and most importantly, pleasant to my ears. 3.5

I couldn't find the whole album anywhere, so was only able to listen to the 5 songs available on YouTube. This was interesting, but kind of cringe also. It sounded a bit like a worse version of Cornershop

To be fair, when this came out, I'm sure I was listening to Deep Forest or Enigma or any number of those "world music" mashups of this era. I probably saw this and thought "Jah Wobble" was a joke name. It's not a bad album, but it's not great, either. The world music part is kind of fun, but it keeps getting interrupted by the singing growl of a Londoner for some reason.

A couple good ones but the rest is a bit out there

Visions of You - 7.5/10 Relight the Flame - 7/10 Bomba - 8.5/10 Ungodly Kingdom - 7/10 Rising Above Bedlam - 7/10 Erzulie - 7.5/10 Everyman’s an Island - 7/10 Soledad - 7/10 Sweet Divinity - 7/10 Wonderful World - 7/10 TOTAL - 72.5/100

first listen some fun sounds but overall slooooow

Not my stuff

Listened to this in bits and pieces (wasn't on streaming as an album) but still enough here to want to revisit. Lots of good basslines and soundscapes.

More than 3, but less than 4. Good Album

Nice bass lines. I do like Public Image Ltd. I am getting tired of listening to albums by white dudes inspired by the culture of POC instead of music by those folks.

Apart from track 4 (a dud) and 5 (a filler track), pretty interesting and even often elating foray into "global" sounds. A lot of people noticed Sinead O'Connor's featuring on the single "Visions Of You", but the real star of the show is Natacha Atlas, at least on the many cuts where she appears. Yet some of the tracks where she is not invited are still quite good as well. Is it material for " essential albums", tough? Well, the jury's still out on this one. You could argue that the penultimate track is almost ruined by that (fortunately short) bridge filled with horrid synth horns, also found on track 4. A way to point out how some of this music sounds dated now, even though other parts of it still aged surprisingly well. 1991 is also filled to the brim with far more striking LPs, as interesting as this Mercury Prize nomination is (wonder if an old member of the jury for the prize didn't work with Dimery for that book--heck maybe even Dimery himself is a member of that jury!). So wait and see... Number of albums left to review: 376 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 282 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 149 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 200

Pretty chill and unique

I don't know seems like a random album, that made it's way in here.

Whoa, talk about all over the place.

An interesting man with an interesting story. Though there's not much said for the album, reading about Jah as a bass player / singer resonates with me, plus he lived with the guitarist of the Sex Pistols. It's a well thought out album of world music with a lot of interesting sounds and moods to choose from.

Oh another world music album. I winced as I started listening but to my surprise this wasn't too bad. I'll give it a generous 3. It's more like a 2.5 because I didn't dislike it, but I didn't really like it either and will probably never listen to again.

Not as bad as I thought it would be. Did feel like I was in Nando’s at times because of the relentless beats.

"Rising Above Bedlam" is a studio album by Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart. English bassist and singer Jah Wobble had been involved in a number of musical collaborations and bands including Public Image Limited (PiL) when he formed the Invaders of the Heart. The genre listed is World Music; the music does seem to go all over the place, I guess that's as good as any reason for that. The album was self-produced and the band included Wobble (vocals, bass, keyboards, drum programming, timbales), Justin Adams (electric and Spanish guitars, Arabic percussion, vocals), Mark Ferda (keyboards, drum programming, sampler) and vocalists Natacha Adams and Sinead O'Connor. The album was also short listed for the 1992 UK Mercury Prize. The album opens with "Visions of You." Sinead and Wobble on vocals. The guitar and beat sounding very 90's indie pop. The Soup Dragons came to mind. Dreamy lyrics. The guitar solo going up and down the scales. I was confused by its so-callled world music genre at this point. No need to worry, "Ungodly Kingdom" continues the Carribean beat of the two previous songs and adds horns. A percussion adds afrobeats. Great backing vocals by Natacha Atlas. Solid production and also sounds like it belongs on a soundtrack. A simple drum beat and slide guitar begin "Rising Above Bedlam." Wobble is whispering/talking. People screaming in the background. This song is purposedly creepy. Switching gears, "Erzulie" has ambient keys, Spanish guitar and horns. An electric guitar providing echoes. It goes shortly to big dance music and then back. Atlas singing in French (I believe). Well, Erzulie is the Haitian goddess of love in the Voodoo pantheon. "Everyman's An Island" takes us to the Middle East with its guitar and percussion. It's hard not to like a song with keyboards sounding like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir." We'll, maybe some of you but not me. There's no doubt the variety of music is what kept this album interesting for me. 90's indie rock to Latin/Carribean to Afrobeat to Middle Eastern to soundtracks. I can't say it expands any of those musical genres but the music is extremely well-produced and very happy. Yeah, happy. Natacha Atlas is just fantastic and a highlight on vocals. This album does perk my interest in some Jah Wobble's other works.

