Will Power (album) explained

Will Power
Type:Album
Artist:Joe Jackson
Cover:JoeJacksonWillPower.jpg
Released:April 1987[1]
Recorded:February 1986–January 1987
Studio:RCA, New York City
Genre:Classical, rock
Length:42:06
Label:A&M
Producer:Joe Jackson
Prev Title:Big World
Prev Year:1986
Next Title:Live 1980/86
Next Year:1988

Will Power is the eighth album by Joe Jackson.[1] Released in 1987, it is his first experiment with classical music, continued in later albums including Night Music, Heaven and Hell, and Symphony No. 1.

The album peaked at #131 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[2]

Critical reception

Reviews for Will Power were very mixed. Terry Staunton, writing for New Musical Express, described Will Power as an "accomplished project" which "highlight[s] [the] extremely talented Jackson as a composer and arranger". He questioned the album's commercial potential but added that it would "perhaps lead to a flood of film score commissions".[3] Jane Wilkes of Record Mirror noted Jackson's diversity and said of the album, "You can call it pretentious, call it dramatic, but it's really rather relaxing at the end of the day."[4]

In the US, The New York Times called the album "a major step forward by an English composer and performer who has never remained in one place for long."[5] While praising Jackson's compositional skill (including his "flair for lovely melodic passages and unpredictable, often shimmering arrangements" involving "stunning cascades of sound reminiscent of contemporary composer John Adams"), the Los Angeles Times also wrote that "the lengthy, meandering 'Symphony in One Movement' is as colorless and pretentious as the title suggests."[6] Chris Woodstra of AllMusic retrospectively dismissed Will Power as "a good exercise in self-indulgence but little of anything else";[7] while Trouser Press described the album as "redolent with unrestrained pomposity... (a) trivial self-indulgence", commenting that "while Jackson may be impressed by his ability to convince an orchestra to play his melodramatically panoramic music, it’s unlikely anyone else will find this exercise especially rewarding."[8]

Track listing

All songs written, orchestrated and produced by Joe Jackson.[1]

Personnel

Rhythm section

Orchestra

Horns and Woodwinds
Strings

Production

Charts

Chart (1987)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10] 67
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[11] 20

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Strong, Martin C. . 2000 . The Great Rock Discography . 5th . Mojo Books . Edinburgh . 485–486 . 1-84195-017-3.
  2. Web site: Joe Jackson. Billboard.
  3. Staunton . Terry . 25 April 1987 . 33 . . 30.
  4. Wilkes . Jane . Albums . . 25 April 1987 . 14 . 0144-5804.
  5. Web site: THE POP LIFE; ORCHESTRAL EXPRESSIONS IN JOE JACKSON ALBUM (Published 1987). Stephen. Holden. 22 April 1987. NYTimes.com.
  6. Web site:
    • * * * Great Balls of Fire, * * * Good Vibrations, * * Maybe Baby, * Running on Empty : JOE GETS SERIOUS
    . 19 April 1987. Los Angeles Times.
  7. Web site: Joe Jackson - Will Power . AllMusic . 10 December 2020.
  8. Web site: Joe Jackson . Trouser Press . 22 October 2020.
  9. Book: Thompson, Clifford. Contemporary World Musicians. 7 October 2020. Routledge. 9781135939618. Google Books.
  10. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 151.
  11. Web site: Classifiche . . it . 15 July 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Will Power" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".

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