Customer Reviews

Slave to the Rhythm

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Grace Jones is definitely known for her distinctive style and flair in everything she does, and this piece is no different. Subtitled "The Rhythm In 8 Parts", it is just that...a concept album/remix album showcasing 8 different interpretations and extrapolations of the awesome "Slave To The Rhythm", interspersed with segments of two different interviews with Grace (one of which is conducted by Paul Morley of ZTT/The Art of Noise/Frankie Goes To Hollywood fame). You have a Gotterdammerung-ian opening number (and you can almost see the smoke and backing dancers in your mind's eye as you listen), a very sexy, sassy house number custom-made for the catwalk, a dark and brooding piece with narration by Grace's former partner (and lover) Jean-Paul Goude, an abstract Sturm-und-Drang operatic movement, the "original" song itself (and if you like the song, you should have bought this already!), an ambient section, a snappy variation that deliberately plays with your head (especially fun in headphones!), and the closing resolution and affirmation. This is a really excellent concept and I think it's worth seeking out!

I wore out my vinyl copy of this recording years ago and decided to rediscover it on CD. Good choice. I know everyone thinks "Warm Leatherette" is Miss Jones's finest work, but I beg to differ. I give this one an enthusiastic five stars due to the unique "interview" and variations on a theme format. I also give it five stars for its impeccable straight digital recording. It is absolutely noiseless. An absolute dream come true for any audiophile. What I want to know is how did Grace Jones ever become sterotyped as some sort of "disco queen?" "Slave" is a very heavy work. Yes, you can dance to it if you like, but it's not like that was what it was geared towards. You can dance to The Beatles if you are so inclined, but they certainly weren't "disco." What we have here is an ambitious, well thought out work that sounds like it could have been recorded next week. There's only one song on the album. But the variations on this theme, much like a classical work, never get boring or tedious. To summarize, this is one of the most underrated yet greatest rock albums I have ever heard. I would write more but I would rather just go listen to it again. God bless Grace Jones.

I fell head over heels for our Lady Grace a few years back when I heard La Vie En Rose. Since then, I have brought everything that Grace Jones has released, even finding out of print albums such as Fame and Muse. However, the one vaulable of all is Slave To The Rhythm. From the epic introduction of the 1st track, to the pulasating beats on tracks 2 and 3, Slave is a masterpiece, and has not aged one bit, since its 1985 release. Track number 5, is my favorite for it shows drama and with Jones singing the title as if she has been working in the chain gang. Number 8, the familair single version, is a superb song with haunting qualites. The only track that seems a little off course was the Operattack. Weird, but hey its Miss Grace Jones. So if you like different and refuse to be punished listening to today's musical offerings, Slave To The Rhythm is a definite choice.

I can't improve on what the others have said about this effort by Miss Jones. But...an FYI...On the "Private-Life-Compass-Point-Sessions" CD, you will find the extended version of "Slave to the Rhythm."

Slave to the Rhythm times:

1. Slave to the Rhythm : 6:35
2. Compass-Point-Sessions: 8:10 (Hot Blooded Mix)

Don't worry folks, the "Hot Blooded Mix" is better than the album version (which is still a great song at 6:35, by the way!) Again, just putting it "out there" for your information! Four stars!

Length:: 2:42 Mins

THE ISLAND MASTERS VERSION OF "SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM" IS NOT THE VERSION THAT WAS RELEASED ON CD IN 1987/1990.

The interviews with Grace Jones are not in this release at all, it's six minutes shorter, and the track listing has been ordered differently. I ordered this recently thinking I had lost the "Slave to the Rhythm" I had, only to find it and I compared them. I'm not sure why the interviews with Grace have been taken out, the different order of the tracks, and different versions of the songs, but wanted to let all you guys know the difference. Hopefully there will be a remastered version in the future with the original copy of the 1985 release of this amazing album my Miss Grace Jones.

