Rising Above Bedlam

Groupe inconnu. Mélange de style qui tombe à coté pour moi (un peu trop reggae parfois). Pas désagréable mais rien qui me donne envie d'une seconde écoute. =>2/5

2.5 Everymans an island

Rising Above Bedlam isn’t terrible, but it leans hard into that cheesy late ’80s/early ’90s dance sound mixed with some other world influences . A few beats are catchy, but overall it feels dated and flat. It’s just not my kind of music, and honestly, I won't ever be revisiting it.

This felt so sparse for some reason? Wasn't a fan and kept praying it would be done soon.

The first song with Sinead O'Connor is genuinely fantastic and the second song is pretty great too, then it all goes to shit after that. One of the many things I've gotten out of this experience is that "world" is one of the worst ways to classify music. Favorite track: Visions of You 1.5/5

This feels like a rambly new age preacher’s unending sermon set to a trip-hop beat. Not my thing.

This took many twists and turns. I respect the boldness. At the same time, I can’t say I was a fan.

Talented musicians and decent rhythms, but the melodies and lyrics are cornball.

Fast then slow then fast then slow

let’s just say that’s not what I was expecting

I was vibing to this during the first three or so tracks. I would definitely prefer to listen to all of these styles and genres separately than as a mishmash like this, but I liked the percussion and vocals enough to get enjoyment out of it. However, it gets less interesting as it goes on. This is partially because I prefer the house-influenced beginning to the dub-influenced end. But as it goes on it also feels more and more half-baked, with the genre influences being used in predictable ways. Ironically it may be more interesting if there was less variety and a smaller number of sounds were explored in more different ways.

Awful electro garbage with an even more awful voice.

Note to self: Good background music for when you open a restaurant - Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart's, "Rising Above Bedlam".

2/5 - I didn't need to hear this, because it made very little impression on me. The band name and album art put me in a skeptical mood from the jump, and the music didn't turn me around. Immediately felt like some 90s take on "world music" and all the generic associations that brings along. There were a few moments when I thought it was alright, but I kept thinking : "Is this anyone's favorite band?"

premda je počelo dosta dobro i imalo dobrih momenata, sve u svemu nije baš bilo dobro... pjesma "bomba" nije bomba, u stvari, zakurac je. žao mi je džaše, al ne valja ti ovo

Not quite sure what to make of this. Had a couple of good songs and some fun grooves and beats but overall quite boring for me.

Omg no 2/5

1.5

Uninspired world music blend. 2 stars

Never heard of this one before. Jah Wobble was apparently the bassist for PiL, which this album sounds nothing like. It's a very generic blend of world music (Latin, dub, Middle Eastern). It's not bad, but it's not cohesive in the slightest. Every song feels like a completely different artist, especially since there's a handful of wildly different vocalists on the album (including Sinead O'Connor). Not the worst, but devoid of personality. 2.5 stars.

2.5

Das Album versucht eine globale Klangreise, doch die Mischung aus Dub, Ethno und Elektronik bleibt oft oberflächlich. Visions of You mit Sinéad O’Connor bringt Tiefe, aber vieles wirkt wie musikalischer Flickenteppich. Wer Wobbles rohe Energie aus der PiL-Zeit sucht, wird hier eher enttäuscht – zu viel Politur, zu wenig Punk.

Niet mijn ding

I grew up in the late 90s/early 00s era, so I still got a peak of the whole "90s one world" vibe that permeated education, graphic design, music, and the overall mentality. I still look back on this era with nostalgia. However, not even my nostalgia-tinted glasses improve my opinion on this album. It is repetitive, lousy, dull, and somehow it feels as if "cultural appropriation" came out of a laboratory flask. I do not rate it as a one-star album only because some of the basslines are actually good.

There were a couple of songs I didn't mind, and I overall didn't hate this, but it's not for me. 2 Stars.

Standout Songs: Visions Of You Rising Above Bedlam So this is my first album with the genre label as “World” (after 102 albums), and I gotta say, I don’t really care for it. It’s a blend of many different cultures of music and just feels confusing. Not my style

This sounds like something you would hear in the background of a smoked out room where people use the word "ganja" unironically.

