Joe really has some devoted fans, I must say. 
Personally, I don't have much use for his music after
Night and Day.  Joe's a very limited singer, whose
voice doesn't always fit the material he sings.  He's
also fairly pretentious, giving a lot of his material
an academic dryness.  To me, this is what prevented
Body and Soul from being fully successful.  And Big
World was where I gave up -- to my ears, it's a dry
and flat recording, that nearly makes Steely Dan seem
as loose as early Replacements.  As he went further
along, he became yet another pop artist who really
didn't like to make his songs too pop -- I still have
my copy of Laughter and Lust, but I'm not sure why,
since it's not exactly awash in memorable tracks.

Having said all this, I still adore the first two
albums, think Beat Crazy is fun and appreciate Jumpin'
Jive.  I'm all for artistic growth, it just doesn't
take in all cases.

Mike Bennett


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