Customer Reviews

Cross That Line

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Prisoner" begins the album with a superhummable tune, strings, a heavily processed sound that sounds like axe god guitar, and the superstitious belief that photos trap the mortal soul.

"Everlasting Love" has piano sweetened grown up love that lasts.

"Powerhouse" has Howard going all house music on us! Electro chorus, sweeping synth and a bunch of sexy come ons "you must have been thru college...got a lovin' degree"... Great!!

"Last Supper" is the one ballad...the touching song that is a cornerstone on his albums. This is a sad song about the end of a relationship...a couple having their last meal together. So sad how can I go on listening to this album....hmmm what's next?

"Cross That Line" is funky! Sparkly! Sweetly sweaty and just fun!

"Out of Thin Air" is a beautiful piano solo instrumental. Very impressionistic and evocative of new age beauties like the seasonal epics of George Winston. Just really pretty as it sets up the mood for the rest of the CD.

"Guardians of the Breath" has a great sound effect: ultra sonic recorded samples of body sounds like blood rushing, teeth tapping, breathing and hair stroking (which sounds like a forest being blown away). The song is about how man takes from the earth and wonders what happens when there is no earth left to take? Deeply issue oriented and heartfelt.

"Fresh Air Waltz" warms up with synthstrings and a 1-2-3-1-2-3 melody. "Fresh air is just what you need".

"Wanders to You" is so different from what Howard has done before. Longing for human contact, musing about vices, the fantasies the mind creates when it gets lonely. "There you are with your golden brown skin....the salt of a marguritta lingers on your lips". But fantasies become reality "there you are with your London gray skin...the cream from a guiness lingers on your lips..". Musicwise the song features a lot of acoustic sounds, brass, bass and drums with a bit of synth. Very good!!!

"Those Who Move Clouds" Howard has a habit of ending his albums on a downer. Ussually he wants you think about the subject matter. In this song Howard sings about the powerful people who run the world holding all our fates...the sound grows with Russian shortwave samples murmering. As the sounds builds to its crest it is drowned by a baby's laughter. OK I got the heartcreeps! I do love this because it is so thought provoking!

There you go,that's the whole CD! Give it a listen....might make you think!

Much like HoJo's other works (with the exception of "Dream Into Action"), "Cross That Line" is an album with a handful of great songs, and others that fall flat. The album starts off incredibly strong with "The Prisoner" and "Everlasting Love". Two of HoJo's best songs, but radically different. "Last Supper" is a tragic song that keeps you on the edge of tears (well... if you've been in that kind of a situation I guess). And "Fresh Air Waltz" is a positive track which has an infectious melody. "Those Who Move Clouds" is a decent closer, but the rest of the album I tend to skip.

"Out of Thin Air" is the most beautiful song I've ever encountered! "Powerhouse" rocks! "Those Who Move Clouds" sends chills down my spine! "Last Supper" is a great song. I love this album! It's in my top 5 of all time!

Cross That Line--released in 1989--is Howard Jones' fourth full-length album. It is comprised of ten compositions. The material is in a pop musical direction. All in all, I think that the songwriting is worthy, the musicianship is tight, and the sound quality is crisp. Some of the songs contain brass instrumentation and female background vocals. Also, the album sports only minimal guitar playing. Jones does well with the singing. An instrumental is supplied, "Out of Thin Air," along with two epics--"Guardians of the Breath" and the airy "Those Who Move Clouds." The melancholic, atmospheric "Guardians of the Breath" exhibits attractive bass guitar playing and industrious vocals from Jones. My favorite tracks are "The Prisoner," "Last Supper," and "Out of Thin Air." "The Prisoner" is a lively tune that displays an engaging, smeary-sounding keyboard melody, nice singing from Jones, and smooth harmony vocals. "Last Supper" is a pleasing ballad with poignant vocals from Jones on the refrain. The pretty "Out of Thin Air" consists solely of piano work from Jones. Other enjoyable pieces are "Everlasting Love" and "Powerhouse." The spirited "Everlasting Love" has a charming intro and a catchy, unforgettable chorus, while "Powerhouse" is a fun, perky cut that features female backing vocals that are interesting and velvety. As for the CD booklet, it includes the song lyrics and four photos of Jones; also, one of these photos is on the back of the CD jewel case. The disc is just over 48 minutes. Cross That Line is a good piece of work.

