JUMP

The new album, 'Matthew', shows the band at probably their most confident ever, and is a major step forward from their last album 'Living In A Promised Land'. The songs are very strong, and the production is top quality. There is so much on here to enjoy, but the highlights are the way that they encompass slightly different musical ideas to give reach song a very strong identity. The slide guitar on "Alone Ahead" is not overpowering, but is integral. Probably my favourite part is the lazy introduction to "The Highway Man": it's only a few bars but it proves that anything Wishbone Ash can do, then Jump can do at least as well.

Originally appeared in Feedback #59

— First review of this album —

After nine years with the same line-up, and five studio albums behind them, the time was right to release a live album. What was also special about this night was that it was to be the last gig with Hugh Gascoyne on bass who had decided to leave. The booklet is a tribute to Hugh, which I have not seen from a band to a departing member before. The front cover shows the five remaining members of the band waiting at a train station, with a poster of Hugh on the station wall. The photo on the rear shows the five all staring at the photo with new bassist Andy Faulkner (Walking On Ice) just walking into shot. The photo on the rear of the tray card shows the six of them walking off to catch 'The Freedom Train'. The words in the booklet also show just how much Hugh was admired and respected by the rest of the band, but also how they knew that they would continue without him. Jump seem to virtually live on the road at times, I have lost count of how many times I have seen them (favourite gig was probably at The Marquee when they completely outshone GLD, although some of the gigs with Credo were also superb), and have met and talked with them many times. John Dexter Jones is renowned as being one of the finest frontmen in the business, as well as being a great singer; twin guitarist Pete Davies and Steve Hayes have an intimate understanding of each other, Mo fills in the missing pieces with gentle keyboards while Hugh and Andy Barker were totally solid.

Jump are one of the 'oddities' of the progressive scene, in that they have been embraced by that crowd but in reality they have little musical affinity with much of the prog crowd. Firstly they are very much guitar based, with keyboards just used for melodic effect as opposed to being a lead instrument, and they are also very much a songs outfit. They play English Rock, and while they have been likened to both Marillion and Fish at times, with whom they have both completed UK tours, they are very much their own band with their own sound. This album has provided the opportunity to have almost a 'Best Of' package, while at the same time the versions on offer are superior to those which were recorded in the studio as John reacts to the crowd and the passion is there for all to hear. Personal faves are probably "The Pressed Man" and "Shed No Tears" but there isn't a duff song to be heard.

Originally appeared in Feedback #59

'When you've made all the moves that you plan to make; when you've broken all the hearts that you plan to break, you will be queen.'

The Winds Of Change was Jump's debut album. While at least some of the seeds of their future greatness were already showing here, it must be said that the band's trademark sound was not yet fully developed at this point. They already had energy, passion, and talent, but it is partly wasted here on a set of mostly rather straightforward rockers and a couple of ballads with little or no sense of genuine adventurousness. The progressive side of the band that would become obvious on at least some parts of the band's next album, World Of Wonder, and then come to full fruition on ...And All The King's Men, was still just in the developing stages at this point. Also, the acoustic side of the band shines with its absence here except on The Freedom Train which could be seen as the unofficial follow-up to Cat Stevens' Peace Train! Otherwise the sound of this album is dominated by lead vocals, dual electric guitars, keyboards, bass, and drums. The keyboards play a mainly supporting role except on a few tracks like the synth-driven Johnny And The Lightning and the piano-driven ballad A New World. The latter has good verses but a less-than-good chorus reminding of AOR bands like Journey. The Folk (Rock) influences that would characterise the best handful of tracks on World Of Wonder and many songs on future albums were almost wholly absent on this album.

The Winds Of Change is perhaps a more 'consistent' album than World Of Wonder in that it lacks both the highs and the lows of that subsequent album. There is nothing embarrassing or offensive on this album, but there is also little to get really excited about. Virtually all of the tracks fall within the rather narrow range between decent and good, never dropping below decent, but rarely reaching above merely good. The best songs include the hard rocking opener The Lightbox, the Pendragon-like A Picture Of Gold, and my personal favourite on this album You Will Be Queen. The least interesting songs are little more than average Rock 'N' Roll numbers. As a fan, I still find myself enjoying this album. Jump is a great band, but their potential was not fully developed at this point. They would do much better later on. The Winds Of Change remains one of their least interesting albums.

I hesitated between two and three stars, but settled for three stars in the end. It is a good, though far from essential album.

"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.

"This is no dull rehearsal, this is your only chance. The stage is set for you, come on and dance!"

World Of Wonder was Jump's sophomore album and here they showcase their "wondrous world" of eclectic Rock better than on the debut. Many of the band's trademarks were already present here (albeit in less than fully developed form) including the excellent vocals of Mr. (John Dexter) Jones, the commanding guitar playing of Steve Hayes and Pete Davies (one of the few guitar duos in Neo-Prog), and the keyboards of Mo (one of the few female keyboard players in Prog).

