Will Power (album)

Will Power is the eighth album by Joe Jackson.[1] Released in 1987, it is his first experiment with classical music, continued in later albums including Night Music, Heaven and Hell, and Symphony No. 1.

Will Power
Studio album by
Joe Jackson
ReleasedApril 1987[1]
RecordedFebruary 1986-January 1987
StudioRCA Studios, New York City
GenreClassical, rock
Length42:06
LabelA&M[2]
ProducerJoe Jackson
Joe Jackson chronology
Big World
(1986)		 Will Power
(1987)		 Live 1980/86
(1988)

The album peaked at #131 on the Billboard 200 album chart.[3]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Robert ChristgauC+[5]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[6]
Record Mirror[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]

Reviews for Will Power were very mixed. Terry Staunton, writing for New Musical Express, described Will Power as an "accomplished project" which "highlight[s] [the] extremely talented Jackson as a composer and arranger". He questioned the album's commercial potential but added that it would "perhaps lead to a flood of film score commissions".[9] Jane Wilkes of Record Mirror noted Jackson's diversity and said of the album, "You can call it pretentious, call it dramatic, but it's really rather relaxing at the end of the day."[7]

In the US, The New York Times called the album "a major step forward by an English composer and performer who has never remained in one place for long."[10] While praising Jackson's compositional skill (including his "flair for lovely melodic passages and unpredictable, often shimmering arrangements" involving "stunning cascades of sound reminiscent of contemporary composer John Adams"), the Los Angeles Times also wrote that "the lengthy, meandering 'Symphony in One Movement' is as colorless and pretentious as the title suggests."[11] Chris Woodstra of AllMusic retrospectively dismissed Will Power as "a good exercise in self-indulgence but little of anything else";[12] while Trouser Press described the album as "redolent with unrestrained pomposity... (a) trivial self-indulgence", commenting that "while Jackson may be impressed by his ability to convince an orchestra to play his melodramatically panoramic music, it’s unlikely anyone else will find this exercise especially rewarding."[13]

Track listing

All songs written, orchestrated and produced by Joe Jackson.[1]

No.TitleLength
1."No Pasaran"6:07
2."Solitude"9:37
3."Will Power"5:52
4."Nocturne"4:25
5."Symphony in One Movement"16:14

Personnel

Rhythm section

Orchestra

Horns and Woodwinds
  • Tony Aiello – alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet solo (5)
  • Chris Hunter – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
  • Steve Slagle – soprano saxophone (2)
  • Laura Conwesser, Andrew Lolya and Michael Parloff – flute, piccolo
  • Susan Trainer – piccolo (2)
  • Ray Beckenstein, Roger Rosenberg, Charles Russo and Dave Tofani – clarinet, bass clarinet
  • John Campo – bassoon
  • Henry Shuman – oboe
  • John Clark, Donal Corrado, Paul Ingraham and Jerry Peel – French horn
  • Tom Malone and Dave Taylor – trombone
  • Mel Davis and Michael Morreale – trumpet
Strings
  • Seymour Barab, Diane Barrere, Alla Goldberg, Warren Lash, Jean Leblanc, Richard Locker, Charles McCracken, Jacqueline Mullen and Fred Zlotkin – cello
  • John Beal, Homer Mensch, John Miller and Joe Tamosaitis – double bass
  • Lamar Alsop, Julien Barber, Jean Dane, Maureen Gallagher, Sol Greitzer, Ted Israel, Carol Landon, Sue Pray and Harry Zaratzian – viola
  • Marin Alsop, David Davis, Arnold Eidus, Lew Eley, Barry Finclair, Richard Henrickson, Regis Iandiorio, Jean Ingraham, Charles Libove, Louanne Montesi, Jan Mullen, David Nadien, John Pintavalle, Matthew Raimondi, Joseph Rabushka, Al Rogers, Richard Sortomme, Marti Sweet, Gerald Tarack, Marilyn Wright and Masako Yanagita – violin

Production
  • Joe Jackson – orchestrations, arrangements, producer, mixing, sleeve design
  • Michael Frondelli – engineer, mixing
  • Paul Goodman – engineer, mixing [14]
  • Dennis Ferrante – additional engineer
  • Laura Levine – photography
  • Art Collins and Barry Taylor – management

Charts
Chart performance for Will Power
Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[15] 67
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[16] 78
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 25
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 58
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[19] 20
US Billboard 200[20] 131

References
  1. Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 485–486. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 532.
  3. "Joe Jackson". Billboard.
  4. AllMusic review
  5. "Robert Christgau: CG: joe jackson". www.robertchristgau.com.
  6. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 583.
  7. Wilkes, Jane (25 April 1987). "Albums". Record Mirror. p. 14. ISSN 0144-5804.
  8. The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. pp. 350–351.
  9. Staunton, Terry (25 April 1987). "33". New Musical Express. p. 30.
  10. Holden, Stephen (22 April 1987). "THE POP LIFE; ORCHESTRAL EXPRESSIONS IN JOE JACKSON ALBUM (Published 1987)" – via NYTimes.com.
  11. "* * * * Great Balls of Fire , * * * Good Vibrations , * * Maybe Baby , * Running on Empty : JOE GETS SERIOUS". Los Angeles Times. 19 April 1987.
  12. "Joe Jackson - Will Power". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. "Joe Jackson". Trouser Press. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  14. Thompson, Clifford (7 October 2020). Contemporary World Musicians. Routledge. ISBN 9781135939618 – via Google Books.
  15. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 151. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  16. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0813". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Joe Jackson – Will Power" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Joe Jackson – Will Power" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  19. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 15 July 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Will Power" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
  20. "Joe Jackson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
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