Customer Reviews

Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions

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This is one of those CDs you can listen to over and over and it still feels fresh each time. Maybe it's just me but these tracks for the most part highlight Sly and Robbie and the whole compass point sound at its finest. It mixes rock, r'n'b, dub, reggae and funk in a perfect mix.

Some may ask if you really need 2 versions of most songs, and I say, yes! For all I know Ms. Jones may have been essential to these recordings, but in the end it is really about exploration of the interaction between music and rhythm. So the mostly instrumental dub versions are perfect. And if you like this set try "Island Life" which has a few songs from Ms. Jones' early period not on here.

There are SO MANY compilations devoted to this woman's music. I think she actually has more compilation albums than she had regular albums. Whatever. This one's a real winner. Especially if you liked her early eighties work. This double cd covers everything from hard-edged dance tunes ( Warm Leatherette ) to ballads ( the gorgeous I've Done It Again ) to dub reggae ( just about everything else ). Appearing on cd for the first time are several extended versions of songs from her albums ( which were actually recorded as extended versions, by the studio band, the Compass Point All-Stars, not just remixed and extended by some studio boffin ). Great liner notes. Great cover versions. I LOVE THIS CD. Very highly recommended.

I should start off by noting that this collection is not a complete overview of Grace Jones's recording career. None of her 1970s disco tracks appear here, nor does any of her sporadic output from the late 1980s and early '90s. That said, it's hard to imagine that the inclusion of any of those tracks could improve the quality of this set. The material presented here is a striking blend of reggae, funk, new wave and disco; and despite the fact that each of those musical genres peaked decades ago, the songs included on this CD have held up extremely well. The production (by Chris Blackwell and Alex Sadkin) is sharp, clean and exciting; and Jones's band (headed by Sly & Robbie) cooks. While these guys deserve a lot of the credit for the high quality of these songs, a great deal of credit should also go to Jones. She projects a powerful, authoritative presence throughout, and her dark, stylish talk-singing fits this material like a glove. What's more, two of the set's best songs - "My Jamaican Guy" and "Living My Life" - carry a sole songwriting credit for Jones.

The many remakes included here bear witness to the talent, intelligence and impeccable taste of the Compass Point group, too. Granted, it would be difficult for even the most objective listener to call Grace Jones a serious interpretive singer; some would even hesitate to call her a singer, period. But many of the smashing cover versions contained here - specifically Roxy Music's "Love is the Drug," the Normal's "Warm Leatherette" and the Pretenders' "Private Life" - are absolutely definitive and belong completely to Jones. The other originals included here are also first-rate. "Pull Up to the Bumper" is a dance-funk gem and one of Jones's only singles to reach the upper levels of a major Billboard chart (R&B #5). The provocative "Walking in the Rain," the punchy "Nipple to the Bottle" and the haunting, Trevor Horn-produced "Slave to the Rhythm" are all sensational should-have-been hits, as well. There's even a surprisingly good version of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire": Just imagine what the possibilities might have been for that video! The only track that I find unlistenable, out of the 26 included here, is the grating "She's Lost Control," which finds Jones screaming like a madwoman at the end of the song. (Then again, it's probably just part of the act.)

If the scary videos, harsh costumes and not-ready-for-prime-time performances turned you off the first time, then you've truly missed out on something special. Grace Jones is ripe for rediscovery, and you won't find a better way to do this than the excellent, accessible "Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions." It's a much better buy than the brief "Island Life" compilation, which sacrifices much of the brilliant Sly & Robbie work for some weak disco cuts. Plus, the 24-page booklet contains an excellent essay and some period photos of Jones. I don't know that we'll ever get a Grace Jones box set, but with the magnificent "Compass Point Sessions," we may not need one. It just doesn't get any better than this.