The album opens with A Northern Man which reminds me a bit of 80's Jethro Tull with its tasteful flute-like keyboards, clean and sharp, almost "metallic" electric guitar sound, and the nifty acoustic-electric interplay. This is a good opening number that sets the stage for a good album. However, the next couple of tracks raise warning flags as to the quality and direction of the album (and the band). I wonder how many prospective fans switched off before reaching the album's much better second half. The title track and (the autobiographical?) Mr. Jones are rather mundane, conventional Hard Rock numbers, and definitely the weakest tracks of this album. To continue with the Jethro Tull comparison, these songs can perhaps be associated with style of the latter's weak Rock Island album. Louder Than Words is a bit better, but it too is not particularly interesting even if I do like the "we counted them in, we counted them out"- section which points towards the more "theatrical" style of the excellent follow-up album ...And All The King's Men.

As I said, the second half of the album is clearly better and more interesting than the first half. The better songs begin with the excellent Gryphan's Galliard, a rocking medieval-style dance tune. Poison In The Sea is a bit of a Reggae Rock fusion. Not one my favourite songs here by any means, but it is interesting enough. Four Winds Blow is a very good progressive Folk Rock number with accordion (or something that sounds like an accordion) and a nice acoustic guitar solo. Funny is another progressive track that fuses together Jazz Rock, Funk Rock, and Folk Rock in an interesting way. Like Poison In The Sea, this is probably an acquired taste, but I like it! At this point the album has recovered from the initial malaise, but some of the best is yet to come. The final two tracks, Where Silver Calls and Whip-Hand Jack, are both excellent progressive Folk Rock pieces; the kind of Folk Rock that really rocks.

It is true that World Of Wonder suffers from the inclusion of a couple of weaker numbers, but you shouldn't let the few mundane rockers give you the wrong impression about the album and the band. World Of Wonder definitely has enough highlights to be an overall good Jump album that is even up to par with or even better than some of the band's more recent (rather different) albums. In its best moments it points towards superior subsequent albums like ...And All The King's Men and Living In A Promised Land.

Homely

Home Songs features another set of mostly good songs from Jump. The style of the music is not radically different from the previous two albums, On Impulse and Matthew, but Home Songs is a little bit softer, more light-hearted and laid-back, and even further away from Neo-Prog. The keyboards (mostly piano and organ here) are reduced to playing a mainly supporting role on this album and the sound is thus more guitar dominated than before. The songs are mostly vocally driven and the focus is on the vocal melodies rather than on instrumental parts. It is actually hard to find anything particularly progressive about Home Songs. The style adopted here is rather a subtly eclectic form of melodic Rock with touches of Pop, Folk, and Blues. What appeal this album possesses lies mostly in the excellent vocals, the good song writing, and the professional musicianship. Whatever you think of its degree of adventurousness and originality, one cannot deny that it is a high quality product.

The highlight of this album is The Better Part Of Valour, a song featuring some superb electric mandolin. With the exception of a couple of weaker moments, the other tracks are enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.

The conclusion is that Home Songs is one of Jump's least interesting albums, but it is not without its value and constitutes a decent addition to a collection that has most of the band's other albums.

"I don't want to be a millionaire, I only sing these ditties to impress"

On Impulse continues pretty much where the previous Matthew left off. This means subtly eclectic, melodic Rock; occasionally groovy, occasionally poppy, occasionally bluesy, a bit heavy (but never straying near Metal). The Folk influences that were largely absent from Matthew are back with a vengeance on the superb Bethesda, the unrivaled highlight of this album. John Dexter Jones hands in a fantastic vocal performance on this piece (that can be streamed from this very site). This excellent track is however not very representative of the album as a whole. The rest of the tracks are all enjoyable, and several are really good, but with some exceptions it is not really what I would have wanted from Jump. This is still high quality, professional music, but I am less fond of the direction that the band were taking on Matthew and the present album than that of earlier albums like ...All The King's Men and Living In A Promised Land. Anyone coming to this album expecting a typical British Neo-Prog sound will be surprised to find very little of that here. On Impulse is actually more Crossover Prog than Neo-Prog, but for the most part it is not even all that progressive to be honest. The most proggy tracks are probably Like A Drum and the closer Cruel To Be Kind, the latter of which features a nice but brief piano solo.

Like Matthew, On Impulse is, perhaps even more so, a good album and a worthy addition. But neither of these two albums constitute the best place to begin with Jump.

"Everything that was. Everything that held me down. Everything that dragged. Everything that broke my stride. But everything can change. But everything can lock you in. Everything can stay the same if you believe that you won't win. Everything can change."

What do you do when you have reached your artistic peak but the commercial breakthrough did not come? What do you do when you have perfected your very own take on a style of music on your previous album but it failed to give you the recognition you deserve? The natural answer is that you begin to introduce changes in your sound. On Matthew, Jump still exhibit some of their trademarks such as strong vocals, good lyrics, and highly professional musicianship, but the guitar sound is less clean here and there is less focus on the instrumental parts and more focus on songs. They still had one foot in Neo-Prog, but here I get the feeling that they were reaching beyond the Prog community. Like Marillion before them, Jump here began turning their backs on their roots. Their transformation was only half-way here and as such one could perhaps call this a transitional album. They did by no means "sell out", something Jump would never do, but I think they were trying to appeal to a somewhat wider audience with Matthew and subsequent albums. Somehow, they sound more contemporary here. The result is that, even if this is still good music, they lost some of that distinctive edge that made albums like Living In A Promised Land and ...All The King's Men so special. Also, the Folk influences are almost wholly eradicated here in favour of a more bluesy and groovy kind of melodic Rock.

