Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage

Label: Zappa Records
Year: 1979
Genre: Rock Opera
Recommending Person: Ralph Brendler

So, even though this did not establish if it were all three acts of Joe's Garage, I took it as such. 

I cannot review this with a short entry. However, that's all I have. Joe's Garage is as weird as Frank Zappa.

I'm going to speak just about the Album cover. Why is he in black face? Could other artists, besides Al Jolson, get away with being in black face. Can you imagine if Jack White released a rock opera and his cover was himself in black face? Twitter would explode and no one would accept, well yeah, he's weird. 

I have to say I love, "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee". It's like an unreleased Weird Al song that he decided not to release because it doesn't fit his brand.

Joe Jackson - Look Sharp

Label: A&M
Year: 1979
Genre: Punk, New Wave, Post-Punk
Recommending Person: Jeff Sherry

Joe Jackson's Look Sharp is an interesting snapshot of moving from the late 70s punk movement into the copycats of Huey Lewis in the 80s. 

It's a bridge album incorporating many tropes of late 70s punk/new wave acts like The Clash and introducing new techniques later seemingly aped by The J. Geils Band. You can here similarities between "Centerfold" and Jackson's hit single "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" and many of those pop punk-ish bands of the 80s sound very similar. 

I loved the punkier songs on the album like "Throw It Away" or "One More Time", maybe I just love 3 word titles. Joe Jackson never got huge, but he always seems to be around and mentioned a decent amount and his music, for the most part, ages well.