Search - Jack Bruce :: Jet Set Jewel

Worth The Wait

K. E. Loucks | Columbus, OH USA | 09/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to admit I hesitated on "Jet Set Jewel". As a long-time fan of Jack Bruce, I had picked up "How's Tricks", his previous LP with the same band, back when it was originally released, and couldn't find anything to like about it. When I heard that their next outing was finally being released, I had my doubts. How WRONG I was!

This is an album that ranks with Bruce's best, in writing, playing, singing, on all levels. Although I doubt it would have jump-started his career - after all, Bruce always followed his own muse, and as he states in the liner notes, commercial success was not a big priority for him - if there was a "hit" here I believe it was "Neighbor, Neighbor". Don't be put off by the fact it was created in '78, when the world of '60's superstars was getting bleak and dire. Like all Bruce's solo work, this collection has a timeless feel that makes it hard to pigeon hole. If you have enjoyed the very best of Jack's work, you will enjoy this."

THE lost rock masterpiece of the 1970s

Studebacher Hoch | 09/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who were the fools that shelved this amazing album 25 years ago? Jack mentions in the liner notes how really bitter he was about this at the time & it's easy to see why now 25 years later: "Jet Set Jewel" was, for once, a fantastically produced set of 10 peerless songs with Jack's voice at the top of its form that would have completely revived his career without giving up an ounce of artistic integrity. The usual complaint about Jack's voice being 'whiny' & annoying (as on most of the material on "Out of the Storm") doesn't apply here at all as his voice not only seems to have regained the almost operatic range & balls-out power it had in the glory days of Cream but it & every other instrument were fine-tuned in the studio & balanced & layered & textured in every detail to a Steely Dan level of perfection. As for the songs, all 10 are winners full of the type of raw power, passion, beautiful & unexpected melodic turns & colorful lyrics Jack last displayed on the great "Harmony Row," except that now you also have the added bonus of Dennis MacKay's superior original production & 2003 level digital remastering. The 3 best songs (Jet Set Jewel, Mickey the Fiddler, The Best is Yet to Come) are, of course, the ones written by the legendary Bruce/Brown partnership & were on the "Willpower" compilation of a few years back. However, if you think those 3 songs are all you need, you're wrong. You'll really be missing out without the other 7 which are almost all on the same level of excellence give or take a few hairs. Even the weakest song overall, the straight Creamish funky blues workout of "Neighbor" has an unbelievably great saxophone solo on it by Dick Heckstall Smith of Graham Bond Organisation & Colossuem (all those curious should immediately check out the album "Valentye Suite" by Colossuem, it's a stone-cold classic).Most of the songs are too progressive & complicated to have garnered much AOR radio play in the late '70s but the title track written with Pete Brown is the exception. The title track is a flat-out AOR hit that never happened. Bruce fans have heard this song before in concert (and on "Willpower") but never like this. The production & the sheer strength of Jack's voice during these sessions (which unfortunately he lost and was never quite able to regain a couple of years later) will amaze you. This is exactly how Jack & his band needed to sound to regain the mythic dimension of the best late '60s psychedelic rock with 1978 studio technology. There are very few albums you listen to all the way through and are so amazed by you can do nothing but say "wow!" This is one of them. You are literally mesmerized and glad to be alive in a world where something as cool as this album can at least be created (even if not brought to the public for 25 years). Eric Clapton may have sold 10 million more records but Jack will always be the better artist, despite a few slip-ups here and there, precisely because of Albums like this one that dared to push the envelope and succeeded. As to the fools who shelved this 25 years back, I hope they're consigned to a desert island & forced to listen to bee gees records all day."

Keeps on Playing....

njrobbo | Bayonne, NJ | 03/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Outstanding musicianship on this one. Jet Set Jewel, Maybe It's Dawn, & She's Moving On are very well written & fantastically arranged. His stuff hits home more than most Clapton efforts--no slam against Clapton. To me, it seems like Bruce's stuff is just as, if not more sincere as EC's song-writing. Take it for what it's worth."