So so

Bem… Não é ofensivamente ruim nem nada mas é dolorosamente cartunesco, clichê e tosco. Possui uma sonoridade bem chatinha. Há momentos de luz aqui, principalmente no que se diz respeito à instrumentalização que às vezes me pegou de surpresa. Gostei especialmente do baixo em algumas canções. E eu também sou chegado em sotaques. Mas ao todo, os pontos positivos não foram suficientes para tirar o gosto azedo da minha boca. Gosto esse deixado por toda essa pira genérica de World Music que simplesmente não me desce. 2/5

Album #15 of my 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die list Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart - Rising Above Bedlam At some point, many white musicians got into world music around the same time. Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne, etc. Jah Wobble, or John Wardle, got into it as well forming the Invaders of the Heart. The group released Rising Above Bedlam in 1991. I’d never heard of the band or the album. I just never got into world music, though Simon’s Graceland is a great album. It appears Jah Wobble & the Invaders of the Heart put out one good album & Rising Above Bedlam was it. And it’s fine. I probably won't ever listen to it again, but it has nice rhythms throughout, but this ain’t me, babe. Sinead O’Conner even pop up on the 1st track. Trouser Press, whoever they are, called Rising Above Bedlam, “a refreshing departure from some of the flat, occasionally tedious & self-conscious material [Wobble] lobbed out in the '80s." So, that explains Wobble &the Invaders. Nothing stood out to me on this album, but Visions of You features O’Connor & it was very nostalgic to hear her. Maybe I'm just being stubborn & not opening my mind enough, but I'm ready for my next album

What genre even is this and who is it for? It’s such a musical hodgepodge drenched in 90s weirdness. There’s traditional Indian singing, electronic dance and bluesy solos. It is an enigma with some pretty sick baselines.

Sometimes the music is nice, sometimes it's annoying. The lyrics and singing are almost always annoying (especially the dude).

Interesting music and timbres. Excellent musicianship. But, it got a bit repetitive after awhile.

Not for me

Visions of You is really good and there are interesting ideas and concepts but they don't really translate to songs I want to listen to. 4/10

2 out of 5. Lyrics were the biggest killer on this album. Sounds very surface level.

Bomba is a nice track. Sinead O’Connor provides vocals for Visions of You. Rest ok 2/5

Don't think Jah Wobble knew what he was trying to accomplish with this album. There's too much going on with none of it focused enough to make sense

bounced between a 2 and a 3, most songs on it do not really do anything for me, but i did like the music for the most part, landed on a 2

There is a wonderful song on this album, and an equally atrocious one as well. Feels pretty dated as a whole. Listening with 2025 ears is an experience. This albums is a solid 2. It's not terrible, but it's not necessarily good.

Perhaps I was too busy to really get this one, but this struck me as inessential.

I guess it was kind of catchy, but I couldn’t figure out if it was serious or a drug-fueled project of cultural appropriation. This was truly bizarre. I cannot really understand why it is essential listening, but I am finding 80% of this list to not be particularly essential.

My mind was tainted by the global reviews. However, it gave me a different and funnier perspective. No chance I was going to enjoy this regardless, but it’s goofy. It is giving old dude on an acid trip playing his guitar in his shag carpeted basement and his kids come down to tell him to turn it down. Sonically it’s intriguing but not going to revisit and hopefully will forget about it quickly.

Listened to this twice and literally can't remember a note of it. I think Sinead and Bono may have been features? I know this guy was in PIL at some point? I'm not even sure what genre this is supposed to be.

Kind of boring and couldn’t ever take off

For his next album, Jah Wobble brought in more guest singers, which was a wise move. I quite liked some of the music, but whether he's singing or doing spoken word, his vocals are definitely a sticking point.

Whatever psychedelic, world music thing he's trying to evoke is instantly spoiled by his vocals. A bit too Duck Rock adjacent.

This was another head scratcher and an album I'll be remembering when I get to the end of this project and certain excluded albums come to mind.

Weird

Not terrible, but not good.

Ehhhh

This was a weird mix. Not sure that I liked all of it, but maybe the beginning and the end.

Olihan taas tylsää...

