Customer Reviews

The Magazine

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First I must preface this with a warning- this cd is supposed to be a departure from Jones' work in general, although I never found it to be so. But nothing I can say in this review can do this cd any justice at all.

I feel very blessed that I found this album 11 years ago, at the age of 16. Why? Because it was a hell of a soundtrack to grow up to. "Magazine" is just glorious as a whole, and it's always reminded me of the soundtrack to a play, the way in which the songs seem to be carefully ordered. I'll never forget the chills I first got when I heard the 'Prelude to Gravity', and then how the song soared. In fact, I still get them. The song remains one of my all time favorites, and it's impact on me is still just as serious as it was back then.

Another highlight on the album is 'Deep Space', which is incredibly moving. I remember first hearing this song on my schoolbus (yeah, I know) and just wanting to cry. I didn't back then, but this song always pops up in my head at appropriate moments. While the song is sparse, the lyrics are breathtaking.

"Where the Lord's face
Is an all-night cafe
There's a woman who will wait on
What you have to say
And your dreams are like marbles
In the pocket of a little boy
And they whisper when you hold them
Like a beautiful girl"

I must warn you that this album is NOT for everyone. I've played/bought it for many, many people who just don't understand what makes it so special. It's not an acoustic folk album. There are horns. It's quite jazzy, and at times, something you can sing loudly to. 'Jukebox Fury' seems especially made for singing, and I belt that out quite often, whether or not the cd is even on. You have to be the kind of person who appreciates and pays attention to lyrics in order to get a lot out of this cd, as Jones is an incredible poet, as well as singer. For me, this cd is timeless, but I've heard others who say it isn't.

If you like Rickie at all, or are looking for some music that you can make a connection with, this is your cd. Amazon should be selling it for a lot more, but the price is right, so what do you have to lose?

This album, which I first heard when I was 15, like the other reviewers on this site, has been one that I always come back to. It is, in short, a masterpiece of poetic, jazzy, unforgettable and unpredictable composition, and for all that, it constantly guts you with it's intimacy. Like Steely Dan compositions, RLJ has a way of investing changes that are so unorthodox but so perfectly suited to her music, that the sounds are always fresh, even almost 20 years on. Runaround is my personal fav because no one can match Rickie on this type of funky, streetwise pop song, but I can't fault the first nine tracks on this CD at all. The playing on this record is incredible - you can feel the musicians using the space allowed them on these tracks with sheer joy and inventiveness, yet the whole thing hangs together with ruthless self discipline. The final enigmatic Rorschachs song cycle is a journey that may be too challenging for some, but is rewarding and passionate at a level that popular music very rarely reaches. This LP is probably my favourite album for Rickie Lee and that's really saying something.

This album along with Rickie's most recent release Evening of my Best Day are crowning achievements for one of America's most inspiring talents. She's been criminally underrated throughout her career, but anyone who has been exposed to her work will know the power and the presence she possesses. This is probably her most emotional release and definitely her most personal. Deep Space, Prelude to Gravity, Gravity, infact all of the cuts are great. Amazing production job and vocal delivery contribute to one of the best albums of the 80's. if not all time

This is my favorite of Rickie's recordings. I first was introduced to her music with Flying Cowboys. I used to really enjoy listening to that one late at night as I was closing a store I used to work in. That one has a myriad of musical styles in it, and is really mood-altering and uplifting at the same time, but this album I find to beautiful in a different sort of way.

I agree with the other reviewers that it definitely has a more keyboard-laden approach in relation to her other albums, and her lyrics are more abstractly poetic as opposed to her first few albums. But I think the arrangements and words are simply majestic in their own right, and a great timepiece for the musical vibes going on in the 80's.