I tapped out after the embarrassing spoken-word stuff in the title track.

This is something I've never heard of at all in the slightest!! Love the international almost New Age vibes. There's a lot of different sounds in there! At first listen knowing nothing about Jah Wobble, I thought this wasn't anything that interesting or impactful and wondered why this might be on this list. When I read up on him a little bit I realised why, his life was insane and if I was someone who cared about celebrities a bit more I'd be really interested in his life and the people he spent time with. I am interested to the extent that it's cool the opportunities he had available but also mad how it messed up his life... The music is cool though, I like that bass and bits of this really remind me of Graceland which I love. Cool discovery actually. Some parts have some self-indulgent guitar parts which I don't love though, eg the title track Rising Above Bedlam.

I have no idea what to make of this whether I liked this or not! It was extremely varied, at least. Some I liked more than others so it probably has to be a 3*

I quite liked this but can't say I'll come back to it, not particularly memorable, but fun none the less.

Interesting sound. Would listen to in mornings

Another one not available to stream except YouTube. I’m somewhat familiar with Jah Wobble from PiL and some other projects. This was decent, not something I’d normally check out.

This was pretty good! I liked the bass playing and the overall vibe and sound. This is another album I had no idea about and would’ve never listened to until this project. If the second half of this album was as good as the first, it would’ve gotten a 4.

Interesting sound. I definitely would have enjoyed this when it came out. Not really my vibe today, but I enjoyed it.

Surprisingly enjoyable world music album because it is so versatile

3/10, 30%

Its like if Indian singers sung in Spanish, pretty solid actually

I thought this was pretty fun. File under boutique hotel pool with Latin vibe

Not bad. Good bass. Front half is better than the back half.

A real blast from the past, if rather incongruous here. I'm probably in the minority having heard this quite a lot when it came out, very popular with the early '90s Camberwell indie squatter set. When it's good, it's pretty great - Sinead's vocals over Wobble's signature bass rumbling. Mostly, it's OK, but always interesting. Check out the original "Becoming More Like God" if you can find it, probably his solo best. 3 for the highlights and because Wardle is the very definition of "Diamond Geezer"

I don't even know how to label this kind of music. Very multi genre.

How is Jah Wobble on this list?

Sounds like accoustic stuff but I could be wrong. Hopeful about it being a good one! The verdict: It's pretty good, and I see why it was popular back in the day, but I also don't connect with it.

Kinda interesting and fun. 5/10

Different than I was expecting

Dance music with some latin music sprinkled on top. Not bad, but nothing special either. 2.5/5

Interesting but not really captivating.

So this is where Kula Shaker got all their ideas. "Rising Above Bedlam" is patchy as hell, but you can see how its east/west fusion pushed things forwards.

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.

Interesting mix of world styles. Very chill. Definitely something I would've smoked hookah to in college. It feels VERY 90s though, for better or worse.

Significantly better than I though it would be. However, I can't say it rises to much more than background, or mood music.

Weird album, but I liked it alright. Looked into the dude, and he was in Public Image Ltd. And the first song has Sinead O'Connor. More enjoyable than most dub-ish things for me. 3.25/5

Funky, but not really my thing. C-

I mean, not boring. Didn't necessarily grab me much either for the most part, but I might come back to this.

Really enjoying this. A bit of dub, a bit of Arabic world music, a snippet of 80s indie - all with a positive feel. Only negative is Wobble’s voice which I’m sure he’d agree is not very good! A high three stars.

Well that was fucking weird

3.3 - A white British bass guitarist named Jah Wobble? Really? That's your stage name, Jah Wobble?? This record seems doomed from the jump, and it mostly is. It's a spliff and mushrooms party that's just one didgeridoo away from becoming a full-on nitrous balloon party. Hippie inspired world music - think trance-like electric guitar à la Santana mixed with Spanish/Arabic chanting, and maybe some wind chimes and massage parlor beats for good measure. Wobble's voice is terrible, spouting psuedo-spiritual drivel. I was, however, delighted to hear Sinéad O'Connor on "Visions of You." Some of the other female vocal performances are good, too (see "Bomba" and "Soledad").