The best I can say is that it’s not too awful

Not for me

2 - felt like an album made by three completely different artists, all of which weren’t very good

I don't quite know what to say about this. It's not bad. But it sure is busy. I can sense a deep love for music and community, but this feels tedious. Jah Wobble is an incredible bass player, with a pretty unique and nuanced sound. As a vocalist, though, there is something that does not line up with the rest. A contrast between the expansive sense of possibilities from the music and the limited range of his voice. Maybe that is why the spoken bits work better than when he tries to sing. Did I need to listen to this before I die? No, I don't think so.

Ok listen it’s not terrible music in the slightest. It’s just not my vibe and that’s ok. I just don’t hear the reason why it’s on this list and I’m truly baffled by the criteria to make it. It’s fine music but did I HAVE to hear it before I die? Absolutely not.

I liked the first track well enough. This doesn't make the grade for me otherwise.

There are flashes of real brilliance here but they don't quite make up for the rest of the runtime which veers wildly between uninspired and borderline offensive. A light 2.5*

Anytime a track had some decent groove going, this asshole's voice and bullshit lyrics creep in to fuck it up. It does have its moments but that vocal just took me out of most of it.

Rising Above Bedlam ‘Oh look mummy, a speed restriction’ TLDR; Stuart Pearce talking new age nonsense over excellent bass playing The bass is clearly great throughout, as you might expect, and Visions of You’s proto-Tattva vibes and Sinead O’Connor vocals makes for a great opener. And musically much of the rest of it is good, in a noodly world music way, although a couple of tracks are pretty musically and culturally questionable But it’s the canal boat, Thai fisherman trousers, roll ups, short fringed lady vibes alongside the stunning revelation that advertising tries to sell you things that sours it. If it was purely an instrumental album I think it could have pushed close to a 4 - but the contrast of the breadth and warmth of the music with the really quite bad lyrics and vocals really does detract from the whole thing quite a bit, putting it at the cusp of 2 and 3. The bass is undoubtedly good, but I can’t ever see myself listening again, unless there are vocal-less mixes, so I’ll go 2. 😮‍💨😮‍💨 Playlist submission: Visions of You

I don’t know what this was, but it wasn’t good.

Zoals Peter Kops, beter bekend als rapper Extince al ooit treffend sprak: "Wa zulle we nou krijge?". Een soort jaren '90 Matisyahu met iets meer experimenteerdrang en een computer uit een tijd waarin nog niemand ooit van een Pentium had gehoord. Een rare combinatie achterhaalde computergeluiden, wat wereldse zang en blije ontwikkelingslandpercussie. Het is jaren '80 meets jaren '90. Het is Zuid-Amerika meets India meets Afrika meets Jamaica meets Bristol, UK. 2 sterren.

Pretty "alternative" style of music with a lot of weird sounds and repetition. It's fascinating for a very short period of time. Jah Wobbles didn't invade my heart.

It's like he's trying to sound as uninterested as possible

I’m not even sure how to classify this one. British pop with Indian influences? Started out solid enough with the psychedelic elements but fell off near the end.

well that was certainly some kind of album i guess

I can pass on this one Will I listen to again: 0%

Dated, disappointing

I don't know if this album quite deserves a 2... But I just can't get myself to give it a 3. Actually I think some of the compositions were alright, especially rhythmically. Production-wise not so much. And the vocals and lyrics were just a miss. I had a feeling the album was trying so hard to be "profound" the entire way through which is just a turn-off for me. So there you go: 2.5 stars

Okay, I get the appeal here. Pleasant and offbeat, if not especially exciting

Wasn’t impressed

Only interesting songs were Rising Above Bedlam and Everymans An Island

Couldn’t find this so I listened to some of their other stuff. Wish I hadn’t to be fair.

