Hurricane (Grace Jones album) explained

Hurricane
Type:studio
Artist:Grace Jones
Cover:GraceJonesHurricane.jpg
Border:yes
Released:3 November 2008 (original)
5 September 2011 (Hurricane – Dub)
Recorded:2004–2007
Genre:
Length:48:40 (original)
50:26 (Hurricane – Dub)
Label:
Producer:
Prev Title:The Ultimate Collection
Prev Year:2006
Next Title:Disco
Next Year:2015

Hurricane is the tenth studio album by singer Grace Jones, released in 2008, and her first album of new material in 19 years. The album includes a number of autobiographical songs, and the title track was first recorded as a 1997 collaboration with Tricky under the title "Cradle to the Grave". The album sold over 100,000 copies in Europe. Three years after the original release, Jones released a dub version of it: Hurricane – Dub came out on 5 September 2011.

Background and production

Grace Jones' previous album, Bulletproof Heart, was released in 1989, and despite several comeback attempts throughout the 1990s, her next full-length record would be released almost two decades later. The singer had decided "never to do an album again",[1] changing her mind only after meeting the music producer Ivor Guest via mutual friend Philip Treacy. After becoming acquainted, Guest played Jones a track he had been working on and she set her lyrics "Devil in My Life" to it. In 2007 Guest announced that he and Jones had completed recording the album, originally rumoured to be titled Corporate Cannibal.[2]

The album includes a number of autobiographical songs, these include "This Is", "Williams' Blood" and "I'm Crying (Mother's Tears)". "Love You to Life" is another track based on real events and "Corporate Cannibal" refers to the subject of corporate capitalism. The title track was first recorded as a 1997 collaboration with Tricky under the title "Cradle to the Grave". "Well Well Well" is dedicated to the memory of Alex Sadkin, who had died in 1987, having co-produced three of Jones' 1980s albums. "Sunset Sunrise" ponders mankind's relationship with nature, and the final song, "Devil in My Life", was written after a party in Venice while Jones was standing in the corner observing partygoers. Four songs were ultimately removed from the track listing: "The Key to Funky" (co-written by Jones and Diane Pernet in the late '80s), "Body Phenomenon", "Sister Sister" and "Misery". Another track recorded by Jones, "Volunteer", was leaked in 2007 by Leslie Winer, together with "This", an early version of "This Is".[3] Winer also asserted that she had written both songs with Joe Galdo in the early 1990s.[4] Mainly with Sly and Robbie, Wally Badarou, Barry Reynolds, Mikey Chung and Uziah "Sticky" Thompson, aka the Compass Point Allstars as a backbone, the album retained the reggae-influenced sound of her three Compass Point albums even though it was not recorded at the studios in the Bahamas.

Hurricanes sound is a singular blend of multiple different genres. AllMusic's Jon O'Brien deemed it "an appropriately titled whirlwind of dub rock, reggae, industrial electro, and trip-hop"[5] According to Daisy Jones of Vice, the record "weaves together dub, electronica, industrial, reggae and gospel music",[6] while The Washington Posts Allison Stewart categorized it as a "set of dancehall and electro-disco tracks".[7]

The front and back covers of the album features pictures of chocolate heads of Jones, which she revealed on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross shortly before Hurricanes release. Photographs included in the booklet picture the singer as a chocolate factory worker, complete with uniform and name tag.[8] Chocolate heads, as well as arms and legs were molded at the Thorntons chocolate factory in Derbyshire, England[9] by lifecasting expert John Schoonraad, his son Tristan and artist Nick Reynolds.

Singles

"Corporate Cannibal" became the album's first single, released in August 2008 and promoted at the Meltdown festival. The song did not chart. The second single, "Williams' Blood", was released in December, and subsequently became a charting success in Belgium. A promotional only single, "Well Well Well", was released in 2009. "Love You to Life" was chosen as the third commercial single in 2009, but its release would be postponed for over a year.

Release and promotion

Prior to the release, Jones performed a two-hour concert at Massive Attack's Meltdown festival in London on 19 June 2008, during which she performed four new songs from the album and premiered the music video for the first single, "Corporate Cannibal".[10] [11] For further album promotion, Jones appeared on British television talk show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, several awards galas, and embarked on The Hurricane Tour in January 2009, which garnered positive reviews.

The album was released on Wall of Sound on 3 November 2008, in the United Kingdom. PIAS, the parent company of Wall of Sound, distributed Hurricane worldwide, excluding North America.[12]

Jones dedicated the album to the memory of her father, Bishop Robert W. Jones".[13]

Critical reception

Upon release, Hurricane was met with positive reception, obtaining a score of 72 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic.

