Volume 4
What could have been a colossal self-indulgence proves a startlingly vital album.Volume IVis faithful to the ethos of early Joe Jackson hits like "One More Time" and "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" Built around clattering drums, jarring guitar, hyperactive keyboards, snarling vocals, and lyrics riddled with puns and double-entendres, it harkens back to the early 1970s and late ‘80s, when Jackson peddled a wordy and venomous strain of new wave pop. But Jackson is too clever to get suckered by nostalgia. Here he wryly contemplates his middle-aged present from inside his old clothes. The best of the resulting songs, "Blue Flame" and "Still Alive," are as good as anything he’s done.Volume IVis where Jackson completes his circuit, reuniting with his original band and reacquainting himself with his original live-to-tape recording methods.--Andrew Mueller