Lots of different sounds keep it interesting. Despite being released in the 90s, it has a very 80s sound.

weird album 2/5 #albumsky #musicsky

imma pass

This one really confused me. On the one hand, the bass and percussion is super groovy, although maybe repetitive. On the otherhand, every time the bass-ish vocalist comes in, the song becomes unreasonable. Like his voice sounds out of place, out of tune, and poorly mixed, it makes no sense. Meanwhile the woman’s vocals are fantastically mixed and professional sounding. Multiple songs I had to skip because the man’s voice was so unpleasant. The melodic elements that went outside the major scale were pretty cool, not something I here in western music often, and the doversity of instruments was also cool. Many of the songs were long and honestly could have had the same impact in a minute or two if they cut out all the looping, although the changeups were cool when they eventually happen. I think if the album would get somewhere close to a 4, but the repetitiveness takes it down at least half a star and the mans voice takes it down another point and a half… if I’m being kind. (If I’m being honest it makes it unlistenable)

Didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it. Solid bass lines and percussion. That was the highlight on most pieces. Doubt I will listen again on purpose.

Sounds like brainwashing music

pass

this put me in a worse mood than I already was.

This album was fine. I can see that it was an attempt at some kind of psychedelia which is very hit or miss as a genre for me, but for whatever reason it just didn’t really click. It was ok, but I did find my attention wavering a lot and not really realising when one song ended or another started. I suppose you need to be in a particular state of mind to fully appreciate this kind of music, and I just wasn’t there today.

not for me

kind of a weird album with lots of middle eastern influence it seems.

Long, boring, lame.

I honestly didn't notice when the album ended.

They have grooves, but a tough listen

Background music.

# 447 : When your only claim to fame is that you are in this list…

You can tell this guy is a bass player given that the bass parts are probably the best thing here. Lots of varied influences present here and some work better than others. I wasn’t a fan of the first three songs. Highlights were Ungodly Kingdom and Wonderful World.

So the beats were so cool and I really liked the different influences that were in this but the male vocals were SO jarring

It was OK. Overall, not for me.

Some kinda fun

Very weird and eclectic. Didn't like a lot of it

This was really weird and not something I’d care to listen to again.

#536. I wonder how the guy that made this list even found this weird ass shit, let alone decided that anyone else should ever have to listen to it as well. 2/5: pretty bad

1.6

This is one of those "experimental" albums that actually pulls off some of its experiments. It's not often enough for me to like it, but it proves that there is a lot of room for fusion of "Western" music with specifically Asian music that I could like. This isn't it, but if I hear an artist claim this as an influential work for them, I would check it out immediately.

just not good

A bit repetitive - after the first track, I don't really recall any of the songs, until the last track which was a repeat of the first.

It's like a boring Massive Attack with the lead singer from the B-52s

Strange. Another one I’m not sure why it’s on the list.

What starts like a downbeat Mancunian rave gem develops some very undigestible ethno-kitsch traits de caractère, that „Visions of You“ cannot level alone.

Not crazy about this, tbh.

Parece que en todas las décadas alguien cree haber descubierto la música del mundo.

That weird time period where western beats and oriental scales were all the rage - ideal for b-movie soundtracks of the era where the western protagonist finds himself in an eastern market and the all-white filmmakers need music to communicate a sense of the unknown and exoticism. However, for 2020s listening... meh.

Wobbling rubbish

01) Visions of You - 7,0 02) Relight The Flame - 6,5 03) Bomba - 6,5 04) Ungodly Kingdom - 6,0 05) Rising Above Bedlam - 5,5 06) Erzulie - 5,5 07) Everyman's An Island - 5,5 08) Soledad - 6,0 09) Sweet Divinity - 5,5 10) Wonderful World - 5,0 TOTAL: 5,90 (59/100) Current ranking: 387/477

As a background music is great, but its not really my vibe

Super inconsistent. What is the goal here?

absolute white boy malarkey

Kind of interesting, certainly has a nice mix of international sounds and some language bending. But overall kind of just musak to my ears. More obscure British trash from the British bias of the book. 2.

Not relevant.

Interesting album, the cross cultural ethno-infused beats and melodies definitely make this a "world" album. That said, not something I'd actively search out and listen to. Was it worth a listen? Yeah I think so. Is it worth listening to more than once? Nah, at least not for me. If I had to sum it up in 3 words? Inoffensive cultural appropriation. 2/5 stars

As much as I've loved world music in my journey throughout this project, something about this album seemed kind of off. It sounds phony.

