Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Led by renowned bassist Jah Wobble, Invaders of the Heart specialize in an experimental ethnic fusion of styles. After leaving Public Image Ltd. in the early 80s, Wobble immediately began issuing solo albums (The Legend Lives On, etc.), before releasing albums under the Invaders moniker (which are basically Wobble solo albums with special guests). Several albums have been credited to Invaders of the Heart over the years, the first being Without Judgement, followed by Rising Above Bedlam and The Sun Does Rise, the latter of which included appearances by such artists as Baaba Maal, Dolores ORiordan, Natasha Atlas, Gavin Friday, Najma Akhtar, and Chaka Demus. Wobble resurrected Invaders of the Heart for 2016s Every Thing Is No Thing, with special guests Tony Allen and Nik Turner. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 7 Title: Without Judgement Released: 1990 Tracks: 21 Duration: 1:09:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Bungalow Park (05:10) 2 What the Problem Is (04:18) 3 Anything Can Happen (00:56) 4 A13 (03:47) 5 Drowned and the Saved (05:18) 6 So Many Years (02:51) 7 Message From Our Sponsor (00:13) 8 Coypu (01:10) 9 Burger Bar (01:48) 10 What Will You Say (04:14) 11 Spirit (08:54) 12 Voodoo (05:26) 13 Psyche (03:04) 14 Good Ghosts (01:39) 15 Saracen (04:52) 16 Eternal Vendor (01:30) 17 Invisible Cities (06:10) 18 Inferno (01:14) 19 Location (00:48) 20 Uncommercial Road (01:58) 21 Will the Circle Be Unbroken (03:59) |
| Without Judgement : Allmusic album Review : Following his split from P.I.L. in the early 80s, bassist Jah Wobble was more likely to be found sweeping tubeway stations than performing on stages, and by the middle of the decade, his musical output had all but ground to a halt. It was not until 1986, when Wobble met guitarist Justin Adams, that his creative juices began flowing again. The two hit it off musically, and began experimenting with a diverse palette of pop, dub, Middle Eastern, and North African influences. This laid the foundation for what would eventually become their new group, Jah Wobbles Invaders of the Heart. Keyboard/percussionist David Harrow and Urban Dance Squad drummer Michel Schoots joined soon after, and the quartet began earnestly working on new material. By 1987, the band had worked out a polished live set and decided it was time to take the show to the Netherlands (where Wobble still had an avid following), do a tour, and record. The result was JWIOTHs debut album Without Judgement. Pieced together from live, two-track DAT recordings made during performances in Holland, the album managed to sound relaxed, free, and spontaneous while maintaining an air of calculation and precision. Unlike most live albums, the fact that Without Judgement was, indeed, recorded live was not immediately apparent. The only crowd noise present occurred during the fade-out of the last track and the album itself was edited together in such a way that full songs found themselves placed among snippets of instrumental interlude and sound atmospherics. This unconventional approach may have seemed like a recipe for disaster, but in the talented hands of editor Step Parikian, the flow between musical ideas was tasteful, seamless, and, above all, interesting. All of the influences that would later define Jah Wobbles style could be found on Without Judgement, in their raw forms. Wobbles characteristically simple, catchy, and repetitive bass-hooks were just coming into maturity, and served as the main driving force throughout the album. Typified by tunes like the menacing-but-groovy "What the Problem Is" and the Bowie-esque "What Will You Say," Jah Wobbles bass mantras proved to be as creative as they were insistent. His songwriting was also maturing and subject matter ran the gamut from the spiritual ("Good Ghosts") to the satirical ("Burger Bar"). The North African and Middle Eastern influences (which permeated all of Wobbles later work) could be found peppered throughout Without Judgement, and were most apparent in Justin Adams psycho-arabic guitar solos and David Harrows ethnic-tinged samples. With all of these fresh elements, raw guts, and polished execution, Without Judgement still shines as the toughest album Jah Wobble has made under his own name. Fans of his later, more ambient work (mid-90s and beyond) may find this records aggressiveness alarming; but longtime fans will agree, although not representational of Jah Wobbles entire body of work, Without Judgement is absolutely essential. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 7 Title: Rising Above Bedlam Released: 1991-09-30 Tracks: 10 Duration: 51:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Visions of You (05:36) 2 Relight the Flame (04:13) 3 Bomba (05:55) 4 Ungodly Kingdom (04:28) 5 Rising Above Bedlam (03:46) 6 Erzulie (07:03) 7 Everymans an Island (06:28) 8 Soledad (05:40) 9 Sweet Divinity (04:17) 10 Wonderful World (03:57) |