It was fine

Her en der echt boeiend, z'n tijd vooruit in een soort duistere prog elektro iets, maar op andere momenten ineens een soort Spaans Middenoosterse muziek. Dat stuk is dan weer helemaal niks. Dat maakt dat dit niet voorbij de 3 sterren komt.

Rhythmic background music. 2.5 stars.

Eh, it's different. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. I guess it's average.

This was very interesting to listen too. Very unique, a lot of varying styles. I will give this a 3 and I will add “Relight the Flame” to my playlist.

The male 'singer' was awful, a lot of the songs didn't go anywhere, but there something about it I enjoyed. I think the drums were great and there was a nice rhythm to a lot of the tracks. Not a brilliant album by any means but decent for one listen.

Good wobble styff, can hear the bass creep in. I onky know him for Dub?

A little pretentious but interesting.

Very naff production and a bit too "World Music" but enjoyed this more than I expected. One I may return to

I’d have loved it in the 89’s

Interesting album and concepts to incorporate world music sounds. It ends up sounding like background music in a cafe that tries to be a bit posh. At least the bass lines are pretty solid. Standout tracks: Bomba and Erzulie

interesting basslines

интересный альбом. точно стоит попробовать послушать, некоторые работы мне прям очень зашли (например Soledad) что-то похожее вспомнить сложно, крепкая 3

Милый хиппи рэгги альбом с позитивным Вайбом Мексики(хз откуда эта ассоциация)

Ого, world music... Честно говоря, не ожидал совсем. Наверное, это не лучшее исполнение и не лучшая запись подобного рода (хочется верить, потому что саунд здесь мне не очень понравился), но как минимум пластинка заслуживает респекта за игру с этническими жанрами. Этнофутуризм, чтоб его...

Что-то необычное и интересное. Не сказал бы, что мне очень понравилось, но точно понравилось и послушать правда стоит

OK, Jah Wobble, never listened to his stuff but I know he has a cult following. Just had PiL's debut but I doubt this will be similar based on what I already know. 1st track, nice, this could be on Screamadelica. Ha, it was released a week later. 2/ Oh oh, 90s reggae/dub, this took a turn. Wait, Spanish guitar? What's happening here? 3/ The production here is very early 90s, reminds me of Leftfield. Except with Spanish guitar and vocals. Remember Jam & Spoon, right in the night? yeah nothing like that. 4/ ok, proper mix of styles here, I like this. The vocal has a striking resemblance to Alabaster dePlume of nowadays. Something very Talking Heads-y here too. 5/ the dub influence is back. The guitar sting which develops over the nippy dub bassline here eventually reminds me very much of Trainspotting off Vanishing point. So more Primal Scream, but later. I reckon the boys from Lo Fidelity All-stars were fans of this too. 6/ ahahaha, this one sounds more like Jam & Spoon (if they had a brass section) - I didn't plan that. Actually that's unfair, this grows into itself, with the arabic singing, interesting hoppity bass and more Talking Headsy guitar and horns backing it up. 7/ What's this then, desert dub? I like it, give me more. Oh, it drags on a bit, give me less. 8/ so this is more of that. I like it, but I'm not sure I love it. 9/ My mind is wandering at this point and this song didn't bring it back 10/ a jaunty one to finish. Very obviously a band lead by a bass-player, which usually makes for different music. It's reminded me of a lot of things that I like, which came after it. Whether they were influenced by this I don't know but that's a good sign. I wish I had come across this a little closer to the time because there is no getting away from the fact it's production has dated. At the same time the mix of styles and the North African / Spanish influence helps ease that. Spanish guitar doesn't date, that is permanent. Overall a mixed bag though.

Sounds late 80s in it's production. Ethnic pop-orientated sounds with traces of a number of other. It's ok but nothing special.

Interesante, aunque no es mi tipo de música claramente. Aún así me pareció muy copada la idea que hay detrás del disco y cómo mezclan los instrumentos, especialmente en canciones como "Erzulie". A veces, logran generar una especie de aura misteriosa, sobre todo con el canto de la mujer. Es como si estuvieran tratando de conjurar algún tipo de espíritu en el medio de una selva perdida en Sudamérica. 6/10

The only track from the album Rising Above Bedlam that I've heard before was "Visions of You". I don't know if I've heard anything else from Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart. I enjoyed listening to something different. There was a track or two that reminded me of Dead Can Dance, which I like. I enjoyed that some tracks had Spanish lyrics, or lyrics in what sounds like it may be a middle eastern language. I like Sinéad O'Connor's guest vocals on "Visions of You" which is my favorite track. "Erzulie" is my second favorite. I would be interested in hearing more from the band, but the album is too uneven to round up to 4 stars.