Damn, this somehow manages to sound the way a combination of patchouli and dollar store incense smells. If you're the sort of person who likes this music, I'm probably questioning your life choices.

Lots of Spanish/Andalusian, moorish influence mixed with early 90s production. I applaud the effort but I’m not intrigued.

Strange

So many of these "World" genre albums just sound like some white guy went on a voluntourism gap year and is convinced he was "enlightened" and discovered something completely new and won't shut up about it. I did listen to the whole thing though so I guess 2.

I'm trying here, but "Everyman's an Island" might have the worst lyrics/poetry I've heard in a long time just read over copied beats. It reads like all my high school poetry that I was so proud of and now must hide under lock and key (or just burn). It's all supposed to sound profound, and it's just awful.

kinda weird? not bad but not good either

…what is this and why is it here

This really is a rum egg. World music via broad Essex - I’m not saying I enjoyed it, but I didn’t not enjoy it. The weird stream of consciousness but in the middle can get back in its box, though. Very borderline 2/3.

Ok

Some interesting stuff on here, but it is a little too scattered and not very interesting. Overall it’s okay. 2/5 Won’t listen again

I don’t even know what the hell this was. World music with a raspy quiet British man speaking in the background? 3/10

(ntm.)

Not really even suitable for background noise or even the "Sunday breakfast" trope.

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.

Is it wrong i found this a bit boring. I listened to it twice yesterday and i cannot recall a single thing about it.

Not really that good at all.

Some cool bass parts but overall pretty bland and boring.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Listened while waiting for a flight in DC. Too tired and sober for this I think.

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.

not really my thing

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.

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.

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.

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.

That's first song with Sinead O'Connor is spectacular (the video is fabulous), but the rest of the album sucks. How disappointing.

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.

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

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

Bueno

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.

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-

Not my thing

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 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.

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.

- 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

Just some white guy who should never have been allowed to make an album

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

Does not rise above bedlam. 1001 Projects To Make You Feel Weird About People In Bands You Liked hated. (⌐■_■)

To me, this is a poor man’s Enigma. It misses the mark. Just meh.

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

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

Meh.

2.5/5

Algumas experimentações interessantes com um tipo de som "espiritualizado"(?) e muitos trechos esquecíveis. Acho que não voltarei a ouvir.

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

Had some fun beats, feels non-essential otherwise. Don’t think I’ll listen to it again.

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

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.

Ok

Great focus music

Was it bad? No. Was it good? Also no. I appreciate the attempt, though. Could be background music I guess.

Bit of mix from different styles and genres, lots of Latin instrumentals. 2.4

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

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. **

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

Not what I expected

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.

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)

Only good song is Bomba. Singer is terrible. 2 stars

Has a few good moments. The first song is good. Ez 2.5.

1.5

Idc

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.

Bit strange innit

Eh.

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.

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).

I feel like he was trying to do something interesting but didn't quite make it.

Like dubby U2

2.5

Jammer, beschrijving van de band deed me veel hopen

Not something i'd go back to but it was an interesting listening experiment.

OK.

Ja kuultu albumi kun osasi joskus spotify esittää mieluissaa musiikkia tarjota.. Lopetettu viihde humpuuki kuuntelu ja albumin kopsuttelulla menny.. kopsii kopsii.. päähän menee.. Visions of you tykättynä albumissa ja pakko sanoa ettei sen kappaleen jälkeen paljoon selkään puukota.. hyvä päätös aikanaan kuunnella hyvää musiikkia albumillinen. Loppu osa kuitenkin saatana.. Varsinkin viimeinen kappale.. Jos on yksi sääntö meikäläisellä ollut niin se on että chilling & wibing albumit juotavat yhteen tähteen. Eilisen albumin rento ote tiputti kahdella tähdellä. Onneksi tämä ei ole kokonaan rentoilua, sillä taiteessa täytyy olla pakottava tarve. Kun tuota pakottavaa tarvetta ei ole, lapsi ei opi punnertamaan 30 toiston sarjoja kun viiden toiston sarjoille taputetaan... kun TUOTA PAKOTTAVAA TUNNETTA TEHDÄ HYVÄÄ TAIDETTA EI OLE.. saadaan mediocre kongon paukuttelua.... ketä perkele kiinnostaa kongon paukuttelu.... Toisella puolella spketriä... pink floyd ja jokainen auringon valon väri... sitova kunnianhimoinen konsepti.. kuolema aika.... vakavoittavia kappaleita. Aikuiset. Älkää taputtako leikille. Kumartakaa, kun messias, Jeesus Kristus saapuu. Aamen.

