Reviews (page 5 of 7)
Not really even suitable for background noise or even the "Sunday breakfast" trope.
Glatt och stundtals ganska trevligt.
The feels like someone with no depth trying to dig deep. Cool to go for it but it doesn't payoff anywhere. I had a hard time finding a way to even listen to this which made the experience all the worse when I tracked down each song one by one and found none of them worth the time. Token 2 since it's good to experiment and I couldn't listen to it closely enough to deem it a 1.
Hmm a goose honking on the opening track. The vocals come off a bit amateur, karaoke. It all feels like magazines in a dentists office in the 1990s and it's wall to wall carpet in an ugly pattern.
This was fine but could have been way shorter
Had no idea what this would be like and was pleasantly surprised.
10 songs, 51 minutes on its face isn’t super long. But when every song is the same idea—let’s marinate in an unchanging, unceasing rhythm for 4-6 minutes—it feels so much longer than it is. I even scrolled through the last two songs (patience: exhausted) and the same beat was playing at every point I stopped. A lot of two-minute ideas extended to five minutes. I think I might even love this if every song were a minute shorter.
I kind of liked this.
Groovy album. This is so far outside what I normally listen to. Thank you generator for turning me on to something new and different.
They cycled through a lot of different influences, mostly worldly ones, but none of it was really all that interesting. Felt longer than it was
Is it wrong i found this a bit boring. I listened to it twice yesterday and i cannot recall a single thing about it.
I thought I’d like this going in, and I was not wrong. You’re never quite sure what you’re gonna get with Jah Rule, but this is one of the good ones. Nearly a 5.
Was looking forward to this one, and I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint - superbly crafted rock that's just the right side of dub, with an unexpected but totally welcome South Asian vibe running through it. I'll definitely be adding this to my play again pile :)
Not really that good at all.
Some cool bass parts but overall pretty bland and boring.
8/10
Not bad. The bass shreds though and it makes sense considering Jah Wobble is the bassist and band leader.
Good intentions and deep musical knowledge don't necessarily make for a good record, as this badly aged 80ish self-indulgent weediness shows. 2 points for the execution and some nice moments. But why on the list?
Proof positive that you can bend and combine genres without having it be purposeless noise. You know…bedlam. Maybe not a great recipe for commercial success, but it does make for an enjoyable listen.
Liked the beats, but not the spacey-ness that went with it. Good for background or exercise music.
This was really fun. I didn't particularly care for the male lead vocalist, but I think I'd get used to him. Really enjoyed the album.
I like the mood and overall vibe of the album, but I'm just not a fan of the overly flat and spoken style of the lyrics, which - due to this website - I'm discovering is a very British phenomenon, and maybe doesn't resonate with me as someone outside that country. I don't think this album is anywhere near important or inflential enough to be considered an "album to listen to before I die". But the list is obviously coloured by the book author's personal tastes. I won't revisit this one.
This album was so bland. And when it wasn't bland it was annoying.
Le disque n’a pas été facile à trouver, mais on l’a finalement trouvé sur YouTube. J’ai de la difficulté à noter cette album, j’hésite entre 2 et 3. Il y a des chansons intéressantes, mais plusieurs assez banales qui font que le disque ne me marquera pas. Souvent la voix du chanteur me semble inappropriée par rapport aux musicalités très musique du monde. J’ai préféré les chansons où ce sont d’autres interprètes, notamment « Erzulie » et « Soledad ». Tout de même un peu trop New Age à mon goût.
Je n’ai écouté qu’une seule fois, puisque l’album n’est pas sur Spotify. J’ai aimé, mais je ne crois pas que ce soit un essentiel. Probablement qu’à l’époque ou je travaillais dans un café , je l’aurais fait beaucoup joué.
Probably only a 3 star album but as someone who plays bass i gave it an extra star for the bass lines
What is this nonsense? Why is this on here?
A lot of world music mixed in with some traditional western influences as well. Strange to listen to this after reading about his days with Jonny Rotten, not what I would expect after hearing Sex Pistols and PiL, but a pleasant surprise.