| Rising Above Bedlam : Allmusic album Review : The second album by Jah Wobbles Invaders of the Heart continued the bassists exploration into ethnic fusion, merging together music from different world traditions with pop production and his own dub-influenced bass guitar. Fans of Wobbles earlier work with Holgar Czukay and Public Image Limited might be surprised and a bit dismayed at first by the glossy production and pop nature of some of the tracks here; one would never have guessed that Wobble would come up with something as commercial as the Latin pop of "Ungodly Kingdom." However, much of the music is remarkable and on each listen seems to contain something new. Wobble is far more interested in experimentation than simply adding world sounds to pop music. The tracks with Middle Eastern influences, including the amazing "Everymans an Island," are quite remarkable and most feature the fine talents of Natasha Atlas. Meanwhile, the trance-like opener, "Visions of You," which guests Sinéad OConnor on vocals, is absolutely beautiful. On the title track, Wobble even returns to his past, with he and guitarist Justin Adams bringing the sound of early PiL forward ten years. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 7 Title: The Ungodly Kingdom EP Released: 1992-09-04 Tracks: 4 Duration: 17:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Ungodly Kingdom (Transformed mix) (03:42) 2 Saeta (03:54) 3 Josey Walsh (04:02) 4 Love Life (05:22) |
 | Album: 4 of 7 Title: Take Me to God Released: 1994-06-21 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:05:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 God in the Beginning (03:22) 2 Becoming More Like God (03:17) 3 Whisky Priests (04:41) 4 I’m an Algerian (03:12) 5 Amor (03:14) 6 Amor Dub (02:16) 7 Take Me to God (04:41) 8 The Sun Does Rise (04:24) 9 When the Storm Comes (07:22) 10 I Love Everybody (04:13) 11 Yoga of the Nightclub (04:41) 12 I Am the Music (01:44) 13 The Bonds of Love (03:56) 14 Angels (04:10) 15 No Change Is Sexy (03:49) 16 Raga (03:55) 17 Forever (02:54) |
| Take Me to God : Allmusic album Review : After hed been a fixture of the British new wave/punk/underground/alternative scene since the late 70s, 1994s Take Me to God marked Jah Wobbles first major commercial success as a solo artist, reaching number 13 in the U.K. The use of numerous guest musicians (including Can drummer Jaki Leibezeit) gives this a feel of a rotating collective, with Wobble (who plays several instruments here in addition to the one hes most known for, bass) the constant. Quite a few singers contribute, giving this more of a song-oriented feel than some of his other work, some of the more celebrated including Gavin Friday, Dolores ORiordan of the Cranberries, Senegalese vocalist Baaba Maal, and top world music artist Najma Akhtar. The 66-minute length of these sprawling excursions almost inevitably means the program will drag at times, according to your musical inclinations. Lyrically, too, its so varied as to make it difficult to connect with a pronounced attitude or viewpoint, the concerns ranging from the almost indecipherably frivolous ("Yoga of the Nightclub") to the numerous references to God that pepper the song titles. But its an interesting assortment of tracks combining currents flowing through mid-90s alternative rock, world music, reggae, club beats, dub, and African pop, adding up to an extremely heterogeneous whole. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 7 Title: The Celtic Poets Released: 1997-06 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:06:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 The Dunes (05:08) 2 A Man I Knew (06:22) 3 Market Rasen (08:17) 4 London Rain (04:06) 5 Star of the East (06:35) 6 Third Heaven (02:48) 7 Bagpipe Music (03:54) 8 Saturn (05:45) 9 Gone in the Wind (06:24) 10 Thames (16:36) |
 | Album: 6 of 7 Title: Full Moon Over the Shopping Mall Released: 1999-06 Tracks: 6 Duration: 45:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Full Moon Over the Shopping Mall (09:22) 2 Ethos (08:09) 3 Waxing Moon (05:01) 4 Waning Moon (04:23) 5 Acting The Goat (13:03) 6 Ill Be Sad to See You Go (05:19) |
 | Album: 7 of 7 Title: English Roots Music Released: 2003-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 43:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Cannily Cannily (03:27) 2 Banks of the Sweet Primrose (05:04) 3 Unquite Grave (04:56) 4 Blacksmith (05:30) 5 Blacksmith Dub (03:45) 6 Strange Duet (01:49) 7 They Came With a Swagger (02:59) 8 Press Ganged (04:16) 9 Sovay (04:33) 10 Bykerhill (02:20) 11 Trance of the Willow (00:55) 12 Cannily Cannily Reprise (03:34) |