Jadu, inte direkt en favorit! Favorit låten var Erzulie Albumet får 2/5 stjärnor

Trying very hard to be be influenced by music from a wide range of cultures. Not succeeding in a very convincing way. Rating: 2/5 Playlist track: Visions of You Date listened: 19/02/24

Favorite Tracks: Visions of You Bomba Erzulie

First of all, I'll grant you—I think this is better overall than the last thing I heard Jah Wobble on, METAL BOX. Maybe attribute it to this album's pop sheen, I'unno. Although, with that said, I still find METAL BOX to be, like... More interesting? Now, yeah, the world music stuff is interesting; I'm not gonna deny that. But otherwise, it just kind of washes over me. At least METAL BOX had some parts where I perked up and went "Ah, damn that's cool!" Meanwhile, here, aside from a Sinéad O'Conner feature on the first track, I really didn't get much of anything out of it.

This album could’ve been cut in half, or even into thirds, and I would’ve given it a lot of credit for being (does this sound familiar yet?) a completely competent album with a great runtime that explores a variety of styles and explores them all in short bursts, with some mediocre vocals, and I’d have given it a 3. The completely needlessly long runtime and repetitive production that actually permeates this entire album single handedly ruins it. It’s not an egregiously terrible album, but it just drains on and on, and it gets so utterly boring by the end that you barely realize the final track is the final track. It’s a 2, but it’s an Apocalypse Dudes-style 2 where individually, I’m sure these would be great tracks in bursts, but as a whole album, it’s just a miserable experience to me.

Solid mixing and production. Poor final product of surface level cultural exploitation. Boring. Weird. Not enjoyable to listen to.

Oh cool, today I'm greeted with an album I've never heard of. But wait, it was released when I was a teenager, so why haven't I heard of it? The album cover looks kind of African. Maybe it's something like Femi Kuti which I liked. So lets press play and see what this is. The first track is interesting and is a great start to build off. My curiosity is peaked to see where this goes. Unfortunately the second track falls flat on its face. For me the whole album is hit and miss. There's lots of good ideas here that just don't come together well. At least now I know why I've never heard of it before.

Album 307 of 1001 Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart - Rising Above Bedlam Rating : 2.5 / 5 Nothing I can really recommend. Might mean more if I were British, I suppose. It is listenable but just kind of odd in a novelty sort of way.

Guilty by association? Possibly. Was never interested, and after about half the album, won't be listening again. Not terrible, just not my bag

Give Jah head a Wobble.

This is what happened in the 90s when turtleneck sweater enthusiasts discovered a box with a midi player, a cow bell, and some incense. World music by and for the whitest people you know trying desperately to be super deep. Emphasis on trying. The musicians aren’t bad…so it’s not a 1 but it wasn’t fun to listen to… 2/5 NPR turtlenecks.

What is this fucking shit

Background music. Songs in spanish, english and french.

A couple of decent songs, but overall it just felt off, for lack of a better term, on the beat. The songs also felt too long.

This sounds like Mr Wardle ended up relaxing quite a lot on his Spanish holiday. I love his work with PiL, but I really can't get past his voice here. Music a bit too mellow and the voice too jarring to really listen for too long.

The bass dominates here, as expected. There's always an ambience to Wobble. It's more sound than songs. The flamenco guitar was a surprise. Ditto the samba rhythms. The album strays a little towards the end. The focus isn't quite there.

This was incredibly bland and boring, never wanted to turn it off but was happy when it was over.

90s trendy coffee shop music. While not Bjork bad, I still didn't enjoy it.

Didn't really enjoy this one. Not sure what the point of it was. Lots of different styles, but I don't think they went together. Wouldn't have guessed this was the bassist in PiL, but it doesn't make it good, either.

