Rising Above Bedlam

Ok to listen to once, not something worth coming back to. 2/5

I never would have expected I could draw a straight line from the Sex Pistols to this band; so many strange musical directions coming out of the Sex Pistols camp. Anyways, my favourite part of PiL's Metal Box was Jah Wobble's dub bass playing, so I'm happy to be hearing more of that now. Normally, I am all for avant-garde post-punk, but I wasn't a big fan of Metal Box; Rising Above Bedlam is much more successful for me. I knew I was either going to love or absolutely hate an experimental, electronic world dub album and I am really enjoying this album.

In the late 70s Jah Wobble teamed up with Keith Levene and John Lydon to form Public Image Limited and produced some of the most aggressive and subversive music of the post punk era.

Now here he is, 12 years later, producing vaguely New Age, World Music and Soda that could safely be put on in the background of a rather lovely, elegant dinner party. ("DARLING! We get the tahini for the hummus from a funny little man in the Farmer's Markets who grinds his own sesame seeds!")

To go from "Metal Box" to this may not be an improvement. It's certainly inoffensive, in an Enya sort of way, and Sinead O'Connor's voice improves anything. But remember when he was in a band that could strip wallpaper if you turned it up loud enough?

I mean, it’s a vibe. But it doesn’t stray from that vibe for a second. And if they are saying anything profound it is lost on me. It’s not that long of an album and I was getting bored by half way through.

It is not a bad album, but it's not one of my favourite genres.

I kind of enjoyed "Visions of You", "Rising Above Bedlam", or "Everyman's an Island".

On the other hand, I don't like the most Spanish-influenced tracks (such as "Bomba" or " Soledad").

So, it is kind of average, in the range of 2,5 stars.

I kinda warmed to this as it went on. His basslines obviously very cool and I liked the fusion of styles by the end. I think if his vocals were a bit better, you could have a great album here.

Really boring music

Better than Coldplay

Kept me guessing

I know of Jah Wobble from the early days of punk and PiL, so this wasn’t quite what I expected. It’s a really good sound, though, and an enjoyable listen. And, as you might expect, the bass is excellent throughout.

Solid album. Cool bass and “world music” flourishes. Perhaps of its time.

Kind of an interesting world music sounding album. It was fine.

Tiene algun momento interesante, pero en general muy meh.

It feels strange to label a record with such a large amount of variety as tedious, but I hate pretty much everything Jah Wobble is trying to do. This is dub music made by an ex-member of PiL who is attempting to blend every Global genre under the sun and the fusions simply don't work. I don't want to hear an English guy from a punk background trying to bring together Latin, Arabic and Jamaican influences under one roof. Its senseless and harebrained.

... this is the first album that I did not listen to...

Not because I have an issue with the album, but more because I was not able to find it available in a format that suited the moment--yes, I know that I can find it on youtube, but I hate listening to albums on youtube.

So, in order not to tip the scale up or down, this get's a 3*

Not the worst thing, nice for background music.

low 3/5

I don’t really like this. Very atmospheric but doesn’t have a lot of substance to it. It’s giving a trustafarian sound: surface-level exploration of world music and philosophical themes. Not to mention the voice, reminds me of Public Image Ltd.’s vocalist, kinda adds a B-movie soundtrack vibe for this album.

Despite having dance beats, it’s quite tiring listening to this. Not sure if this is a sign of burnout in this challenge but I find it more difficult embracing an open mind with albums I’m not familiar with.

Als het album begint, hoor ik vage klanken die alleen begin '90's opgenomen werden. Maar al snel wordt er licht Dylanesque doorheen gezongen. Later volgen meer oosterse klanken. Inmiddels heb ik op de link geklikt en lees ik dat meneer een voorliefde voor dub had. Ja, dat komt ook duidelijk terug. Daarna lees ik pas goed met welke groep we te maken hebben. Ah, Jah Wobble. Die punk van hem scoorde niet hoog bij mij. Maar dat lag wel wat meer aan de zang. Ik noem daarbij zelfs dat ik nog wel wat creativiteit ervaar. Daar is meneer het zelf niet mee eens volgens wiki. Hij vond PIL maar beperkend voor zijn creativiteit. Nou, we kunnen niet ontkennen dat dit plaatje heel wat creatiever is.

2,5 ster

Wasn't really sure what to expect with this, but I thought it was quite fun

Man, we need to make it illegal for Westerners to make music in the style of other culture's music. It just comes off as incredibly cringe and appropriative. Especially when there's a shitton of this on the list and not music from the actual culture that this stuff is ripped off of. I've complained about this a lot when 60's psychedelic bands appropriate Indian music, and it's no different here.

Overall, it's FINE-ish, I guess, but it's not particularly good. It just sounds like someone who doesn't really understand the music he's trying to copy. Just incredibly basic. Vocals are pretty awful when Mr. Wobble is on the mic.

And why is this even on the list? The thing it seems to have going for it is the bassist was in Public Image, Ltd., and that it was included in the 1001.
If anyone can elucidate me on why it should be included, let me know.

Man, England will let anything get radio play, huh? Like, I praise the 90's for letting anything get radio play, but generally that "anything" was pretty good. Beck, New Radicals, Butthole Surfers. But even in the wild west of weird but good music that the 90's cornered the market on, you're bound to find some trash.

Lastly, bro... can we stop with the English bands with awful names? Jah Wobble. Badly Drawn Boy. Elbow. Klaxons. The Boo Radleys. Enough. Come up with a good name for your band, otherwise I'm putting you in time out.