Weird mix of 90s pop, a bit of jazz, some electronics and other unspecified genres. The end result was certainly not cohesive, listening to it for more than 10 minutes can result in stomach pain. Otherwise, amazing album.
spacy, bouncy, splendid
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.
Didn't get on with this one. An English born musician cosplaying as a world musician and it leads to some paper thin interpretations of the genre. Only person who I think ever has successfully got away with this is Paul Simon
Voðalega róleg plata en samt sat hún ekkert sérlega vel í mér. Ég gat einhvern veginn ekki notið mín við að hlusta á hana. Hún var ekki slæm þannig séð bara leiðinleg eiginlega. Mun gleyma þessari fljótt
1.5 rounded up not my thing highlights: visions of you, bomba (feb 17 2026)
As a fellow bassist, I appreciate Jah's bass-centric approach to this album. It also gave me some Talking Heads vibes at times. But, I didn't much care for most of it.
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
Interesting album.. has some latin inspirations here and there. The male vocals are somewhat not to my taste... Sinead O'Conner is making up for that...;-)
Leuke muziek! Vrolijke deuntjes en relaxte zang. Voelt een beetje Spaans aan, maar ook weer heel poppie. Ik vind het verfrissend! ****
An album that’s way more interesting in concept than in practice, an album by a renowned bassist with multicultural influences and aspects of trip hop and new wave and several songs that feature Sinead o Connor sounds heavenly, in practice it’s kinda pretentious and boring, still enjoyed Sinead!
This has gotta be the least listened to album on the whole thing Its fine, pulls from so many areas, so many different vocal styles and stuff. I quite like the Talking Heads type parts though. Every song feels incredibly average. Not really any favorite or least favorite songs. overall around 6/10
pretty good
racist
Jah Wobble and his Invaders of the Heart deliver a mostly good set of songs that straddles the line that occupies the world music landscape and keeps things interesting over the course of nearly an hour. Favorites: Visions of You, Bomba, Ungodly Kingdom, Rising Above Bedlam, Erzulie, Everyman's an Island.
A bit all over the place and very 90s sounding at times, but I enjoyed a decent chunk of this. Great basslines as you'd expect and some nice guest vocals.
I wish I was Jah Wobble - great bass player on the scene at an amazing time, even better stage name - but this reminds me too much of those Bill Laswell albums from around the same era where the credits listed some of the most incredible musicians so you had to buy it but then you brought it home and played it once, possibly never even getting to side two. I liked this more than that, but by the end I was forgetting what I heard at the beginning - couldn't hold my attention. I liked hearing the underappreciated Sinead O'Connor stretching out, though. Extra star for that.
What a strange album, and a strange life story for Jah Wobble (sadly quite violent at times). I'm glad it started off with "Visions of you", particularly because of Sinead O'Conner's appearance and distinctive voice, but also because it kind of eases you into a weird mixture of often generic-sounding bass/beat-driven world music tunes. I felt like this was more of a soundtrack to some world-hopping independent film than an album, although I'm not entirely sure it's a movie that I'd have chosen to watch. But I like it that at some point (post-PiL, post-substance-abuse) while working for the London Underground he supposedly pronounced over the PA system, "I used to be somebody. I repeat, I used to be somebody." Indeed.
Enjoyed this world beat kind of thing though am not sure I'll listen to it again.
