Hot on the heels of Howard Jones’ live tours in the UK and US, Cherry Red have released a brand new box set of all five of his early studio albums.
A thing to behold
Back in the old days, a CD box set was a thing to behold. Those multi-compartment jewel cases with their flimsy hinges, brittle front doors and fragile disc holders would take up a lot of shelf space. A 5 CD set such as this one would be the centrepiece of your prized collection. It would cast a shadow over all of your other CDs. It was like a religious artefact.
This new set from Cherry Red has more of a minimalist presentation, more streamlined, more up to date, more eco-friendly. The self-destructing plastic cases of old have been upgraded with card sleeves inside a card box. It doesn’t induce quite the reverie of the jewel case, which had you opening it with such awe and delicacy lest it disintegrate in your hand. It does, however, look very nice and do the job admirably.
What’s in the box?
In the lovely box are five CDs. You might think that this is to be expected, however some labels save money by squeezing two albums onto one CD. Not the case here, Cherry Red have splashed out on an entire silver disc per album. You also get an equally lovely booklet although at 48 pages it’s really more of a book. In these illustrious pages you will find some background history of the man himself written in true album notes style, along with a ‘making of’ feature for each of the albums. And lots of smashing photos too. It’s an enjoyable accompaniment to a good listening session, though anyone who was actually around when these albums were originally released will need their good reading glasses in order to enjoy the text. A 96 page book with larger print would have been nice.
The five albums are, of course, Human’s Lib, Dream Into Action, One To One, Cross That Line and In The Running (capitalisation as per the CDs). I’m not sure what I can say about them that hasn’t been said hundreds of times already over the past 34 to 42 years. One thing that you can always rely on Jones for is reinvention, so you probably already have a favourite album from this era, which might mean that there’s another album that you don’t have because you didn’t really get into the singles from it. This collection is the perfect way to ensure you’re fully up to date with Jones’ evolving craft in those early years.
Upgraded pleasures
The CDs themselves are actually an upgrade from the plain silver discs of the last millennium. Each features a nice bit of printed art so that you can enjoy some additional pleasure on the way from box to player. It goes without saying that the audio quality is digitally perfect which suits Jones’ note-perfect instrumentation.
Meandering from genre-defining to genre-defying, those six years present quite a musical range. From the early tinkly-bonk of the synth, through blues, jazz and other instruments, Jones is crossing continents and growing in complexity. Fallin’ Away from the most recent of the five, In the Running, sounds a lot like Bruce Hornsby. Maybe this dexterity is the secret behind Jones’ global success. As I write this, he’s whizzing round the US with the ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ tour. Another successful British export.
Style and substance
Whether you’re a committed Howard Jones fan or someone who likes a few of his more popular songs, this set is a worthy addition to your collection. Cherry Red have ensured the style lives up the substance, giving you the opportunity to lock the doors, put the phone on silent and indulge yourself in a journey through better years.
Overall, this is a retrospective of an artist who never quite seems satisfied with what he has created. Always tinkering, tweaking and updating, the songs progress both from one album to another and within each album, painting a picture of someone who lives up to the lyrics of his own song; Things Can Only Get Better.
Here’s where it all began – 1984’s New Song
Howard Jones: Website