I love the first track and really wanted more of the same. Didn't always get it.

This is an interesting album for what it is and especially for when it was made, but it's also one of those albums that I kept turning on and then finding reasons to turn it off and listen to something else. I think that this album does have merit in terms of the types of music that it brings together and the technology available at the time, but it also sounds a bit dull to my ears now 3/5

Decent

Interesting. Might go back for a second listen.

You know how you have that one absolutely batshit right wing uncle? You know, the one that had enough broken guns lying around the house that he decided to sift through them and made a working AR with what he found? Well, this is the music that his sister listens to. That's right, your prius loving, old wave hippie, free spirit aunt. You didn't forget about her, did you? Every time you go to her house you find a new American Indian trinket adorning her "den" and can't help getting wrapped up in the ambiance of the place. She might not be as scary as your uncle, but she whooped his ass into shape when they were younger and unlike your uncle, her bite is worse than her bark. Don't let that deter you from seeing your aunt though. Most of the time when you see her you drive to the woods and go on a hike or she offers you to join her on a flight to rural Oregon. Why's she going to rural Oregon? You're unsure, but from what you know of her travels to Africa and Asia, it's gonna be pretty fun. As soon as you guys get there she asks what you want to do. You're unsure. Why didn't she already have a plan? It matters not. A mere two hours into your walk around this rinky-dink town your aunt stops in a store to go to the bathroom and kicks up a conversation with some local Indians. She walks out the store asking you and your cousin if you want to go to a real Powow, apparently a girl in the local tribe had just reached womanhood and her new friends thought you guys might be interested in coming to the party. You go to this powow and get absolutely blasted off of some fire water as you bond with the tribe. On your way back to the plane you wistfully look out onto the land. You realize you're not a native species here and maybe it's time to go away, give the land back to its original caretakers... "nah that's unreasonable, one man can’t make that large of a difference" you think as you decide to give some money to the new woman from the tribe you just gouged of alcohol and unknowingly impregnated, just as your forefathers before you. It’s a 3/5 for me, I’m feeling generous, it’s not rock, and I have a feeling it’s the only time we’re gonna listen to something that’s not either Spanish or English and as someone who likes music from other cultures I gotta give it some love. But the dude’s singing is cheeks and dates this album like nothing I’ve ever seen. Does it truly deserve the 3? Is it on par with Oasis, REM, Tribe, Wilco, tortoise, muddy waters, and earth wind and fire? No absolutely not.

Always in the middle of a festival bill in the mid nineties, was nice to reacquaint myself with Jah Wobble. The mix of genres doesn't always work but it's generally enjoyable, with Visions of You a properly great song

Listened Before? N Weird name, decent album. It definitely reeks of the 90s, but I didn't mind it at all. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Visions of You

Fascinating musicianship.

It is always annoying when the album isn’t on the steaming service for lazy reasons, so whenever that happens I always subconsciously have a worse rating just from it not being “easy”. However this album was actually quite interesting because it was different; there was a variety of styles and that made it intriguing.

Parts of this make me feel as if I were dropped into a 1990 Sesame Street marathon. And so much of the keyboard and drum machine sounds just scream of an old Benneton commercial. OK seriously - this is fairly complex in places and more interesting than I'm giving credit for - it's never going to be a favourite due to the genre, but there's enough catchy bass lines and varied instruments (notable: guitar on "Everyman's An Island" and guest vocals by Sinead on "Visions Of You" was a nice touch - could've used more of that) to make this decent, outside the often-dated sounds. Not necessarily memorable but very listenable. 5/10 3 stars.

A nice variety of styles on display here, surprisingly funky in places-and soaring guest vocals by Sinéad O’Connor just after she hit it big. It’s just a pity that some of the best ideas are dragged out until they lose steam.

Wasn't sure about this heading in, but it's dreamy and interesting. Not bad at all.