This was all over the place Some of the songs weren't too bad, even nice in parts. But then the guy would start this weird deep talking over the songs and ruin them They couldn't pick a genre when they made this album. Seems like they just said yes to all Bedlam indeed 2 ⭐️
This whole endeavor I’ve undertaken has introduced me to more than a fair share of strange and unusual albums and bands. But I can’t even explain the feeling I had when I saw Rising Above Bedlam by Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart pop up. Excuse my language, but what the fuck does that even mean? That title and artist name, combined with the cover I think genuinely re-wired the way a part of my brain works. It’s so ass it’s almost a form of art all on its own. I’m all for experimental and genre-bending music. But at what point do we break past the point of genuinely interesting experimentation and just start experimenting for the sake of it. John Joseph Wardle, or as he’s better known, Jah Wobble (not making that up), was once a member of the well-known experimental rock outfit Public Image Ltd. This was his fifth solo album, and the second with his group Invaders of the Heart. And I’ll just be completely blunt about it and not beat around the bush. It’s awful. I can’t think of anything in particular that I found to be enjoyable about this. I’m purely scoring this the way I am because I can sort of appreciate the musicianship and the risks that were taken here. It’s a total mess of genres and sounds from all over the musical spectrum that feel pieced together with scotch tape. This is probably the least pleasant experience I’ve had listening to an album in the category of world music. It takes reggae, Indian and Latin sounds, and puts it all over downtempo beats. Vocals are split between Wardle himself and an Egyptian-Belgian singer by the name of Natacha Atlas. She does a fine job, but he seemingly puts in zero effort, and gives a completely bland and monotone performance on every song. Sometimes it just feels like mindless rambling. Sinéad O'Connor even pops up on a song. And although even she couldn’t save it from still being boring, this gets a point for having her. I wouldn’t ever consider recommending this to anybody, because there is largely nothing of value to be found here. Rating: 4/10
First of all, I could not find this recording in its entirety anywhere. I did manage to find a subset of the songs and did not expect much. I actually found I liked what I heard. Definitely a world music sound with some spoken word interspersed. Still, with this recording being unavailable, it is not clear why it is on this list.
2.5☆/5 11.16.2024
Oh man I love Destroyer!
These Invaders don't just rise, they soar above bedlam with an eclectic sound that moves through genres with surprising dexterity—ambitious, sonically varied, and groovy as all get out.
Quite enjoyed the colourful, world-y vibes. So was very surprised to dig a little deeper and find that Jah Wobble is an old white punk from Public Image Ltd and a close associate of the Pistols. There are some great atmospheres and movements here and loads going on. It's all quite unexpected and unpredictable so while there are a couple of bits I really like, there are also bits that don't click but it's a good discovery and a good bit of education for me.
Listened while waiting for a flight in DC. Too tired and sober for this I think.
Knowing nothing about this artist, I assumed this was a reggae album and boy was I unpleasantly surprised when whatever the heck this is started blaring out of my office speaker. Oof. Sorry Jah Wobble, but you can't call yourself that and produce this trash.
I tried and tried and couldn't find the full album. From the bits I heard, I don't think I'm missing anything.
Holy identity crisis Batman. Feels like it tries to do something unique, but ends up only going half in.
I wanted to like this because he was so good in Pil and Sinead O'connor is on it but it's quite boring.
Nice
this wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be from some of the reviews. fun and funky
not really my thing
Jah Wobble- I hearSinead O’Connor first and was stoked for this album and then he starts singing the verse and my excitement drops. Kind of my experience with every song. There are some cool grooves and the female vocals are good but he should just have them do all the singing. It really took me out of it whenever he sang. Erzulie was cool 2.5-
Didnt like the songs didnt like the sibger. Didnt really like any of it but not the worst thing on this list
This guy thinks he’s too cool for school.
He should have stayed in PiL, pretty boring stuff here
Feels like a very 90s attempt at world music by white people. The male vocalist was ugh compared to all the other vocalists on the album.
Schrecklich.
sounds like someone found a sample pack and turned each one into a song. without making a song. and just looping each sample ad infinitum. 3/10
Sexy bassline, but that ain't the baseline for an unforgettable album. Very interesting sonic ideas, great one time listen.
no gracias bro
3.5
Awful. Could not get past the first two songs.
81% Best: Visions of You; Ungodly Kingdom; Erzulie Must-Hear? Sure
Wonderful
Que variaditoo super loco me encantó
love wobble’s bass so much
idk it feels like a superficial examination thats got a lot of different styles going on but doesnt explore them too deeply, doesnt feel very thought out. not to demean the work of the musicians cause the performance are pretty great. or maybe i just dont know
Interesting
Pretty interesting and fun to listen to besides. One appreciates the creative urge to fuse and merge and layer, but a case can be that there's much too much going on here. After all dub and the Gypsy Kings aren't natural bedfellows. "Visions of You" sets a high bar from the outset and one's not prepared to say that remainder of the record lives up to it. "Erzulie" also cooly eclectic. Still, not bad, though, like much of '90s multi-culti vibe-y art, it hasn't aged all that gracefully, reflected in the fact that one does get rather bored before completing a full listen.