The dynamic queen of outrage; her stunning, fierce looks and her legendary temper made her famous far beyond those who would ever hear her music. That's the perfect way to describe Jones' recording career. In 1979 her disco theme were cramped; forcing Grace to evolve herself and her musical aspirations. By the help of artist Jean Paul-Goude, they created the basics: a stunning androgynous look and a fast hard hitting rhythm, controlled by reggae legends Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. "Warm Leatherette" was the first of three stunning albums recorded at the Compass Point studios in the Bahamas. The album was an immediate UK success hitting the Top 50 in the album charts; the single "Private Life" was one of her first worldwide hits establishing herself as a regular on the British top chart. "Warm Leatherette" was a compilation of several of covers, from Tom Petty "Breakdown" to Roxy Music "Love Is the Drug" to the Motown's "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" to far beyond Daniel Millers ominous title track "Warm Leatherette". "Warm Leatherette" also brought Grace the public acknowledgement she never received for her disco work; basically Grace stuck with the chosen songs and further improved them. In 1981 the second album arrived titled: Nightclubbing. Again Sly & Robbie provided the great back-up music for Grace it turned out to be Grace's most successful album to date. Proving once again that Grace had chosen the perfect songs to interpret, her amazing cover of Bill Withers' "Use Me" becomes a sexual plead, and her rocking rendition of the Police's "Demolition Man" made the original totally obsolete. "Nightclubbing" is her most delicious recording to date; from Iggy Pop "Nightclubbing" to Flash the Pan's torch song "Walking in the Rain" really put Grace on the musical map, even as far as, the New Musical Express crowned it album of the year, 1981. Despite of the great covers Grace co-wrote her perhaps biggest hit to date: Pull Up to the Bumper, which is a delicious chocolate flowing in-between dub, proving Grace to be equally versatile as the cover songs chosen. The last of three albums, came in 1982, titled, Living My Life. This time around Grace was overly more involved with the entire process, from song writing to even co-producing the songs. "Living My Life" once again proved Grace's capability as a performer. "My Jamaican Guy" has inspired many hip-hop artist over the years, noteworthy, L.L Coo J's massive hit "Doin' It". Overall "Living My Life" was such a personal piece of work, Nipple to the Bottle recycling the beat of "Pull Up to the Bumper" and "Cry Now, Laugh Later" presented the avant-garde in Grace. Think you can handle a growling rendition of Melvin Van Peebles "The Apple Stretching"? Just listen to Grace's deep conviction and be prepared to be amazed. With "Slave to the Rhythm" Grace further improved her image as the queen of outrage, proving to be one of Grace's biggest hit singles. When all is said and done, Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions is the perfect introduction to her prime-years in music. Although not career-spanning, it showcases Grace Jones' amazing capability as a singer and entertainer. Grace Jones may not regain that kind of perfection ever again, but she doesn't have to, the recordings are the chronicles of her art.

Recorded at Bahamas Island studio recording retreat, Compass Point, here is a collection of long versions, never released, and dubs of songs from Grace Jones' albums of the eighties. It's wonderful. Jones always had the benefit of fine studio session players and the musical cast here shines in a dreamy Jamaican soundscape of romantic endless Summers and street-wise smarts. Her voice is sometimes zombie-like frightening as in the ominous cover of Flash and The Pan's "Walking In The Rain", and sometimes sedate and hypnotic as in her many excursions into sleepy French language back-up vocals ("I've Seen That Face Before"), but it is always expressive and powerful, a perfect niche to the rhythm and flow of the lush, multi-layered music. Joy Division's "She's Lost Control" is turned into a comedic, violent, and deliciously psychotic urban anthem and the whole CD rings with infectious grooves and sing-along charm.