This is an album from Howard Jones that I can't say I much get into. It's obvious it's quite different than his past offerings. Overall though, most of this album is just too mellow and uninteresting. The production and the musicianship are good, but the songs just aren't very captivating. Exceptions are "Prisoner" and "Out of Thin Air." "Powerhouse" is also pretty upbeat and fun to listen to. Cross that Line is my least favorite album from Howard Jones, but it isn't completely bad though.

If you liked that articular album, 'Cross The Line' is going to leave you quite flat. The Prisoner and Everlasting Love are certainly decent enough. But the rest of the album leaves me wondering what the hell happened. The fun-loving energy of 'Dream Into Action' just seems to be missing on this album, only to be replaced by WAY too many slow and boring songs that seem more appropriate on an elevator music station. Of course, some people might like this. But it is not my cup of tea.

On his fourth album of what turned out to be a fruitful decade for him,he found himself several years from his previous release. 1989 turned out to be a crucial year for changes in music. Various embellishments not withstanding,the music world at this point was witnessing the official end of the pop revolution and the beginning of the what was essentially the modern music era. The age of superstars were no more. It was all about keeping it real. And most musics from this point would actually be either some variation of hip-hop or alternative rock. A lot of people would begin sacrificing songcraft and melody for "credibility". And since those were two qualities that defined Howard Jones he could've all too easily found himself in an artistic quagmire. The fact that several years had passed since One To One had come out,Howard knew for sure that the synth pop/new wave era was officially over by this time. The result of this awareness resulted in what sounds to be the most engaging and creatively potent of all his albums.

Beginning with "The Prisoner" was an excellent idea since it was the one song here that most resembled his previous synth pop/dance type material. His interests in jazz and funk,apparent a bit more heavily on his previous two albums are where he takes the rest of what's here. And it's amazing the combinations he comes up with. "Everlasting Love" and "Last Supper" again both wax philosophical on matters of love and life and both with upbeat,soulful grooves to match. The title song finds him grooving out on some pounding funk that actually gets very percussive at the bridge. "Powerhouse" finds him realizing the potential of a House type dance number,the sort of techno/DJ inspired dance music that became the standard after the demise of the synth pop/new wave sound. On the piano based instrumental "Out Of Thin Air",the long and rather abstract "Guardians Of The Breath","Fresh Air Waltz" and the closing,topical/cold war musing of "Those Who Move Clouds" he's moving towards a richly textured jazz/world fusion sounds full of exotic drum effects,fretless bass layering and unusual vocal harmonies.

Things would never quite be the same for Howard Jones after this album. Starting here,he just wasn't getting the type of hits he'd earned with his first three albums. And was gradually becoming less a pop artist than someone with a more self expressive bent. This happened to a lot of British new wave artists,especially people such as Thomas Dolby who as you'll see in my other Howard Jones reviews is one of the few people with whom I can give Howard the closest comparison. This is his swansong for the 80's too. And likely the best possible way to end the decade too. And it was more than just a creative juncture in this artists career. It represented the end of an era. Perhaps as another reviewer pointed out Howard Jones tended to end his albums with downbeat songs. But in a way it was appropriate here. Howard,the new wave artist who'd poetically encouraged creative freedom of expression in his lyrics throughout his career was about to be succeeded by artists who would demand the same thing very explicitly. And they like Howard did actually have the right idea. But "HoJo" succeeded aesthetically in one area where others later struggled. He realized that those who cannot hear an angry shout in music may strain to hear a whisper. And that kind of sums up this one record in a lot of ways too.

This album is a bit of an improvement over One to One, but it still lack the feeling of his first 2 albums.
It has very good songs like Prisoner and Everlasting love, but most of the songs just aren't very energetic and sometimes get a bit boring.
It's great for background music though, like if you drawing or programming or something requiring attention but not all that engaging.
Still great album for background music, very soothing.

All Howard Jones fans should own this disque. I am replacing my vinyl with it, which is worn out due to play. Both hits and the signature Howard esoteric keyboard playing is well worth the patience to give it a solid listening.

This album was nothing spectacular. It has some good songs on it, but I really bought it for Last Supper. I love that song and this was the only album I could find with it.