Not available on streaming at time of review. 3/5
I have very little to say about this album, so instead I'm must going to paste this section of his Wikipedia page: "By 1985 Jah Wobble's heavy drinking and drunken brawls were having an effect on his life. Halfway through the recording of the album Psalms (October 1986), Wobble stopped drinking. From then through to the present day he has remained 'clean and sober'. He then did a variety of day jobs, whilst continuing to perform and record his music in what spare time he had. These jobs included a long stretch with the London Underground. In an oft-quoted tale, it is related that he once, at Tower Hill Underground Station via the public address system, regaled commuters with the deadpan announcement, "I used to be somebody. I repeat, I used to be somebody."" This one is a bit strange. It's a British dude doing a take on "world music", which seems to be the classification that everyone gives this, but it really doesn't feel very descriptive at all to me. As you might expect, the music does not sound very British, but the vocals are unmistakably British. I don't particularly like his voice very much, it's a bit annoying. Also Sinead O'Connor shows up on "Visions of You". I didn't really enjoy this very much. There's some interesting enough beats that I'll round up to 2 stars, but it's close. Not my thing. Favorite song: Wonderful World Other: Visions of You, Bomba 10/6/24
This sounds like a whole lot like a white guy went backpacking abroad for a month and came back to America and had it all figured out. I'm sure that this album was well received 35 years ago, but in 2024 I just don't think it hits as well musically or comes off as earnestly.
Wow, this is so bad. Couldn't get through the whole thing.
That's first song with Sinead O'Connor is spectacular (the video is fabulous), but the rest of the album sucks. How disappointing.
Interesting choice. Bit world music. Bit of ravey bliss. Bass heavy of course. Some 80s tropes. (God there are some bad synth trumpets) Refreshing.
An interesting fusion for the time, to be sure. Didn't really enjoy much here, but it was at least intriguing to listen to
Donating my own review to say how much I loved the long-ass review the other guy did.
This album smells like patchouli in a cultural-misappropriation kinda way.
usually i try to listen to albums with an open mind, but boy howdy, from the first track, i knew i was going to not enjoy my time with this album. the production is so badly dated and cheesy, it sounds like music from a second-tier straight-to-vhs-and-only-sold-to-libraries educational program. the world music influence added here only compounds on that, especially when it is talk-sung over by a bored sounding english man who sounds like rowan atkinson's zazu from the lion king. this really is my trifecta of dread - boring electronic music meets white dude doing world music meets woefully dated production.
Jah Wobble did the right thing by leaving Public Image Ltd. I mean the album is still so-so but at least it's listenable. 5/10
This list is losing all credibility. Still no Seger.
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.
Sans doute un autre album mis là parce que ça prend des trucs plus underground et moins connu du public général, mais dont le principal critère est si l'auteur le connais. Ça s'en va dans toutes les directions, le mélange des sons d'un peu partout dans le monde est plutôt maladroit. Vraiment pas nécessaire. 3/10
# Album Name: Rising Above Bedlam # Artist: Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: For me personally, this is an absolute shocker. Dog shit in fact. what is it even doing on the list i'll never know. # Top Tunes: Absolutely fuck all. # Would I listen to it again? fuck no.
Bueno
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.
This album is the dictionary definition of white guy world music
slightly above average
This album is so important it's not even on Spotify. There's over 50 other Jah Wobble albums on there but not this one. I had to find it on youtube and now i'm irritated that I had to go through all that hassle to listen to this nonsense. The bass is decent. That's it.
I had to listen to this on YouTube, of all places. It was ok, but I’m going to trust other reviewers who raised concerns regarding cultural appropriation. It was an easy listen, like something one might hear in a coffee shop. But I don’t think I will listen again.
I did not really enjoy this album very much, despite a couple ok songs in Visions of You and Bomba. It sounds very much like a product of its time (80s and world music). Would not seek this one out again.
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
1l
"Everyman's an island And the time is coming in Till you not know yourself That is the ultimate sin"
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.