I give it 5 stars only for the original release, and 0 stars for this cheap copy. It's a shame the brilliance of 1985's "Slave to the Rhythm" will not be heard by anyone who buys this copy.

Good luck on finding the original..

Everything that you've heard is true -- this is a magical work. I was in high school and living with my father when I first heard this album, some time during the mid-80's when it was released. I'd heard Grace Jones' music several times before, when I was living with my mother -- tracks like "Nightclubbing," "Pull Up to the Bumper," etc. -- but I never cared for the songs much. I don't recall how frequently my dad played _Slave to the Rhythm_ -- which he did both at home and in his Mercedes Benz -- but it was often enough that I was intrigued by it. "Operattack" made me sit up and take notice (how could it not, with its wonderfully ostentatious, over-the-top sonic swirl), and most of the rest of the songs hooked me on the album, which is superbly conceived, composed, mixed, and especially produced (by the venerable Trevor Horn). The first track of the CD -- the only one that I don't like -- is deceptively unlike anything that comes after it. It's a "chain gang" style composition that caters to what was then part of the stereotypical image of Grace Jones: dancey, chiseled, insistent. As other reviewers here have noted, most of the rest of the CD explores two or three prevalent musical statements -- a stroke of brilliance that works very well with _Slave to the Rhythm_'s biographical motif. That is to say that, like a human being, the CD exhibits a wealth of character and variability of expression through only a few identifiable themes. The musical transformations are amazing to hear; a good example is the title track, which starts with Grace Jones demanding everyone to work work work to the rhythm in her signature aggressive style -- with commensurately aggressive music backing her up -- only to suddenly lullaby the recurring "never stop the action, keep it up" lyrics over the exploration of a recurring musical theme that has just as suddenly and sensibly become as patiently serene as the vocalist herself. The music, with its rock/electronica instrumention, its jazzy orchestration, its distant, wailing guitars, its crisp percussion, its highly melodic, minor key-driven, diatonic accompaniment, its wealth of odd sound effects, and its pervasively reverberated sound, manages to pull off that rarely effective trick of making you feel something distictly human about it, because it effectively mimics humanity; it all comes off as multiple facets of a single entity, somehow sure and unsure of itself at the same time. It genuinely comes across as an abstract description of someone's life, even without the sporadic (yet well-placed) narration. To top it all off, the rock/jazz/funk (in that order) sound of the CD is pristine to the point of belonging in an audiophile's collection. All in all, a perennially satisfying and gratifying listening experience.

For whatever reason, this was not the American breakthrough for Grace that it should have been. Maybe they just don't get it. State of the art production ( this might be producer Trevor Horn's finest hour ). Intervews with Miss Jones ( and a few of her co-horts ) throughout. Grooves a-plenty. This is total ear candy.

Slave To The Rhythm is Grace's biggest hit single without a doubt,as this album clearly demonstrates. Basically all the tracks are variations of the title track expertly produced by Trevor Horn and Steve Lipson,with bits of interviews conducted inbetween.The overall sound quality of this album is not so great.Perhaps Island Records ought to remaster this one and rerelease it along with with her other stuff.

Buying a Grace Jones CD, you never know what you are going to get. It could be disco,dance, new wave electronica or pop love songs.

This CD is performance art. It has two subtitles: Rhythm in Eight Parts or An Audio Biography of Grace Jones.

The tracks are all variations on the song Slave to The Rhythm. Most of them are very interesting and some of them are very good. I like some of the versions even better than the standard single version. She uses different musical styles on each of the tracks, but it is mostly electronica based. There is one track that sounds like a cross between Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd.

In between tracks and mixed into some tracks are the biography of Grace Jones. It usually takes the form of Jones being interviewed. To me, this really detracts from the music and is why I give it only 3 stars. At the end of the first track, she complains that she is choking on her saliva.

This album was produced by Trevor Horn, who became a member of Yes during their most popular "only of a Lonely Heart" days. He also produced the first Frankie Goes To Hollywood album. The influences can be heard on this disc.