release date: Sep. 7, 1990
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Thomas Dolby
label: Kitchenware / CBS - nationality: England, UK
Trackslist: 1. "Looking for Atlantis" (4 / 5) - 2. "Wild Horses" (4 / 5) - 3. "Machine Gun Ibiza" - 4. "We Let the Stars Go" - 5. "Carnival 2000" (4 / 5) - 6. "Jordan: The Comeback" (4 / 5) - 7. "Jesse James Symphony" (4 / 5) - 8. "Jesse James Bolero" - 9. "Moon Dog" - 10. "All the World Loves Lovers" - 11. "All Boys Believe Anything" - 12. "Ice Maiden" - 13. "Paris Smith" - 14. "Wedding March" - 15. "One of the Broken" (4 / 5) - 16. "Michael" - 17. "Mercy" - 18. "Scarlet Nights" - 19. "Doo-Wop in Harlem" (4 / 5) (live)
5th studio album by Northhern English band Prefab Sprout following Protest Songs (Jun. 1989). The band has had a changing line-up but the two McAloon brothers have been the only stable members. On this, the band consists of what was the most stable line-up over a period of 13 years from 1984-97: Paddy McAloon on vocals, guitars, keyboards, Martin McAloon on bass, Wendy Smith credited vocals, guitars, keyboards, and Neil Conti on drums and percussion. Although, the band is founded with two brothers, the undisputed leader is older brother, Paddy, who writes (near) all songs for the band - not only for this album but on all their studio releases from 1982 to present days).
Jordan: The Comeback is untraditionally long, in terms of total playing time for a 2-sided longplayer, as it runs for more than 64 minutes. It peaked at number #7 on the albums chart in the UK (by the band only surpassed by the '88 album, From Langley Park to Memphis, reaching number #5). The track "Carnival 2000" had a lot of airplay on the national Danish radio station P3 that year, but other than that, the album contains so many great tracks that the whole album is the biggest hit of the release., which initially made me confusing it as a compilation. I owned a cd issue for years and only as of 2022 managed to get hold of a fine original vinyl issue.
Prefab Sprout initiated their career by playing guitar-founded jangle pop but this one (like the majority of their albums) is dominated by a sophisti-pop style that loans from other genres and styles, and the album simply stands as one the best pop /rock albums of the 1990s, in my opinion.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5stars ]
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[ live recording from 2000 ]