I'll never understand how some of these albums get on this list. Surely there are better albums that didn't make it that could replace snoozefests like this one was. Weird combination of all sorts of music and none of it was good. 4/10.
2-
Pretty cool
I don't even know what this was trying to be.
I gotta say, I was expecting more shitty brit rock but I was suprised by how different this one was. Although the fusion on this record is pretty surface level, I thought it was interesting and added an extra twist to what probably would've been a pretty boring record.
Not my thing
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.
Pretty good world music type stuff when Jah Wobble isn’t “singing”which kind of ruins the feel of the rest of it
This was an interesting album, and had a lot of good beats and sounds that made me want to move along. If you took the lyrics out some reminded me of TV theme songs. I really liked some of the songs (i.e. Ungodly Kingdom, Relight the Flame), but then some got a little off. Bomba or Rising Above the Bedlam for example, I liked either the music or the lyrics, but they didn't really go together (to me they had different rhythms). Pretty cool that the band is led and organized by the bassist, that is not often the case, but I it did add a different layer to the music that I appreciate.
I'm a graphic designer and I think this album's cover is really something. So I'm going to comment on every song. Visions of You - mystical. groovy. Relight the Flame - sounds sort of Leonard Cohenish Bomba - ¿que? ... bomb? Ungodly Kingdom - Are we on a cruise? What's happening? Why must we have courage? Does the album get worse? Oh god. Rising Above Bedlam - (Bedlam means a scene of uproar and confusion.) This is an art poem song with a groovy bass line. I keep waiting for it to RISE!... but it just kinda grooves down low in amongst the Bedlam. Maybe they kinda hover above Bedlam but I didn't get a rise out of it. Erzulie - Who? Ohhh... She's the Black Madonna of Vodou. Well I'm not saying anything bad about her singing. Loved it. Great bass playing too. Everyman's an Island - Tribal Synthy Rap Psychedelic Dance Mix. okay I'm down. Kinda sounds like Underworld when he's rapping and this song should be on the Survivor TV show soundtrack. Soledad - it's very Spanish guitary. And then it ends in a haunted house. I dunno. yo no se. Sweet Divinity - sounds kind of like Bauhaus (the band, not the art movement). It's pretty weird. Good job making a weird song. Wonderful World - why is all the singing so echoey on this album? This song especially. If the world is so wonderful, come outta that cave you are singing in. This is kinda a weird little diddy. It has the melody of a kids camp song. Trying to keep the demons away, kids. It's a wonderful world and this album's OK. I give it a 3.
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.
The only reason this gets a 1.5 and not lower is because Natacha Atlas makes an appearance. I’m still giving it a 1 on this site site, because it doesn’t deserve to be rounded up. It’s pretty much cultural appropriation trying to mask itself as acceptable because it features actual artists from the cultures and regions it is taking from. Also the talking instead of singing by Jah Wobble is just incessantly dull.
Not on Apple Music. Listened on YouTube.
A bit dissappointing, not bad but not great
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.
A couple of these songs are really interesting, with widely varying global influences. Some of them have just truly awful vocals.
I could write better lyrics than this. It is a slight up tick from PIL, but that is not saying much. Not sure why this is on the list.
Really wish this was on Apple Music cause I really liked this. Very vibey would like to listen to this in the summer sitting on the beach in the sun (instead of in the Midwest inside sheltering from the snow and frigid cold). Brought a little joy to my life. This was so much better than public image. Really nice.
not available on I tunes & had to search & cobble together tracks-not worth it. at least some attempt at playing instruments was made, but really dislike the whole talk in a monotone attempt as lyrics. why is this on the list??
Although it was interesting with Spanish and Indian/Turkish influences on some of the songs It’s just not my thing.
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.
- i dont know man - klingt irgendwie seeehr in die Jahre gekommen und wie ein Soundtrack zu irgend einer ebenso in die Jahre gekommen Serie/Videospiel - Visions war noch ok, der Rest wurde beim Hören zu einem gemeinsamen Brei wenn auch in sich unterschiedlich 2/5
- phew.. war mal wieder ein Album, das ich nicht komplett geschafft habe (auch wenn es keine -1/5 war)
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.