Some great, some average. Prefer Betrayal, or the Bedroom Album

Rising Above Bedlam is an album by English band Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart. It's an ambitious world music album from 1991 that was an interesting listen. World Music is any (usually cultural or traditional) non-Western style music, which can include musical styles from Africa, Asia, and Oceania. I did enjoy the blending of a lot of different musical styles and instruments into one cohesive album, but only a few of the songs really stuck out to me. Nonetheless this is a good album and surely deserves a spot on this list of 1001 great albums.

seemed okay but i didn’t listen very closely

Album No.9 - Not really my thing, I tried giving it a go and I really enjoyed the first two tracks which are actually pretty good. As for the rest of it, I'm not enjoying it too much and cannot imagine going back regularly to this, more like a curiosity of an era. 3/10

Oh wow, world music.. I wonder what country this is from... oh, England. I wonder if the singer has some African roots, maybe Jamaican? Latin American?... oh, no he doesn't. As white as clapping when an airplane lands. Mate was with the Sex Pistols, even. Ever heard of Vantablack? Well this dude, Jah Wobble, appears to be the complete opposite of it. Of course, I am merely joking, jesting, pulling your leg even. The music is good. I like the variety - every song sounded wildly different. There's funkier songs, then there's stuff that sounds like post-punk. Solid strong 3/5.

Que nombre flashero

Pretty nice! 3 stars.

Not terrible. Visions of You was kind of cool, and a few others were okay.

God help us. I need to have a really big poo and all I've got to help me is this music. I can't believe it's come to this. I'm going to poo everywhere and then die. Get me a slice of apple pie.

I might try this again one day... It seems interesting but didn't grab me first time

For 1991, this is a very unique album so it gets props for that at the very least. Wasn’t a huge fan and definitely wouldn’t listen to it again but still somewhat memorable. Side note: I did relisten to violator by Depeche Mode and I definitely should’ve given it a 5 instead of a 4

wow, great album. Enjoyed the sound a lot. Another hidden gem!

I'm going to tell my kids this was The Police. I really wanted to give it 4 stars. The diversity of styles is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. The quality of tunes is steady across the album but the sounds are disjointed in a way that keeps me from getting fully absorbed.

History Lesson! When the Sex Pistols imploded in 1978, John Lydon (fka Johnny Rotten, a fuckhead regardless) formed Public Image Ltd. with guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble. After getting his feet wet in post-punk, Wobble would go on to do solo work, most notably in the Dub genre. Indeed, Wobble had gotten ahold of Jamaica's shiniest new genre export. What is Dub? Flashback to early 70's in Jamaica: producers would take instrumental reggae records and "dub" over them with various production techniques, mainly reverb. Focusing on the rhythms of the original instrumental reggae track, Dub allowed for musicians to experiment with and add new elements of music. Given this, it's easy to see why post-punk musicians would be so interested in Dub. Bringing us back to Jah Wobble, the man had dabbled in various genres throughout the 80's, but had a clear preference for Dub. By the 90's, he had formed his own band (Invaders Of The Heart) and was fully committed to the genre. As far as dub goes, Rising Above Bedlam is a pretty groovy record. Wobble is obviously quite experienced on the bass, so he'll play around with a lot of fun basslines to keep the experience fresh. Pulling from a multitude of different sounds and styles, Rising Above Bedlam moves from Latin grooves to Arabic ghazals. It's an impressively fleshed-out record that does some pretty cool things, but your mileage will vary based on how tolerant you are with Jah Wobble's worldly experiments.

Rating: 6/10

Hasn't really dated well, has it? "Visions of You" is an undeniable hit for the ages but the rest of the album... well, it's world fusion stuff of a particular time, and it's not necessarily my favourite flavour of that sort of thing. Excellent bass playing, obviously.

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.

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

pretty unique and interesting sound. Easy listen

Really liked some of this and thought some was boring and really disliked a song or two. Seemed to live in between genres

Olihan tuossa hetkensä. Varmaan toimisi eri tilanteessa ja fiiliksessä paremminkin. 2,5*

Hard to rate. Liked a lot of this individually but I will probably never listen to this again.

Not my type of world music, a bit boring to 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.

Not sure I found the right album, but enjoyed the weird melodic tones anyway!

Interesting blend of music styles and languages.

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.

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.

It’s ok but nothing special I guess - some decent reggae and dub but it’s a very 90s ‘WORLD’ music album - emphasis intentional

This one was alright, but I got tired of it before I reached the end. No recognized songs

Will get to it soz

Wheres Jah!? Someone get Jah on the phone

Leuk Esther vond het beter dan ik

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 is kinda weird ngl

Eh. Opening track with Sinead O'Connor vocals was interesting...

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...

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.

Some funky rhythms. Feels a little pretentious and overly artsy for me. I like it better than Lou Reed but not my favorite.

