Joe Jackson – Look Sharp!
Joe Jackson – vocals, piano, harmonica [click here to see more vinyl featuring Joe Jackson]
Gary Sanford – guitar
Graham Maby – bass
David Houghton – drums
Written and arranged by Joe Jackson
1 LP, "Old-Style" Jacket Printed By Stoughton
Heavy Press : 180g Dead Quiet Vinyl
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12''
Record Press : RTI
Label : Intervention Records
Original Label : A&M Records
Recorded at Eden Studios, London in August 1978
Engineered by Rod Hewison
Produced by David Kershenbaum
Reissued in December 2016
Sunday Papers
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
Happy Loving Couples
Throw It Away
Baby Stick Around
Look Sharp!
Fools In Love
(Do the) Instant Mash
Named a "Top Ten Vinyl Reissues of 2016" by The Absolute Sound!
« Although Joe Jackson is rarely mentioned in the same breath as contemporaries like Elvis Costello and the Clash, he should be. All share a post-punk sensibility that melds that genre's passionate delivery with strong melodies, catchy beats, a dash of reggae on the side, and a decidedly cynical worldview. More than that, Jackson's music has aged extremely well, revealing new levels of songwriting and arranging. Perhaps this explains why he's showing up frequently on multiple Sirius/XM stations. Consequently, the timing of Intervention's uncompromising vinyl release of Jackson's first three albums couldn't be better. The debut record, Look Sharp!, is made pungent by snappy, minimalist arrangements (later, Jackson would incorporate more of his jazz background), a delightfully surly delivery of humorous/sarcastic lyrics, and consistently memorable tunes. These include not only the numerous hits—my fave is "Sunday Papers"—but the non-hits as well. Intervention's pressing is phenomenal. Mastered from analog tapes by Kevin Gray on 180-gram vinyl, the grooves are so quiet the staccato guitar work fairly crackles through the air. Bass is equally tight; it'll give your woofers a thorough workout. All in all, there's no better time to rediscover an old friend. » Alan Taffel, The Absolute Sound
"If you like the original, you'll love the reissue, which offers sharper, cleaner transients, improved transparency and focus and greater dynamics. It preserves a pulsing energy the original softens and diminishes... As we've come to expect from Intervention, the Tip-on packaging is first rate as is Kevin Gray's mastering from analog tape, pressed on 180 gram vinyl at RTI." - Michael Fremer, www.analogplanet.com
« A brilliant, accomplished debut, Look Sharp! established Joe Jackson as part of that camp of angry, intelligent young new wavers (i.e., Elvis Costello, Graham Parker) who approached pop music with the sardonic attitude and tense, aggressive energy of punk. Not as indebted to pub rock as Parker and Costello, and much more lyrically straightforward than the latter, Jackson delivers a set of bristling, insanely catchy pop songs that seethe with energy and frustration. Several deal with the lack of thoughtful reflection in everyday life ("Sunday Papers," "Got the Time"), but many more concern the injuries and follies of romance. In the caustic yet charming witticisms of songs like the hit "Is She Really Going Out With Him?," "Happy Loving Couples," "Fools in Love," and "Pretty Girls," Jackson presents himself on the one hand as a man of integrity seeking genuine depth in love (and elsewhere), but leavens his stance with a wry, self-effacing humor, revealing his own vulnerability to loneliness and to purely physical attraction. Look Sharp! is the sound of a young man searching for substance in a superficial world -- and it also happens to rock like hell. » AllMusic Review by Steve Huey
"the kind of sound quality that defines the best of the reissue market. Bring this one out for anyone who tries to pass off the mantra about the original always sounding better." Dennis Davis, Hi-Fi+
"Throughout Look Sharp!, Gray's remastering highlights details I hadn't caught before." - Joe Taylor, SoundStage!
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 4.12 / 5 , The Absolute Sound : Music 4/5, Sonics 5/5 , Michael Fremer : 8/11 Music, 8/11 Sound , Hi-Fi+ : 9.5/10 sound quality