Why is this list so terrible?
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!
Just some white guy who should never have been allowed to make an album
This was ok, didn't really grab me, but was fine as background music
An interesting album. Bomba and Relight the Flame were enjoyable.
Didn't care for any of the tracks.
++: Ungodly Kingdom +: Visions of You, Relight The Flame, Rising Above Bedlam, Erzulie, Everyman's An Island, Soledad, Wonderful World +-: Bomba, Sweet Divinity 6,7/10
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.
Does not rise above bedlam. 1001 Projects To Make You Feel Weird About People In Bands You Liked hated. (⌐■_■)
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.
To me, this is a poor man’s Enigma. It misses the mark. Just meh.
Enjoyed the variety of music notes and styles. Wide variety and not mundane.
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
Has elements of things I like, but I really don't like overly produced dubby sounds from the 90s so this one is a no from 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
Reggae, dub, Spanish guitar, this album is definitely someone's jam, but it wasn't mine.
I can respect the genuine attempt at creating a cultural fusion type album but my god this got so boring so quick man. It's tries hard to portray itself as something deep and soul-guiding but it just comes across as shallow. Best - Visions of You Worse - can't be bothered 2.25/5
Decent. I’ve never heard this artist before.
Meh.
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.
nicht so meins, leichte electronic und orientalische Einflüsse
2.5/5
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.
Algumas experimentações interessantes com um tipo de som "espiritualizado"(?) e muitos trechos esquecíveis. Acho que não voltarei a ouvir.
Public Image Ltd had some good songs, this is just cheesy. pass the velveeta
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..
Each song was very different. Some of them were great, others weren't really my vibe.
British guys doing reggae stopped being cool after The Police dabbled with it. How did this make it on this list, this was awful. I regret ever hearing it or even knowing of it
Very groovy and electric!
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).
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.
It was alright, some parts I really liked and thought it had potential, but overall it didn't interest me that much.
Not the worst ever but it was too much for me at half 7 in the morning
Lots of enjoyable stuff but too varied to thoroughly enjoy for me. Also it all felt a bit basic for the genres and styles it was doing
Not so much. 2.25
Not awful but another lad singing who shouldn't be singing on account of not being able to sing.
Tough going
I enjoyed it while I was listening to it, and then promptly forgot most of it. It did have a rather enjoyable calming experience though, as I remember, which is an odd thing to say about one quarter of the group who brought you Metal Box.
Odd, in a good way! Massive variety of styles and genres, some of them completely unexpected (no spoilers!). An artist I knew a little through his work with others, although not as a lead/solo artist - I'll sort that once the list is done. The guest vocalist on track 1 is a particularly pleasant surprise - especially given how big a star they were at that time.
No thanks.
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.
7/10. May have to relisten some time as I lost some focus - but it was creative. Added Visions of You to the playlist.
I really liked the album. The music is solid with some great bass lines.
This is not for me. It does not invade my heart.
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
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.
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.
Had some fun beats, feels non-essential otherwise. Don’t think I’ll listen to it again.
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
Dunno why there is so much hate on this album in the review, so far I really am enjoying the funky beats. Maybe even a 4/5?
Sounds like they just took snippets of Indian music and indiscriminately mixed it up with their brand of electronica. The result is a hot mess.
Boring stoner world music. Occasionally interesting where it goes, but the 'edgy' spoken word, meandering arrangements and lack of tunes doesn't really leave you anything to cling on to.
2.5
It's giving 90's Nirvana mall vibes.
I was not very aware of Jah Wobble, other than that he is one of my many people to have worked with Eno. Obviously influenced by reggae and world music, which feels a bit off coming from an Englishmen. I guess this is fine, but ultimately is uninteresting to me.
Nothing burger. Feeling kind. 3.
better than I expected
Ok
Never heard of this before. Not my style. Only 1 min into the whole album. eh
Thoughts before listening: Is this going to be some sort of 90s British reggae? Doesn't sound very good if that's the case. Definitely never seen this cover or recognize the artist. Review: Well its not reggae although there are dub elements throughout. Lots of other stuff too. Apparently Jah (why I assumed reggae) was the bass player for Public Image Ltd which is a band I can't get into. Same for this. Theres just nothing here thats grabbing me and the vocals aren't very good either. I'm leaning toward a 1-star rating. I don't really like it.