Sucesión de diferentes estilos y ritmos, algunos incluso de música española. Disco diferente, pero que no termina de enganchar de un grupo del que no conocía su existencia.

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

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.

Goeie sesh

3 Speciaal, zeer speciaal. Over moonsekte gesproken, zou er passen.

Een heel goed achtergrond album

// Favs: Visions of You Score: Strong 2 to Light 3

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.

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!

Not sure I will be able to make it through the album.. too repetitive to be enjoyable -

Erg diverse plaat, en iets waar ik nog nooit van had gehoord. Niet onaardig.

Never even crossed my radar before but liked it. The fact Jah Wobble used to work for LU is also cool.

3/5

6. There was definitely some interesting stuff going on, but it started to feel a little long and a little too chaotic

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.

Tried to be very experimental but mostly came off as bland and overstayed its welcome. 6

Special, mais un bon vibe! 3.5*

Diferente, folk, étnico, movido...

Not on Apple Music

Uuuuuuuorale!!!!!

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.

This is nothing like I expected, in a good way. It's weird but it's certainly not boring! Goes on a little too long, otherwise I'd rate it higher.

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.

3

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~!

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.

Some of it’s really good but I get tired of it quickly. I remember it being that way.

Not a fan of vocals as such, but the instrumental composition is quite unique

Sort of, almost, interesting. But ultimately, a no go for me.

bounced off of me more than anything. unremarkable and just didnt make an impression

On another day maybe a 3 but today it irritated me during a long drive

1,5

5/10 Raro. No es malo pero qsy. Tiene buenas partes, pero tmb otras muy pj que no me copo

It is... quite strange how I feel about this record. It presents an incredibly wide amount of elements from different genres, like downtempo, dub, Latin and Asian music between others, which sounds super interesting in theory. But it does not work well, not at all. The first half might have the chilling vibes and atmospheres of downtempo, but everything else just does not add nothing really memorable nor substantial, apart from occasional groovy bass line or some high spirit performances that somehow don't excite me in any capacity. I specified the first half before because the second one just gets very boring. It is quite infuriating to hear all these sounds from different parts of the world being used to create these void of emotion experiences. I think I'm being to harsh. This album is not terrible. It is paradoxically forgettable, since the combination is very unique but the outcome incredibly meaningless. I would even dare to say that this is somehow patronizing, feeling more like the artist created this with a "look how great I am for mixing all these things" mentality instead of feeling like a message of love to all the different styles. On top of everything, I find very irritating the guy's voice, so the album is certainly not good.

I don't know where this began or where it was going, but it felt like nowhere.

Must admit I've never even heard of this album. Not the early 90s sound I'm looking for, to be quite honest. Good on him for exploring global sounds and all that, but the kind of mish mash of non-western music filtered through western sensibilities is one of my least favorite UK music trends. Definitely my bias here, but I think US acts do cribbing from so-called world music a lot better.

Straight ass cheeks tbh. I enjoyed a song maybe.

Aggressively bad and incohesive.

601/1089 - It's almost okay. Requires more structure and less sloppy singing.

Stick to the bass, Jah. Leave the vocals to people who can actually modulate their pitches somewhat. It makes for a strange experience - interesting and diverse music, with the common link being an entirely flat, emotionless voice. But compare this against the voices of the women, singing in languages other than English. There's actually some life there. It's just weird. Rating: 2. It's got a couple of nice bits, but by and large, it's somehow a cacophony, and monotonous at the same time.

interesting and experimental, but a lot of this album sounds similar in a way that leaves me feeling bored near the end. i think i could maybe give it a 3 if it was a bit shorter or if there was more variety throughout the album. i wish there was more music like the last song "wonderful world" throughout the album.

I am at a crossroads with Jah Wobble. Rising Above Bedlam has promise but something about the 90s mixing cheapens it up. The attempts at adding in some world music flare are marginal at best but top tracks do include the Spanish lady lead. I think the biggest downfall is trying to cram a bunch of genres into one album in an effort to sound hip. Even the band name is too jumbled...Jah just be tryin' too hard. Despite the shortcomings, I wouldn't be surprised if JJ Wardle had influence on guys like Albarn/Gorillaz...looking to @JLBusch21 to confirm any collabs. 2.03 wobbling planetary star systems.

