| This Is the Modern World | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Jam |
| Cover: | The Jam - This is the Modern World.jpg |
| Released: | 18 November 1977 |
| Recorded: | 25 August – 21 September 1977 |
| Studio: | Basing Street, London |
| Length: | 31:19 |
| Label: | Polydor |
| Prev Title: | In the City |
| Prev Year: | 1977 |
| Next Title: | All Mod Cons |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
This Is the Modern World is the second studio album by British band the Jam, released in November 1977. The album was released less than six months after their debut album In the City,[1] and reached No. 22 on the UK Albums Chart.
Although generally met with negative reviews by music critics upon release, This Is the Modern World has been described as being an album "with far more light and shade" than In the City.[2]
The only single from This Is the Modern World was the censored version of "The Modern World", which peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart.[3]
The photography for the album was taken by Gered Mankowitz and David Redfern. The front cover depicts the band standing beneath London's Westway.[4]
The New York Times praised "the kind of ability to vary rock's basic signatures without departing from its stylistic essentials."[5]
The US release had a different track order, included the "censored" single version of "The Modern World", and added the single "All Around the World" which was released in the UK between their first two albums. "All Around the World" had been their biggest UK hit to date, peaking at No. 13, a placement they would not match until 1979 when "The Eton Rifles" peaked at No. 3.[3] Thereafter, no domestically released single by The Jam would ever reach a peak position lower than No. 4.[3]
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[6]
The Jam
Technical