Om ditt sound ska vara såhär smaklöst och tråkigt kommer du inte undan med att inte ha en enda bra låt att sjunga med i.... alla kulturella inflytanden känns ytliga och forcerade... vad har du att säga dawg...

Pretty painful for the most part with one or two decent moments.

It's got a festive tone to it. Appropriate for a Christmas gift, I suppose. Everyman's an island is just a long song. Most of the songs are just really long.

Afskaplega non-noteworthy. Þolanlegt bakgrunnsdæmi, ekki mikið meira en það.

Oh man, this isn’t for me. It didn’t feel like there was much cohesion from song to song and dragged on for me. Next.

Well, this is interesting. It isn't what I expected this album to sound like, but it still isn't really my cup of tea. It gives off that "desert in movies" vibe to a lot of it, and while some of the songs around the 3/4 point are better, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps were it more engaging up to that point I'd be more happy eith my experience, but it was getting to be a slog, and really only survived because of picking up. I really hate albums at this length. Either commit to the over the hour or cut down your filler.

Sounds like an album a bloke made in his bedroom sipping on stella after coming home from a trip to india where he went to "find himself"

2.5/5 - A few highlights and good moments, a mix of genres, going from very 90's Britain/London to foreign styles. It doesn't quite work for me but the last 2 songs were pleasant and probably my favourite.

It's ok, I feel like it borrows from a lot of places but doesn't really do anything interesting with it. Can't really justify more than a 2.

I’m not really sure how to describe this album. The first track is pretty cool, but the rest is such an unusual, eclectic mix of genres, languages, and instruments that I can’t see it having any clear appeal to any listener. It does so much, but nothing is done particularly well, so I don’t know how to react to it other than by being bored as it lasts over fifty minutes. Not the worst album I’ve heard, and I’m sure it influenced some musicians, but it’s not my cup of tea. 2/5

It was alright, but got kinda boring over the course of the album. Some of the songs were too long. I don't hate it, but it's something I'll probably forget about. My favourite song was Visions of You.

Huh. They needed all that diverse instrumentation because that man sang literally 1 note. That's when you just have somebody else be your lead singer. And he kinda knew that because he brought in the ladies to do some actual vocals. Rating 2.

Interesting instrumentals.

Ugh, I admire the incorporation of African and Middle Eastern elements, but this is really just too unfocused. Jah Wobble's singing voice is horrible, and the best tracks are unsurprisingly 'Visions of You' and 'Bomba' where *actual* singers lend a helping hand.

Momentarily inspiring tunes drawing from both Middle Eastern and African traditions. There’s some great production choices on this record as well. In the end, unfortunately, Rising Above Bedlam is just wildly unfocused, unable to convince the listener that there’s any sort of plan - but most of all it’s just rather tedious.

def experimental. Like some of the bass tracks, cool sort of tabla ish percussion in the beats. Overall didn’t love but first track was good

Not a good example of a fusion record. Mostly faded into background noise for me. Jah Wobble (real name John Wardle) seems like kind of a hack. A few songs got my attention and it’s not like it was actively unpleasant to have the record on, but certainly unengaging. Top tracks: Visions Of You, Rising Above Bedlam, Erzulie

Latin Graceland minus all the fun and talent. There were interesting elements but overall kind of a drag. If there was a hit single I might bump it up to a 3, but no. Just a forgettable album

That's some world music right there. It was good background music while driving. There were a couple songs that peaked my interest, but it's nothing great.

So 90s. Very random, the singer sounds like he's too lazy to even say the words fully

Not the worst thing, but not really good either. 2/5

This felt like some sort of bizarre time machine back a couple of decades, and not in a good way. Nothing here really stuck with me, except for maybe the somewhat pretentious feeling of it all. Not my cup of tea for sure, but it is music! Highlight: Erzulie Lowlight: Sweet Divinity Surprise Hit: n/a