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!
Great focus music
3,5
Was it bad? No. Was it good? Also no. I appreciate the attempt, though. Could be background music I guess.
This album was soooo good. Nice airy songs with a lot of cool overlays
Not a fan... I always try to give it a listen even if it is not my taste, but this was just awful. 1/5
Couldn't listen because this goober has decided to take this album down from everywhere. Loser.
Great album! And I get to see him perform live in Toronto next month.
Bit of mix from different styles and genres, lots of Latin instrumentals. 2.4
Reminds me a LOT of the B-52s. I really like the fusion of styles here, but I think this album is more successful when it treads into non-English lyrics. I'm not sure I can justify giving it a 2 for that though. Really didn't enjoy
white man goes to india for like a month and all of a sudden thinks he’s discovered everything there is about music. too bad this stuff is pretty surface level
ganz nette Cover und Eigenes, Elektroragamuffinweltmusik, inkl. Natasha Atlas u. S. OConnor
meh
Sounds like PiL with some world music influences.
Mediocre album. This was some 90s, world music with English twist. It was a fun listen to about 45 minutes of upbeat background music, but I won't be revisiting any of these songs or the album. **
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
Hmmmm. I like PiL - but think it's probably Lydon's raw snarl that lifts it. This is.............. not good.
Absolute banger
Eh.
Interesting album with a varied mix of afro, middle eastern and latin beats and instrumentation but not interesting enough to make up for the lack of excitement throughout the whole album. Not really sure why this one would make a list of albums you have to listen to for any reason.
shit i liked it idk what the hates abt
Is this album....offensive? It feels like cultural appropriation. It does not feel like an album I want to hear again. To be fair, it started OK, but it went very quickly downhill from there.
Weren’t a massive fan of this. Quite dated sounding and went on forever.
Volim ja wobblea ali ovo je isto malo đumbusić
Interesting album. Enjoyed the listen for its quirky trance-like rhythms and spoken word lyrics. 3/5!
Really good, really different, really unique.
As much as I love a chill background album, I found the songs here to be far too annoying for that, while also being too boring and repetitive to demand my full attention. While I didn't hate the album, there's nothing positive in this album that I can't find better from other albums on this list. The whole album felt like a failed experiment with some cool new instruments they bought while on holiday in India.
Groovy, ethnic fusion and rich musical sounds from an unexpected source!
I couldve done without his singing, but I nodded my gead throughout. He did sonething right.
An excellent surprise, varied influences, some groove, a good listen.
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.
Potpourri ist noch das netteste was ich sagen kann über diesen Stilmix. Ist das World-Music? Oder irgendwas mit Ethno? Da bin ich komplett abgehängt. Der "Sänger" gehört in eine Punkband, schlimm.
1/5. I sometimes think the curator of this list is trolling.
it's fun and innovative and trippy i will never think of it again probably get it white boy
I first heard of Jah Wobble when I heard Eno/Wobble's Spinner. Loved it. Then I learned that he came from PiL, so I decided to not seek out any of his other works. Well, judging by this, I was right to ignore his output. "Icky" is the best word I can come up with for this. Is that a Casiotone drum kit? This is "world music" for people who don't like brown people. This better not throw off my YouTube algorithm.
Another album I listened to on the plane. I was glad I listened to this on the plane bc I was to tired to switch to other music bc this was very mid imo 4.5/10
Pretty good. Interesting in its stylistic diversity throughout. Consistently entertaining. 7/10
3.5/10 - Visions of you was okay but not good enough for me to like it. Relight the flame was pretty bad however. After Bomba was ok it was a few more bad songs. The last song was better than the rest but still not great. Nothing wowed me.