Matthew is an enjoyable album and a worthy addition. But though there are no weak tracks as such, there are also no standout tracks. Unlike most other Jump albums, there is not a single really excellent track here. As such, I would not recommend you to start with this album.

Keep the Blues!

Compared to the two excellent albums that surround it - 1994's ...All The King's Men and 1998's Living In A Promised Land - 1995's The Myth Of Independence is relatively speaking a lesser album. Considered in its own right this is still a good album that exhibits at least some of the same qualities that made those other two albums so good, but in context I cannot help but feel that this album is somewhat disappointing.

The present album is a bit more laid back and generally less immediate. This becomes apparent from the start with the atypical, Pink Floyd-ish intro that opens the album's first track, Tower Of Babel. Princess Of The People is a more typical Jump number with clever, subtly sarcastic lyrics about "the burden of the crown". Depending on your interpretation, this could be the antidote to Elton John's Candle In The Wind. There are several other good songs, but they are generally not as memorable as those on the other two albums I mentioned above. One of the exceptions is the lovely Runaway, a brief, acoustic song on which John Dexter Jones really shines.

They try out a bit of Blues Rock on the track Keep The Blues, but this I'm afraid would have been better kept! The title of the album appears in the lyrics of Drivetime, an uncharacteristically funky number. One must applaud the band's eclecticism, but on this album they are best when they hold to their brand of Folk-infused Neo-Prog. These excursions make the album less coherent. Marillion's Mark Kelly produces the album and also helps out on piano on one track. Chrissie Hammond reappears on backing vocals, but her presence is more discrete here than on the ...All The King's Men album.

The Myth Of Independence is a good album by a great and often misunderstood band, but it is certainly not the best place to begin with Jump

"Political disgrace is a ticket to an all-day, all-night party. Political intrigue is the substance abuse of the wealthy. Political power is the big stake of the business classes. Political deceit is adultery against the people."

With ...And All The King's Men, Jump's third studio album, the band "jumped" to a whole new level of quality. Their first two albums are not bad and show some promise, but the present album is something else altogether. Sadly, Jump would remain in relative obscurity. To say that ...And All The King's Men is unjustly overlooked would be an understatement. This is a sadly forgotten classic of the Neo-Prog genre.

The sound of this album can perhaps be described as a more eclectic and more rocking version of Fish-era Marillion. But such a simple description scarcely does justice to Jump who adds their own twists to the model Neo-Prog sound and make the style their own. Distinguishing features of Jump include the outstanding lead vocals of John Dexter Jones and the dazzling dual guitars of Steve Hayes and Pete Davies. This together with the ever-present keyboards of Mo and the bass and drums of Hugh Gascoyne and Andy Barker creates a powerful and appealing sound.

Jones' very articulate vocals really shine and he sounds as if he really means every word, nay every syllable! His voice is not used as just another musical instrument; indeed, as much care and attention have been given to the lyrics as has been to the music. I think it is fair to describe this album as weakly conceptual as most of the songs pertain in one way or another to political power and its abuses from time immemorial. The messages of the lyrics are reflective and they don't come across as "preachy". The perspective is that of a thoughtful observer who sees problems in the world but has not given up on humanity. It is not hard to identify with this general attitude regardless of where you stand on political policy.

The album opens with a "bang" with the excellent All The King's Horses. The half-sung, half-spoken vocals here are very effective. The guitar sound is clean and razor sharp, sometimes reminding of the twin guitar attack of Thin Lizzy. Seize the Day follows in similar high fashion. George's Revolution, on the other hand, is not much more than a decent rocker. It is not weak, but clearly one of the lesser tracks of the album. Camera City picks things up again describing a 1984-like dystopia of a city where the inhabitants are being watched (which has now become a reality in some cities of the world!). Here I detect a Rush influence in the music. Shed No Tears is another excellent track with a nice Genesis feel. The opening line "where then is my country?" evoking Peter Gabriel's immortal "can you tell me where my country lies?" Share The Shame has yet another strong vocal from Jones here backed up by Chrissie Hammond who adds some soulful backing vocals to a number of tracks.

Two Up, Two Down reminds me of Barclay James Harvest in style. This one also includes a "Rap" section! (Don't worry, it sounds much worse than it is). C. Hammond appears again in Judgement Day, a rather heavy rocker. Dangerous Devotions is the weakest track of the album, a bit of a boogie. But things quickly get back on track again with Another False Dawn and then the lovely closing two-part suite Someone Else's Prayer. Clocking in at close to an hour, this album could have been even better than it in fact is had it been shortened somewhat. But it is an excellent album as it stands. The two bonus tracks are good as well, but not up to par with the album tracks.

An overlooked gem, highly recommended to all fans of Neo-Prog.