My tuppenceworth is...

I reckon Jobbo's comments about Joy being the worst Skids album were a bit tongue in cheek. Maybe he was just playing to the crowd or something. An old pal of mine reckons he read an interview in some highfalutin Sunday paper where Richard said it was the album he was most proud of. All I know is that I've never heard anything like it before or since so it's got to get 10 out of 10 for originality if nothing else. It's nice to hear now and again, but it would 'do yer nut in' to hear it too often. Brothers is a right belter, Fields is exceptional and when I first heard Men of the Fall I thought maybe Russell had taken over the vocal duties. As Dino said, this has got to be the finest RJ vocal ever - and I say that as a huge fan of the great man's vocal style.

I also love the live performances of Fields - particularly at the Alhambra gig for some reason. The choir seems to add something extra and The Watsons were excellent too. Finally... Hurry On Boys. Surely one of their finest tracks? I never tire of hearing it.

If this album had never been made and a few musicians showed up at a folk club and played A Challenge (The Wanderer) and A Memory, they'd be hailed as the future of Scottish folk.

not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing?

I really like those songs. . . I hadn't heard them for DECADES until I saw this thread! I understand those who hesitate to think of it as a proper Skids album, but I think it's an amazingly adventurous record for the time it was made.

 I think you are right Don in that the album has suffered from being monikered as a Skids album. If it had been released under the name simply of Jobson and Webb I think it would have been received better. For me, I think it compliments well the fact that Stuart went in one direction and created a distinct Bag pipe guitar sound that was identified with a very Scottish persona and which was received well; however, the Joy album I think is a more authentic Scottish folk rock sound that surprises me was not received better by critics.  You would have thought that the critics of the day would have been impressed with the bold departure and the underlying quality of the writing and musicianship. Maybe it needs a modern critic to reappraise its merits, particularly in light of how good Fields sounded when played live last week.

  I never bought the LP when it was released back in 1981 mainly because Stuart had already left the band and to me he was the main man ,after the RGTC show where a couple of new songs were aired ,everyone was expecting an album with a heavier/rocky sound .

 I bought the two singles fields and iona but they didnt do much for me at the time , joy I picked up a few years later in a bargain bin , its only been in the last five years or so  I could bring myself to listen to it properly

 It got a right slating in the music press and was a poor seller due to a lack of advertising  if I remember right

 Richard Jobsons poetry LPs were the same -hard to listen to at that time but now they sound ok , I dont know ? maybe its just an age thing ?

 I often wonder what made Jobbo and Russell Webb go down the folk route and what way the LP would have ened up if Stuart had stayed ?

adventurous and experimental for sure, think I mentioned that in an earlier post, there are some great production techniques as well and some great noises happening, but earlier albums done the same alot of great noises and plenty of adventure but songs either do it for me or they dont without having to analyse them too much

I can see why loads of people like the album ( I think) and I dont totally love every Skids song from every album, Joy may well be an album i get into and enjoy more at a later date :)

It's interesting becuase a lot of Friday's Glasgow gig (and presumably the Dunfermline one - wish I could have been there) focused on Days in Europa. Not just the song list - between the backdrop and the introductory speeches it seemed Jobbo was in some ways trying to reclaim that album from some of the negative perceptions that had come to be associated with it. It will be interesting to see if he tries to reclaim Joy in the same way one day - though of course it would be more difficult to play live. Fields worked wonderfully but I'm not sure they could do Iona or A Memory in the context of a raucous rock gig. Brothers would be great at any gig but it's obviously Webb's bass riff. I enjoyed the gig immensely and rediscovering the Joy album has been an added bonus! It has more than stood the test of time.

Hi Don the week before the Skids gigs Russell performed Iona (acoustic) and it was amazing. I think it could work as a live band song just as some of Stuart's songs with Big Country worked ie: Winter Sky

I would love to hear The Men of the Fall live with Russell's amazing bass melody

loved the line that jobby said it was skids worst album being tongue in cheek,if thats no skids worst album then what is!,i do like joy and it sounds as it does because jobby and webb didn't have someone of stuarts class to make it sound how it should and could have,after hearing 'blood and soil' from rgtc then hearing the version on the flip of iona just shows you how much they missed stuart,i was totally gutted hearing that pile o wash.joy is a fine different album but at no time does any of the tracks raise the passion that is all over the other 3 albums,should never have had the name 'skids' on that album.