Didnt like the vocals at all, the music itself kinda didnt interest me at all
Eh 5/10
I get the impression the guy liked the first track, presumed the rest of the album followed suit, and so put it on the list. It did not. Good first track, naff rest of album. Yawn
The bass playing is pretty slick, especially on Erzulie. But otherwise I'm not interested. The male vocalist is boring and bad, and the instrumental being a weird mix of synthetic and acoustic just is not combining very well. This gets worse as I listen too. I'm so checked out, and just waiting for the album to end.
I had totally forgotten about the song Visions of You with Sinead. Was nice to hear it again so many years later.
Rating: 8.5/10 Great album overall. An eclectic combination of world music that is consistently interesting and catchy. The different genres mesh so well together that it never feels forced, this album is pretty experimental and succeeds in creating something memorable the vast majority of the time. Jah Wobble is not a good singer and some of the songs are a bit too long but I was surprised with how enjoyable this was. Favorite songs: Visions of You, Relight the Flame, Bomba, Erzulie, Everyman's an Island, Sweet Divinity, Wonderful World. Worst song: Ungodly Kingdom.
didnt care til the last song Wonderful World ‘you gotta have trust to keep the demons away’
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.
Some catchy tunes here. I wouldn't have normally found this album but I enjoyed it a lot
I had no idea what to expect here, and thought it was awesome. Sounded otherworldly.
Es un buen disco, tranquiloni, buenas guitarras... muy para estudiar, cositas tribales, mucha percusión. Buena calidad.
Not what I expected
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
These guys were completely new to me. After listening, I can say that I was a little bit intrigued but mainly because I didn’t know what was going to happen next. Sometimes that can be a good thing, but this time it means that they lack identity. Clearly, they are flailing in the dark for something to hold on to.
A hot mess of every early 90s shit fusion pop sound, rhythm, and instrument, with nothing of interest to be shown for it.
Another random inclusion on this list. The vocals are really rough on this. Instrumentals are fine enough but all around it's just kind of a below average album that doesn't belong here. 4/10 (2/5)
Special! Not to repeat, but special. I can't put less than ⭐⭐⭐
absolutely vibes for some reason. 5/5
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
No disponible en Costa Rica
Bad. Not good. Should not be on this list
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
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
Kind of otherworldly and pretty interesting to listen to.
Not available anywhere. 1 star it is
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
Only good song is Bomba. Singer is terrible. 2 stars
Doesn't hurt... Bass lines are cool though...
就那样，融合得有点尬
Has a few good moments. The first song is good. Ez 2.5.
1.5
Idc
I wish I could say this bored me, but it didn't. It annoyed me to the point that it became a gnat on my ass.
Some of the songs (Visions of you, Bomba, Soledad) start off very promisingly until the vocals kick in and everything evaporates into lighter-wielding melodies.
I had to try multiple times to get through this album. The top review for this album is right, but there are some okay songs. I won't listen to them again, but they didn't make me want to turn it off. Those songs were "Visions of You" and "Erzulie." Other than that though, this album was grueling to get through. Plus this guy is connected with Johnny Rotten. Fuck that guy.
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
Bit strange innit
Eh.
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.
No.
Previously of Public Image Ltd., this is bassist Jah Wobble's experimental attempt at "World Music." This is cultural appropriation at its finest. Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart is exclusively British musicians playing with "foreign" influence, with the exception of trumpeter Harry Beckett who is actually of Barbadian origin. This album did not chart, has little to no historical or popular impact, and is just offensive.
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
Un peu space comme affaire, pas trop mon style (et pas sur spotify). Avoir su, j'aurais mis un 3 pour Beck, ça me rejoint plus que ça.
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.
I super like this one! I wonder why I’ve never heard of it. Oh, because it was released 6 days after Nirvana’s Nevermind. I vaguely feel like I’ve heard Visions of You before. This shit had to be super popular with the hipster college kids in 1991 when they were dismissing grunge. I’ll be spinning this one again.
Well, that was odd. Let's put feathers on the album cover to make it seem more exotic and worldly. Placing this selection on the 1001 list honestly feels like a bit of a stretch. Not my cup of tea (which especially seems odd to say since I primarily drink coffee).
Pretty good album when the main guy isn't involved in singing. Definite 90's smooth jazz production techniques in play.
I feel like he was trying to do something interesting but didn't quite make it.
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).