Goodbye Jumbo
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| Goodbye Jumbo | ||
 |
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| Studio album by World Party | ||
| Released | April 1990 | |
| Recorded | ? | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 53:22 | |
| Label | Papillon | |
| Producer(s) | Karl Wallinger | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| World Party chronology | ||
| Private Revolution (1987) |
Goodbye Jumbo (1990) |
Bang! (1993) |
Although ostensibly the second album by British group World Party, Goodbye Jumbo (1990) was essentially a solo project by one-man orchestra Karl Wallinger, aided by a number of guest artists. It is considered by many to be a classic of its time and genre. It was on Goodbye Jumbo that Wallinger attained what – despite another decade in the music industry – is regarded as his creative peak.
The album's classic rock sound – guitar, bass and drums – was augmented by piano, strings, flute and electronic percussion, lending a contemporary veneer to the near-pastiche symphonic pop of the albums of his 1960s childhood.
The subject matter is a cinematic sweep of left-field culture embracing love, eco-politics and god. The songs followed the loose concept of an everyman's journey from lonely despair to spiritual fulfillment. The spare opening track "Is It Too Late?", describes "an elephant graveyard, a bone dry place"; the last, "Thank You World" opens with the line "colours, scents and symphonies, fall on me like tears".
The single "Way Down Now" spent five weeks at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up "Message in the Box" reached number 8.
Guests on the album include Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor and former members of The Waterboys.
The album was voted Album of the Year by Q magazine in 1990. In 2000, the same magazine placed it at number 94 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.
"Throughout the albums I've recorded, I've always wanted to be immediate. Like a Slade tune." – K. Wallinger, 1996.
[edit] Track listing
- "Is It Too Late?" – 4:24
- "Way Down Now" – 3:49
- "When the Rainbow Comes" – 4:58
- "Put the Message in the Box" – 4:16
- "Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready" – 5:05
- "And I Fell Back Alone" – 3:57
- "Take It Up" – 4:37
- "God on My Side" – 4:14
- "Show Me to the Top" – 5:15
- "Love Street" – 4:21
- "Sweet Soul Dream" – 4:39
- "Thank You World" – 3:47
