Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

THE BEACHCOMBER

Jump

Neo-Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Jump The Beachcomber album cover
3.93 | 27 ratings | 3 reviews | 7% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

Write a review

Buy JUMP Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Studio Album, released in 2010

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Down Three Times (5:03)
2. Dead Man's Shoes (5:11)
3. Kingston Corner Blues (4:35)
4. Rosetta Stoned (5:09)
5. No-One Spoke (5:07)
6. The Sniper (4:58)
7. On Bended Knee (4:34)
8. Eyes on the Prize (3:47)
9. Lennard's Blues (4:14)
10. Suffering in Silence (4:11)
11. Forgive Me My Sins (6:21)

Total Time 53:10

Line-up / Musicians

- John Dexter Jones / lead vocals
- Steve 'Ronnie' Rundle / electric & acoustic guitars, vocals
- Steve Hayes / electric guitar, backing vocals
- Phil Mayhew / bass
- Mo / keyboards
- Andy Baker / drums

Releases information

Label: DEN-TEL Records 1008

Thanks to gegece for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
Edit this entry

Buy JUMP The Beachcomber Music



JUMP The Beachcomber ratings distribution


3.93
(27 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(7%)
7%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(70%)
70%
Good, but non-essential (15%)
15%
Collectors/fans only (7%)
7%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

JUMP The Beachcomber reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Team
4 stars "You all pray you'll see heaven. Well, I've already been there, it's a beach. You can stretch out your hands to the god of your choice, but I wonder if you'll ever reach."

Like in the evolution of species where there is little difference between any one generation and the next but fundamental differences between the ancestral generation and the present one, there is little difference between one Jump album the next but fundamental differences between the early albums and this most recent release to date. Apart from the distinctive voice of John Dexter Jones, there are indeed few if any direct connections between this album and the band's earliest albums. Yet this is still 100% Jump.

The Neo-Prog tag never completely fitted Jump, but it fits less here than ever before. There is hardly one trace of Neo-Prog left here. Fans of Crossover Prog and Prog Folk are more likely to enjoy this than are Neo-Prog fans, but this is one of those rare albums that can probably be enjoyed by Prog fans and non-Prog music fans alike. No doubt it would be considered not progressive enough by many a Prog fan, and I myself was not too impressed on the first few listens. However, together with (the very different) Living In A Promised Land and ...And All The King's Men, The Beachcomber is one of the Jump albums that have been in most heavy rotation since I discovered the band and it has thus proved its staying power. It is not up to par with those other two excellent albums, and the difference in quality between this album and many other Jump albums is one of degree rather than kind, but I now feel that this album deserves an extra star compared to many other good Jump albums.

The diverse influences (including Jazz, Blues, Pop, and more) are seamlessly fused together into a consistent sound and you never get the feeling that they are "jumping" from one style to another (that was sometimes the case on some earlier albums). Usually Jump relies on lead vocals, dual guitars, keyboards, bass and drums. But occasionally they include other instruments as well. Here we get some appealing fiddle on the opener Down Three Times and a couple of other tracks enhancing the modern Folk Rock feel of the album, as well as tasteful saxophone on the jazzier closer Forgive Me My Sins. These two tracks bookend the album nicely and are definitely among the highlights here together with The Sniper and On Bended Knee. The weakest track is probably Lennard's Blues, but even that one is not bad taken for the Blues rocker it is, it is also well hidden away in the middle of the album's second half among an otherwise consistent set of good songs.

This album is probably not everyone's cup of tea, and it is not Jump's best album, but it is probably impossible to deny that this is high quality music with a great attention to detail.

Review by kenethlevine
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
4 stars Being new to JUMP and their relatively obscure discography, I have arranged and rearranged periods of their past like so many jigsaw puzzle pieces, but for the interval between 1998 and 2010 lies a canyon of ignorance. In spite of this, "The Beachcomber" is instantly discernible as a product of this hard working and thinking band thanks to John Dexter Jones, the man with a voice so authoritative he needs 3 names! The twin guitars of the two Steves also have their say, and, while none of these facets have every sounded better, they are not the primary reason why "The Beachcomber" is the band's most compelling yet, absent company excluded.

The "big" sound always in evidence is here harnessed radiantly, and the tendency to split track personalities along uncomfortable divides is dispensed with. As a result, good songs become great ones, folkie numbers hit harder, and sparkling melodies are permitted more than a furlough. The opening track "Down three Times" reminds me of an early JULUKA song, but I suppose I'll never know if this is coincidence or not; either way it's a cracker. "Kingston Corner Blues" is an exquisite ballad, and "Rosetta Stoned" a tragic and poignant tale, limp pun aside. "No one Spoke" is the best example of the old JUMP merging with the new and the resulting improvement, as JONES talks on tune, and what a tune, and strummed electric guitar nirvana is realized; the muscular "Eyes on the Prize" is similarly illustrative. "The Sniper" sounds like a top shelf WISHBONE ASH ballad. "Suffering in Silence" drills home its message on a concise captivating chorus, while the album closer "Forgive me my Sins" returns to the balladic tradition with the added shades of a rare brass instrument. Needless to say, in the midst of all this emotive quality, the rare missteps of the superficial "Lennard's Blues" and the monotonous "On Bended Knee" are easily forgiven.

It's a pleasure to hear a very recent album by a long running band that reveals an entity fully intact and growing, seemingly by leaps and bounds, not just shriveling up on some beach with a few remaining fans doing the same. Highly recommended if you are into song oriented and folk influenced British prog.

Review by kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Reviewer
4 stars One of the very few downsides of living on the other side of the world is that I am unable to see Jump in concert. Easily one of the hardest working bands around, they must have played thousands of gigs by now and always used to be prolific in their releases. However, it took five years from the release of 'Faithful Faithless' in 2005 for them to return with this at the beginning of 2010. The core line-up is basically the same, with the one and only John Dexter Jones on vocals, Steve 'Ronnie Rundle' on guitars/vocals, Steve Hayes guitars/vocals, Andy Barker drums and Mo on keyboards. But, bassist Andy Faulkner has been replaced by Phil Mayhew, and there are a few guests on strings and sax.

Jump have always had a very hard sound to define, progressive but not really, neo but not really, crossover but not really. In fact, the only way to think of them in my mind is as a band that plays English rock (a statement guaranteed to upset the very passionate Welshman who is the frontman). They really are one of the undiscovered joys of British music, a band that always out their all into their gigs and who consistently produce wonderful albums. I have been lucky enough to hear all of these, and to my ears they generally deserve at least a 4* rating, and with this their eleventh studio album in nineteen years they have yet again delivered the goods. "On Bended Knee" is a wonderful song, and is a fine example of the album, with guitars restrained yet full, with everyone working hard to ensure that the vocals are accompanied perfectly, complex yet with simplicity. Jump concentrate on producing well crafted songs, small stories with the perfect backing, and here are another 11 that are going to gain them new fans and please the old. For more details visit their website at www.jumprock.co.uk

Latest members reviews

No review or rating for the moment | Submit a review

Post a review of JUMP "The Beachcomber"

You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.