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Album cover

Jump - ...And All The King's Men

Artist: Jump
Title: ...And All The King's Men
Label: Cyclops CYCL 093
Length(s): 66 minutes
Year(s) of release: 1994/2000
Month of review: [02/2001]

Line up

Pete Davies - electric and acoustic guitars
Steve Hayes - electric and acoustic guitars
Mo - keyboards
Andy Barker - drums
Hugh Gascoyne - bass
John Dexter Jones - voice
Chrissie Hammond - vocals on 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12

Tracks

1) All The King's Horses 4.42
2) Seize The Day 6.09
3) George's Revolution 4.18
4) Camera City 5.41
5) Shed No Tears 5.49
6) Share The Shame 4.20
7) Two Up, Two Down 5.01
8) Judgement Day 3.53
9) Dangerous Devotions 3.18
10) Another False Dawn 4.25
11) Someone Else's Prayer (part 1) 4.36
12) Someone Else's Prayer (part 2) 5.36
13) Six'o'clock (bonus) 4.40
14) This Is The Wall (bonus) 3.28

Summary

A rerelease from 1994 or thereabouts on Cyclops.

The music

The doorbell rings and the song opens with bombastic keyboards and guitar. In this way, the album opens strongly with the socially involved title track. The lyrics are "against the wealthy" it seems, although I disagree with the fact that political intrigue is the substance abuse of the wealthy. They simply use more expensive drugs. And intrigue takes place on every level of society. It is only more influential on other people's lives in case of the wealthy. Notwithstanding the catchiness, there is something nicely disturbing to the music and the guitar work is sharp.

Seize The Day opens with acoustic guitar and bare vocals. I often get the impression of listening to Fish, not because of the voice, but because of the things said in the way they are formulated. It is hard to pin down, but that is how I feel. It certainly doesn't surprise me that the band supported him during gigs. Seize The Day likes its predecessor has a certain nagging aspect and some highly ethereal guitars and keyboards. The song has a sense of urgency. This longest track of the album gets more funky and easy-going toward the end with a prominent role for the bass. A bit too loose here and the alternating voices are also detrimental.

George's Revolution is a funky track with something bluesy in there as well with not so melodious vocals and rather heavy guitars. This is probably a bit too groovy and straightforward for proggers. We get a bit of New Wave with Camera City (part of the lyrics were omitted). Melodically this catchy track has a very nice and memorable chorus.

Shed No Tears is a more rolling track, more easy-going with slow guitars and piano and organ. Again part of the lyrics are missing (and not because of the cut-out). Share The Shame opens with acoustic guitar and has a bit of a live sound. A bit of an introspective song in parts, but also one with a loud chorus (with female backing vocals) and some rather dark guitar chords.

Two Up, Two Down has a number of faces: a melodious dreamy one, a rowdy blues rock one and a somewhat friendly folky one. Quite a nice track because of the good integration of these aspects. The rap in the middle is not really to my liking though. Judgement Day is a bit of loud screamy track mostly because of the vocals. I don't like it much. The same holds for the next one Dangerous Devotions which is a kind of boogie with confusing vocal harmonies. Maybe meant to be a bit funny, but it did not make me laugh.

Another False Dawn is a mid-tempo track with some pretty poppy keyboards at the end, but certainly better than the previous two tracks. There are even some breaks in this track, but they do take the flow out of the song a bit.

The two parted Someone Else's Prayer is up next. With a total of over ten minutes, the song opens a bit sadly and carefully sung lyrics. The second part is a rocking piece with much more lyrics, backing vocals by Hammond and quite a bit of keyboards/organ. Still energy seems a bit more important here than melody. The song has a rather strong live feel, seemingly as if a shorter tracks got stretched out.

Six'O'Clock reminds me of Cock Robin, no actually it reminds me even more of Paul Carrack's When You Walk In The Room. A mid-tempo vocal pop track which happens to be a bit too laid back.

The Wall is the predecessor of Judgement Day. Driving rhythm guitars open the track and I like it more than its successor. The female vocals are lacking here and the although the song is not that melodic, it has plenty of variation and a sinister undertone.

Conclusion

Very melodic rock, nothing more and less. It never gets really progressive, as we know it, but notwithstanding the lyrics and music are usually well-written and executed. Some tracks I did not care about much, Judgement Day, Six'O'Clock, Dangerous Devotions and the good tracks are not up to par with the good tracks of Matthew. Still if you are into the style, this is an album to get. When the guitar playing gets sharp or a darker undercurrent is noticeable, the music seems to me at its best.
© Jurriaan Hage