Phil Freeman from AllMusic website gave the album three and a half stars out of five and wrote that "Hurricane is possibly Grace Jones' most focused artistic statement and a worthy sequel to her classic early-'80s albums".

Susie Goldring from BBC Music gave the album a favorable review and wrote that "the album is beautifully produced - with textures that just make you want to savor and unwrap each track, accompanied by the occasional oddity".

Alexis Petridis from The Guardian gave the album a mixed review in which he wrote that even though Jones persona in the 80s seemed she was "trying to convince the world she was from another planet" in the record "you learn a surprising amount about her upbringing" and that after the "thrilling first half" of the album it "suddenly seems to run out of puff, as if exhausted by the effort of trying to keep up with its star".

Evelyn McDonnell from Los Angeles Times gave the album four out of four star and wrote that Jones is still "cool" in her fifth decade in the show business and praised Jones collaboration with co-producer Ivor Guest, who "delivers this unquiet storm of a comeback".

Anthony Thornton from NME gave the album three and a half stars out of five and wrote that in "revisiting the production of her ’80s records she paradoxically produces something that sounds timeless" even though "it's difficult to suppress the notion that by miring herself in the ’90s, inadvertently she occasionally sounds as dated".

The Observer gave the album three out of five stars and said that the "contradictions that made her so compelling are now not so much within the songs as between them, leaving less room to maneuvre" and also that "Hurricane shatters the illusion, and flattens the force of nature known as Grace Jones into something quite humdrum".

Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine gave the album four out of five stars and wrote that it become Jones's "autobiographical talking book".

In his review for The Village Voice Barry Walters defined the album as "a multitude of instruments dance in orgiastic precision, paying tribute to an icon of pleasurable excesses, for which we now lovingly long".

Commercial performance

In 2009. It was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe.[14]

Re-release

Three years after the original Hurricane release, Jones released a dub version of the album. Hurricane – Dub came out on 5 September 2011. The dub versions were made by Ivor Guest, with contributions from Adam Green, Frank Byng, Robert Logan and Ben Cowan.

The dub re-release of Hurricane features new artwork by Jean-Paul Goude of Jones smoking a cigarette whilst wearing a sparkling hat.

Track listing

Hurricane – Dub

Personnel

Charts

2008 chart performance for Hurricane
Chart (2008)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 123
Greek Albums (IFPI)[16] 24

Release history

RegionYearFormat(s)Label
Europe3 November 2008CD, digital downloadWall of Sound, PIAS
Argentina14 April 2009CD
United Kingdom2010LPThe Vinyl Factory
United States6 September 2011CD, digital downloadWall of Sound, PIAS

The Hurricane Tour

Concert Tour Name:The Hurricane Tour
Location:North America • Europe
Album:Hurricane
Start Date:19 January 2009
End Date:21 November 2009
Number Of Legs:5
Number Of Shows:31
This Tour:The Hurricane Tour

The Hurricane Tour was a concert tour by singer Grace Jones to promote her album Hurricane. The tour sold well and received public and critical acclaim.[17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Setlist

The setlist varied from show to show:

Tour dates

Europe
DateCityCountryVenue
19 January 2009BirminghamSymphony Hall
21 January 2009GatesheadSage Gateshead
23 January 2009GlasgowClyde Auditorium
24 January 2009ManchesterManchester Apollo
25 January 2009BristolUKColston Hall
27 January 2009LondonThe Roundhouse
28 January 2009LondonThe Roundhouse
17 March 2009BerlinTempodrom
19 March 2009AmsterdamParadiso
22 March 2009ParisFranceLe Grand Rex
25 March 2009FrankfurtJahrhunderthalle
26 March 2009DüsseldorfPhilipshalle
29 March 2009StockholmThe Circus
31 March 2009CopenhagenFalconer Theatre
Europe (2)
19 June 2009BarcelonaSónar
3 July 2009RoskildeRoskilde Festival
4 July 2009WerchterBelgiumRock Werchter
9 July 2009LondonSomerset House
11 July 2009MontreuxMontreux Jazz Festival
16 July 2009StuttgartJazz Open Festival
18 July 2009SouthwoldLatitude Festival
North America
26 July 2009HollywoodUnited States KCRW's World Festival at the Hollywood Bowl
29 July 2009New YorkUnited States Hammerstein Ballroom
30 July 2009New YorkUnited States Hammerstein Ballroom
Europe (3)
7 August 2009Monte CarloMonacoSummer Sporting Festival
9 August 2009Playa d'en BossaSpace
15 August 2009HelsinkiFlow Festival
21 August 2009St. PoeltenFM4 Frequency Festival
23 August 2009BiddinghuizenLowlands
30 August 2009LondonBeachdown Festival
North America
21 November 2009GuadalajaraMexico Sonofilla Festival