Private Life: The Compass Point Sessions makes for the definitive Grace Jones collection for both the eager and casual fan. What the compilation has to offer is the full range of sounds and styles Grace Jones experimented in during her time at Island Records between 1980 - 1986. The recordings included are all variously plucked from the handful of albums Grace recorded on the label. The first batch of titles are extracts from the fantastic Warm Leatherette (1980) album, her debut on the label and one of her most consistent efforts boasting a striking mixture of Reggae, Rock, Funk and Soul. Her adventurous cover version of The Pretenders, Private Life was one of the greatest of her career. It showcased Jones unusual penchant for talking and seemingly scowling through the lyrics. To be fair, Grace Jones is only a mediocre singer a best and its the well-assembled musical arrangements that highlights the album though she does a fair job on her rocking cover of Bryan Ferry's Love Is The Drug. The long versions of tracks like these are vastly effective and atmospheric. BreakDown is mellow in its content containing vibrant blends of Reggae and Rock whilst Warm Leatherette is fun and playful. One of her most commercial-influenced recordings, The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game remained hidden away on the Warm Leatherette album. This updated, soulful track was a cover of a track origanally recorded by Motown's premier female groups, The Marvelettes and had been written by the genius Smokey Robinson. The jamming musical arrangements are instantly infectious and Grace puts in an effective, red blooded performance whilst she shows that can indeed muster her voice into softer soprano as she does on the late night Jazz number I've Done It Again. Never have I heard her sound so effeminate as she so blatantly does on this recording. Pars is yet another track to be swiped from the Warm Leatherette set which is in its origanal long play format. One of Jones best recordings was easily the jamming Pull Up To The Bumper. This proved to be Grace Jones biggest hit singles and stormed its way up the R&B charts. There are a vast number of tracks plucked from the acclaimed Nightclubbing album including the title track itself. The recording sounds dated today and even quite laughable but Jones firmly believes in what shes doing making it rise a little above its almost banal mediocrity whilst Walking In The Rain is vastly hypnotic with its stark, trance-like arangements. Feel Up shows just what an eccentric and strange artist she truly was as does the blatantly weird but yet compelling, I've Seen That face Before. Theres also a host of tracks lifted from the Living My Life (1982) album which was variable in quality though still hosted some fine tracks including the exotic My Jamican Guy which is featured in its 12 inch vesion. There is fire in Unlimited Capacity For Love but admitedly Living My Life (to me at least) sounds hideously dated. Finally the album ends on a triumphant high with the fantastic classic, Slave To The Rhythm which along with Pull Up To The Bumper is perharps a key landmark in her considerably short and erratic recording career. Everything you need by Grace Jones is basically here though there were indeed some fantastic tracks on Inside Story (1986) and Bulletproof Heart (1989) and who can forget the romantic, La Vie En Rose (featured on her debut album, Portfolio; 1977). Still it makes for consistent and often compelling listening even to the casual fan. A blatantly weird talent that curiously was compelling in being so. Certainly has a diverse and highly origanal range. Recommended.

Grace Jones is a magnificent singer and performer who`s meant a lot for my generation. Amada Grace transcends the boring cliches and the black garbage that radio gaga imposes on us today. Please come back!

I am so BORED with music lately, i can barely turn on the radio. Does everything sound the same now? This Grace Jones collection is a reminder of how exciting and original music can be. It may have been recorded in the early 80's, but it sounds fresher and more exciting than most music coming out today. The only problem: why isn't she doing something now!

Firstly, none of the tracks on this release are new remixes. Some have been previously unreleased, but they were all mixed at the time of recording. Those reviewers who say the remixes are poor or simply irrelevant have missed the point. "Compass Point Sessions" is a compilation of Grace Jones' trilogy of albums recorded in Nassau, Bahamas, in the early 80s. There are a few album tracks missing, but they have made way for previously unreleased tracks and mixes. Secondly, Jones' earlier disco work is not included in this collection as it was recorded for a different label. As a summary of Jones' move into the mainstream, "Compass Point" is superb, especially as it subverts its own internal logic by ending with a great mix of Jones' much later song "Slave to the Rhythm". Although some may argue there is simply too much repetition in songs, "Compass Point" at least documents an extraordinarily fertile period for Grace Jones, and more importantly, these tracks still sound great!

Length:: 1:23 Mins