We live in a world where Harry Belafonte is ignored completely in this book, where The Cars and Tom Petty have one album in this book and there are zero Chuck Berry albums represented. I mean, the man invented (waves hand around) the music presented by so many artists on this list. So that's our world and this album IS included on the 1001 Albums I Must Hear list. By no means is this a bad album, but it's not essential or nor does it need to be heard. I have questions about an album's essential nature when the description is three or fewer sentences long. This album has a description that is two sentences long. The description states when the album was made and that one time it was nominated for a list of good albums. It didn't win the Mercury Prize but was nominated. Go to the Wikipedia page and it's just as sparse. Hey, maybe it is an underrated gem, so upon taking a listen and it turns out the music sounds like Paul Simon if he used Phil Collins' production on mid-80's Eric Clapton albums (remember, this album came out in 1991) and then decided he wanted to try some Grateful Dead type of jams. What are we doing here, people? This is not a bad album, though no songs but the first one is going to be remembered by me. There are a lot of not-bad albums and there are a lot of artists who made better than not-bad albums and they were excluded from this listing. Even most of the reviews read like, "Hey, this album isn't as bad as other Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart albums." It's a low bar to clear. Listening to this album may rise you above bedlam, but it sticks you with the lunacy of inclusion on this list. If Jah Wobble and his band are trying to invade my heart then perhaps a little artery blockage wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Blind album and artists. Creative for sure... but I did not enjoy this 1 bit. I can see what they were trying to do and step away from the norm at least, but this is not the way to stick out and fuse the styles together.

Could only find one song 🤷🏼‍♀️

this one was a little strange for me, didn’t like it Top Tracks: 1) Relight The Flame 2) Visions of You

2.8. Unlike much I’ve ever heard.

Not for me. This probably sounded much fresher and more interesting in 1991, but not now for me. Kind of like how Myst was an amazing video game in the early ‘90s but I probably wouldn’t enjoy it as much now.

bad singing

Decent

I can confidently assert that I'll not listen to this again.

Definitely different. I liked some of the international sounds and singing. A little weird overall.

Uninteresting. Visions of you was ok. close r to 1 star than 3

There were some good moments but overall it was not good

What an odd album

Coletânea meio sem sentido de catados de músicas pelo mundo.

??????

Really fun with an album that sounds different from the rest. I had hopes this could be the same revelation that the Massive Attack album 'Protection' was. And the first half kind of had me leading on to that, but then it changed format to a more oriental one, which can be fine of course, but it felt a bit disconnected and messy just splitting the album up in two parts like that. In general it didn't quite hit home for me, but I'll give it plus points for trying.

On the one hand, the trend of mindlessly incorporating traditional music from around the world with dub and electronic music probably deserves to be represented. On the other, this is one of the most heavyhanded and poorly executed examples of the above. Two hands, clapping unenthusiastically. 👏👏

Rating: 2.5

Duke, I smell the hippy salad. Are the Gipsy Kings on next? My contemporaneous contempt for the '90's tie-dye revival may have mellowed to indulgent fondness, but don't injure me with an album of the stuff. This is not atypical of the time in throwing revolutionary rhetoric onto an unadventurous soundtrack. Strobing a song with Arabic singing and psychedelic dub effects does not immediately make it interesting. This record is rhythmically soporific, perhaps to let Wobble's shake his flashy bass at us, but the absence of hooks for most of playing time left me bored. I just looked down to see what song had started playing to mention a standout exception, only to see that Spotify had moved onto Julian Cope.

Huh

kymmenissä tuhansissa kuuntelukerroissa suurin osa biiseistä spotifyssä. tällä kertaan huomaan kyllä miksi ollaan nimi pysynyt visusti pois jokatalouden tuntemuksessa... eksperimenttaaliista etnistä fuusiota... enemmäkin fissiota sanoo meikä heh... no hyvääkin tästä löytyy, saa kunnioitus kakosen bomba

It was alright. The dial didn't move much one way or the other. I have no desire to listen to this album again but I didn't hate it. It was just kind of there.

Not my vibe but kind of interesting at first, gets real boring real fast though

Not very good and kinda pretentious.There’s a reason no one really talks about this album.The lyrics kinda suck,the vocals are so so.The instrumental is mediocre and it sounds cluttered.Nothing catchy and sometimes annoying.

Bit of a weird one

Very little interesting with this one

awesome

Kind of enjoyable, a nice groove but ultimately not very satisfying. Strong on vibe, short on tunes. Nothing to make me want to go back to it.