The top three reviews of this album are so good, there's basically nothing else I can say. My only thought to Jah "Fucking" Wobble's credit was, "why is it cool when George Harrison does it, but lame as fuck when this chud does?" The answer is, I don't know. But such is life. At times enjoyable, occasionally commendable, but always just a weird fucking white British dude. Fave tracks: - Visions of You - Bomba - Rising Above Bedlam - Soledad

DNF not that into it

This is #day754 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… it's been a rough couple of days with this list. On to some worldbeat with an early-'90s flair, you're saying? I'm kind of fine with the track featuring Sinéad O'Connor on vocals, but I don't particularly care for the rest. No idea why you must hear this album before you die. Let it be a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day755.

:|

It was interesting- a bit of a smorgasbord- at first I thought it was some Brit pop or 80s, but later it felt middle eastern… dunno don’t feel any synergy or connection. Some decent music though

Certainly not my bag, something about this album doesn’t feel real, to me it sounds like an extended version of advert music that Sandals Holidays might have commissioned for a campaign promoting their £499 pp Morocco deals in 1991. 2

Syltynt. Elendig miks av sjangere, føles som en random sammensetning av instrumenter og toner.

Started off well with the first track, which felt a bit like quieter 90s indie rock. And then it became world music, which, you know, a lot of other artists have done that better and more authentically.

Fun instrumentals paired with one of the most grating singing voices I've encountered in music

1,7/5

Laaaaammmmmeeeee

Tiene algun momento interesante, pero en general muy meh.

Not quite as terrible as I was expecting. That's the best thing I can say about it

I enjoyed this album, but didn't really hear anything that stood out to me. Not bad at all, just not my thing.

It feels strange to label a record with such a large amount of variety as tedious, but I hate pretty much everything Jah Wobble is trying to do. This is dub music made by an ex-member of PiL who is attempting to blend every Global genre under the sun and the fusions simply don't work. I don't want to hear an English guy from a punk background trying to bring together Latin, Arabic and Jamaican influences under one roof. Its senseless and harebrained.

Jah gets a high 2, cool sounds and decent compositions but overlong and a bit confusing to me as a concept

Close to unlistenable, like a bad 90’s movie soundtrack.

Not terrible, but definitely not good. A shame because I think his work with PiL was banging. However, this is a bit shite.

Ok…had to use YouTube.

Some of the music on this album is interesting, with a vaguely Middle Eastern quality. The vocals, however, are terrible

This one started out OK but this mix of extremely British and awkwardly global just does not work. The opening track and the title track are pretty decent, but the rest of this feels like a collection of cultural stereotypes and tourist tchotchkes. What's it doing here? Favorite track: "Rising Above Bedlam"

A Brit making a bad mish mash of different ethnic music and random genres. This shouldn't be on this list (but isn't COMPLETELY unbearable) .

If you asked AI to make a fusion album, it would be this. Feels totally soulless

This was not bad, I liked the vibe they create. The lyrics are worth listening to although the male vocals are the downside. Not really singing or rapping - rhythmic talking? Anyway, quite a different album that I definitely wouldn't have found without this list

I don’t really like this. Very atmospheric but doesn’t have a lot of substance to it. It’s giving a trustafarian sound: surface-level exploration of world music and philosophical themes. Not to mention the voice, reminds me of Public Image Ltd.’s vocalist, kinda adds a B-movie soundtrack vibe for this album. Despite having dance beats, it’s quite tiring listening to this. Not sure if this is a sign of burnout in this challenge but I find it more difficult embracing an open mind with albums I’m not familiar with.

An interesting listen, different to what I thought when I saw this record. Cool bass and I liked when Sinead O'Connor appear, that was a pleasant surprise. A decent album in the "world" genre (whatever that means) Fav Songs Visions of You Relight the Flame Bomba Is it Top 1001 Worthy (is it essential)? I'd say not really, white guy doing culturally diverse music like this can only go so far, some decent songs that are worth checking out by the album, not so much

Ik weet niet helemaal wat ik had verwacht van dit album. Maar het is in elk geval niet wat ik heb gekregen. Het is een soort funky progrocky album met ontzettend veel Afrikaanse invloeden? Of Indiase invloeden? In elk geval is dit basically het album van een stoner die gereisd heeft naar een land om zichzelf te ontdekken op yoga retraite. Geen idee of hij zichzelf heeft gevonden of gewoon achterlijk veel drugs heeft gebruikt. Ik denk een combi. Dit album klinkt in elk geval alsof het een combi was. Wel jammer dat er ook wat meer vreemde nummers tussen zitten zoals Sweet Divinity, waar je daadwerkelijk Jah Wobble hoort zingen. Hij is geen fantastische zanger... De vrouwelijke stem is een stuk beter en lijkt ook wat meer bij de muziek te passen. Alles bij elkaar: Dit album is een soort vreemde LSD trip. Denk dat je echt alle kanten opgegooid word, maar is het nou goede muziek? Mwah... Het is een beetje een zooitje, duurt me net ff te lang en ik denk toch de hele tijd dat ik dan liever daadwerkelijk naar een Afrikaans of Indiaas album had geluisterd in plaats van deze guy die zichzelf is gaan zoeken in het buitenland. FAVO: Erzulie