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Michael . Osborn . An audience with Grace Jones . . 2008-11-26 . 2012-01-11.
  2. News: Jody . Thompson . Eighties pop legend Grace Jones to headline Secret Garden Party . www.mirror.co.uk . 2008-04-11 . 2008-04-17.
  3. Web site: Finally, New Grace Material? . stephenrendell.blogspot.co.uk . 2012-08-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131002054037/http://stephenrendell.blogspot.co.uk/2007/10/finally-new-grace-material.html . 2013-10-02 .
  4. Web site: La Vache Qui Lit: ThisThisRemixVolunteer . lavachequilit.typepad.com . 2007-05-31 . 2012-01-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071028101448/http://lavachequilit.typepad.com/la_vache_qui_lit/2007/05/post_8.html . 28 October 2007 .
  5. Web site: O'Brien. Jon. Hurricane/Hurricane Dub - Grace Jones. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201218100734/https://www.allmusic.com/album/hurricane-hurricane-dub-mw0002222280. 18 December 2020. 22 February 2021. AllMusic.
  6. Web site: Jones. Daisy. 2 August 2018. The Guide to Getting into Grace Jones. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210209153154/https://www.vice.com/en/article/5945d5/guide-to-getting-into-grace-jones. 9 February 2021. 22 February 2021. Vice.
  7. News: Stewart. Allison. 2 September 2011. Album review: Grace Jones's 'Hurricane'. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210222124111/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/album-review-grace-joness-hurricane/2011/08/24/gIQAvqm4wJ_story.html. 22 February 2021. 22 February 2021. The Washington Post.
  8. Web site: GRACE JONES album cover at lifecast – lifecasting in london – prosthetics for films . lifecast.co.uk . 2010-05-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120501015239/http://lifecast.co.uk/?p=668 . 2012-05-01 .
  9. Web site: Grace Jones at 60: The ultimate hot chocolate . www.afterellen.com . 2012-05-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20081219182430/http://www.afterellen.com/blog/thelinster/grace-jones-at-60-the-ultimate-hot-chocolate. 2008-12-19.
  10. News: Colin . Paterson . Grace Jones performs at Meltdown . . 2008-06-20 . 2008-08-13.
  11. News: Sam . Jones . Meltdown moves from trip-hop to sci-fi with style . www.guardian.co.uk . 2008-06-25 . London . 2008-04-21.
  12. News: Lars . Brandle . 'Hurricane' Jones Blows Through This October . www.billboard.biz . 2008-06-30 . 27 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120927031931/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i5b79f51055d2eac91f4ee12074050f1a . dead .
  13. http://www.discogs.com/Grace-Jones-Hurricane/release/1943543 Discogs - Hurricane (WOS050CD)
  14. Web site: IMPALA Press Release . . 9 December 2019 . 24 August 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170824175720/http://www.impalamusic.org/arc_static/docum/04-press/2009/PR%20-%2020091006.htm . dead .
  15. Web site: Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 13 September 2016. 18 September 2016. Imgur.
  16. Web site: Top 50 Ελληνικών και Ξένων Αλμπουμ – Εβδομάδα 10/2009 . Top 50 Greek and Foreign Albums – Week 10/2009 . el . . 23 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090326183547/http://www.ifpi.gr/chart04.htm . 26 March 2009.
  17. https://www.nme.com/news/grace-jones/40478 Grace Jones brings 'Hurricane' tour to UK, NME, 16 October 2008
  18. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/live_reviews/article5553702.ece Grace Jones at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham, The Times, 21 January 2009
  19. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5567870.ece Grace Jones is back, and on her best behaviour: Grace under pressure, The Times, 23 January
  20. Web site: Page not found – Cosmic Disco . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091014233311/http://www.cosmicdisco.co.uk/2009/01/26/grace-jones-hurricane-blows-into-manchester . 2009-10-14 .
  21. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/grace-jones-the-roundhouse-london-1518938.html Grace Jones, The Roundhouse, London, The Independent, 29 January 2009