If I could best describe the feel of these songs, I would say for me it is like hearing the soundtrack to a movie about real life. Listening to it when I'm in the garage on a cloudy day, It really seemed to illustrate for me in song the feel of growing up in the suburbs. It reminds me of the brown brick building style that used to be so prevalent, of the feeling of watching e.t. in someone's basement den for the first time, of coping with long dormant memories of a time left behind. It also seems to fit with the music that I used to really dig in the early 80's, like Michael Mcdonald, or Steely Dan. But though this album sounds so great, and so real, I can't necessarily compare it directly to any other artists from the same period, though it totally sounds familiar, and modern. It's almost as though it is that way for me because it manages to accurately illustrate an essence beyond music, a place in time, maybe a spirit of the times, I dunno.
For me, it's not the kind of album I'll listen to constantly, but when I'm in the mood, nothing else will suffice.

I wonder also if she ever has done more music along these same lines, it would be great to her more in a similar vein.

I wanted also to recommend another great-sounding obscure early eighties album called Offramp, by a guy named Pat Metheny. This doesn't really sound anything like The Magazine, but it is simply the most amazing instrumental jazz-type album I've ever heard. If anyone's ever heard Kind of Blue by Miles Davis, this album is its equal, though it is nothing like the music on that album either. I believe it similar to The Magazine though, at least in that for me it really fits in the same mold for the general vibe it gives me. Kind of like enlightened loneliness interspersed with uplifting harmony.

When I was a poor waiter working in Chicago, a group of the bohemian staff and I used to go to this arty bar on the west side of the city after work to talk and drink. There playing in the background on a turntable behind the bar was The Magazine. This is a hard albumn to describe: atmospheric, reminiscent and heart-achingly beautiful. A great sense of space evolves around the songs and production-wise, it gels so well to be almost considered a concept albumn. It's been over ten years since I first heard this albumn, but I never tire of it's simple, genius qualities.

Though her name was not strange to me due to "Chuck E's In Love", I had never really checked her out till this album had been out for almost a year. I remember hearing a review of it along with sound bites and a brief interview of her on NPR, and liked what I heard. Once I got it in my hands, I couldn't stop playing it. Musically, it's somewhat conceptual. That beautifull intro melody that opens this disc reappears near the end on synths instead of strings, as she speaks of childhood memories. I soon aquired her first 2 releases, which to me, are better. This one was a bit over produced, but I've always admired artists who take chances, and RLJ has proved over and over again to be an artist who does just that.

this album (from a time when they were still albums) is still fresh and modern and listening to it again makes you aware of how many artists have been influenced by this music, some of the musical chords amazingly poignant and others so exciting and energy-filled. If you haven't sat still and listened to this from one end to the other in years (while re-reading the lyrics), you owe yourself a treat to do so, you won't regret a moment of it.

My first copy of this album I purchased on cassette, upon its initial release. The cassette was crystal clear plastic... which proved fitting.

Rickie's sirene voice cut through the tape hiss, without being shrill, and seemed to make the accompanying strings and synthesizers ring in sympathy. On CD, the effect is breathtaking. Although the emphasis on synth will tend to date this album, the composition and production are first rate, exhibiting depth and emotion that so much synthesized music from this decade seems to lack. One is left with the general impression of a graceful ice sculpture or a delicate lead glass figurine.

Rickie Lee Jones sets a high water mark for female vocalists on this concept album, exploring phrasings, rhythms, and even silences with casual vocal dexterity. Fans of her earlier albums will be very pleased with Juke Box Fury, It Must Be Love, and Runaround. I tend to favor the serene passions evoked by tracks like Gravity and Unsigned Painting. After 16 years, I still listen to this album regularly.

I just can not believe that William Ruhlmann of AllMusic would call this recording pretentious and empty handed. Transfering my vinil to cd brought great memories and what a pleasure to listen Again. Brought her voice to another level, a breakthrough in it's own time. Love It....

I bought the album in the 80's when it came out. I ended up buying her previous albums too. I recently heard "It must be love" and decided I had to have the cd. (My record player is long gone). I got it yesterday and it is still one of the greatest albums/cds ever. Rickie Lee Jones is a poet and a musician unlike any other. From "Gravity" to "Juke Box Fury" to "Deep Space" she is both diverse, moving and original.