The album started off alright, similar to something that they would play on those Classic Rock radios. Eventually, though, maybe a few songs in, it started being very repetitive, without any excitement. As a whole, I wasn't a huge fan of the album, although it had some okay songs here and there.

feels like cultural appropriation 2⭐️

Interesting moments but ultimately forgettable

It was not bad just not my jam.

Man, we need to make it illegal for Westerners to make music in the style of other culture's music. It just comes off as incredibly cringe and appropriative. Especially when there's a shitton of this on the list and not music from the actual culture that this stuff is ripped off of. I've complained about this a lot when 60's psychedelic bands appropriate Indian music, and it's no different here. Overall, it's FINE-ish, I guess, but it's not particularly good. It just sounds like someone who doesn't really understand the music he's trying to copy. Just incredibly basic. Vocals are pretty awful when Mr. Wobble is on the mic. And why is this even on the list? The thing it seems to have going for it is the bassist was in Public Image, Ltd., and that it was included in the 1001. If anyone can elucidate me on why it should be included, let me know. Man, England will let anything get radio play, huh? Like, I praise the 90's for letting anything get radio play, but generally that "anything" was pretty good. Beck, New Radicals, Butthole Surfers. But even in the wild west of weird but good music that the 90's cornered the market on, you're bound to find some trash. Lastly, bro... can we stop with the English bands with awful names? Jah Wobble. Badly Drawn Boy. Elbow. Klaxons. The Boo Radleys. Enough. Come up with a good name for your band, otherwise I'm putting you in time out.

Why the 8th solo album of the bass player from Public Image Limited is on this list is absolutely beyond me. I could very easily have gone my entire life without hearing this. That said, it's a totally fine, mediocre early 90's world/trip hop album by a British guy. It's like the 6th one of those I've gotten in this list so far.

3.9ish/10 = not terribleeee but it felt like a bit of a chore to listen to and i just didnt really click with it much, had some nice riffs though

Paso bastante

This is mostly just the kind of irritating "crossover" "world music" that seemed to be everywhere in the 90s. Very varied, but at least some of the tunes are actually enjoyable - Erzulie and Wonderful World were standouts. Overall, not great.

Meh 2

Every time I thought the music was getting good, Jah would start singing or, worse, rapping. I added “Soledad”, which is fairly straightforward flamenco, to my playlist.

Diverse but ultimately bland, what came to, background music. Washed over me, with occasional moments of interest (in the most listened song) and then right back to washing over. Some of these albums....genuinely how did they pick them for this list. It's not garbage, it's just meh.

Now fairly dated sounding, but strong songs are able to punch through some of the 80s production techniques. It probably wouldn't be made today - for good reason - but the core songs are good. I'm surprised there aren't more collaborations on it however and the fact that there don't appear to be other named writers credited for their inputs is particularly poor

All of the place, not unpleasant, but overstays it's welcome

Rising Above Bedlam was a chapter in Len Houmous’ sex manual. 2.4 1/10 Visions Of You

Not the kind of music I like to listen to, and this album did nothing to change my mind. The only reason I give it two stars, is the bass playing

First it was okay, then it kind of sucked, then okay again, then REALLY bad

It’s not horrible, but definetly not great.

The soundtrack to a shop that sells crystals and incense.

Listenable, but pretty bad. Feels like cultural appropriation at points.

this does nothing for me. trying to be too many things / feels like a poor imitation of something in the world music category

I'm not sure what this album was trying to be. I certainly wouldn't call this innovative or anything, as I think there is simply more interesting world music out there. I don't know, just felt a tad inauthentic I guess.

I had no idea what was going on and I don’t know how I feel about it.

me when i increase my elevation at the edinburgh uni student theatre that was shit. i like the bits of erzulie where there wasn't singing and not much else. that said the execution is good aside from the vocals so i won't give it one star

ouais c'était sympa mais ça m'a pas retourné la bite quoi, ce registre j'ai du mal à tenir un album entier sans que ça me prenne la tête