Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography

HOME SONGS

Jump

Neo-Prog


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Jump Home Songs album cover
3.12 | 16 ratings | 3 reviews | 6% 5 stars

Write a review

Buy JUMP Music
from Progarchives.com partners
Studio Album, released in 2003

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Home Song (4:14)
2. All Hail (3:25)
3. The Better Part of Valour (4:07)
4. Never Too Far (4:35)
5. My Little Eye (4:37)
6. Spin the Silver (6:18)
7. Let Alone My Mother Down (3:54)
8. The Witness (6:11)
9. Fresh Young Thing (4:53)
10. Different Story Now (6:33)

Total time: 48:47

Line-up / Musicians

- Andy Barker / drums
- Mo / keyboards
- Andy Faulkner / bass
- Steve Hayes / guitars
- Pete Davies / guitars
- John Dexter Jones / vocals

Releases information

Cyclops Record,s CYCL 131

Thanks to windhawk for the addition
Edit this entry

Buy JUMP Home Songs Music



JUMP Home Songs ratings distribution


3.12
(16 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(6%)
6%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(56%)
56%
Good, but non-essential (25%)
25%
Collectors/fans only (12%)
12%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

JUMP Home Songs reviews


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

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Team
3 stars 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.

Review by kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Reviewer
4 stars There surely can't be much left to say about these guys ? for years they have been one of the hardest gigging bands in the UK and they have released the odd album or two, all of the same high quality. In fact, apart from the extremely amicable parting from their original bassist a few years ago they still have the same line-up as when they started (although for this album they have now added a backing singer). This is British rock; I would hesitate at using the word 'English' as that may just upset the rather tall and very vocal front man John Dexter Jones. Jump never fail to produce the goods, and 'Home Songs' is another case in point, although I did find that this album took a bit more perseverance than its predecessor 'On Impulse'.

It is songs such as "The Better Part Of Valour" that show this band at their best (is that a mandolin I hear?). It is strong and powerful yet at the same time with plenty of room for John to take centre stage. These guys may never be fashionable but they know what they want to produce, and don't worry if the record buying masses don't get to see things their way. This is quality and they know it. They do sometimes step almost into the prog field, with "Never Too far" having some Marillionesque tendencies, but then they also put on some slide guitar just to ensure that no-one thinks that they are clones of anyone. Jump often get lumped in with prog bands, as they seem to share a similar audience, but they have more in common with class acts of old than they do with neo-prog pretenders of today.

It is another album by Jump, therefore it is good. A mathematical certainty.

Originally appeared in Feedback #73, Jun 03

Review by kenethlevine
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog-Folk Team
2 stars Bands like JUMP are perhaps as relevant today as they ever were, occupying a niche at the intersection of British folk and rock, with precious little in common with older or newer neo prog. They tend to compact vocal oriented message or story songs with a mix of hard rock and folk instrumentation. Rarely are their progressive tendencies allowed to dominate the meticulous arrangements. As a result, they can be given short shrift by prog "purists" demanding profligate 12 minute monstrosities, the likes of which might explain the copiousness of many neo discographies. Supply meets demand. By contrast, JUMP can only be judged on the quality of their output, not by whether or not they should have extended this or that guitar solo or made song X more complex.

Unfortunately, in the case of "Home Songs", that assessment is decidedly mixed. On the one hand are pleasant ditties like the opening cut or "The Witness", or tired and bland rockers like "The Better Part of Valour", "Never too Far", and "Fresh Young Thing". Tellingly, the only outstanding track, "My Little Eye", reminds me of Irish folk rock icon CHRISTY MOORE more than Moore himself. That is not a good sign for a band that struggles for identity beyond JOHN DEXTER JONES' glorious tones.

If you are looking for a first JUMP album, I would not recommend bringing these songs home, but if you are already a fan, you are unlikely to be terribly disappointed. 2.5 stars rounded down.

Latest members reviews

No review or rating for the moment | Submit a review

Post a review of JUMP "Home Songs"

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.