It's still pretty amazing when you look at the fact that in less than four years, Jobbo went from singing Test Tube Babies to making an album like Joy, with Scared to Dance, Days in Europa, The Absolute game and the bonus album in between. I don't think even David Bowie changed that dramatically in the space of four years and I can't think of any other singer who'd even come close, with the possible exception of David Byrne from Talking Heads. The difference is Bowie was a critics' darling and every change of sound an image he made was hailed as genius, whereas Jobbo mostly just got slagged off. The breadth of styles in those Skids singles and albums would be astonishing if it took place over decades, but for it to happen in four years is incredible! I don't think Jobson gets enough credit for the artistic risks he was prepared to take . . .

Much as I love Stuart's guitar playing and would never want to underestimate it, I think Jobson is often regarded as merely a crazy frontman with bizarre lyrics, cricket jumpers and a tendency towards Aryan imagery, but I think he also come to play as big a role as Stuart in evolving the Skids' sound.

you arent far wrong Don, Richard is a lot more intelligent and talented than a lot of people think :)

sod the critics though , be your own critic , either like it or dont like it simples! and as you say those Skids albums speak for themselves

would have to disagree about the Bowie part of your post though, that guy would release 2 albums in the same year that were different and would have diverse tracks on each album, mixing rock, soul, glam, ballads etc...again as much as I admire David Bowie he has done a lot of stuff thats just plain weird or plain crap (IMO) but wont go into that, a whole new topic of interest :)

also LOL @ cricket jumpers comment :) thjink RJ was a lot like Bowie in a lot of ways with reference to re-inventing and experimenting thats why I like both of them for what they do.

The albums do indeed speak for themselves, and they've held up really well across the decades. I was out front of the ABC in Glasgow and quite a few young folk walked past, took a look at the billboard and said "Skids!" as if to say "I can't believe these old farts are going to see THOSE old farts". Ignorant sods! I'd like to have a look at their record collections and then see who still sounded good 30 years later. Fuck all would be my bet!

Hey Cob if you compare Skids 4 albums with Bowie Go through Space Oddity, a bit of an hippy festival  album, to TMWSTW heavy metalish, Hunky Dory happy but with dark undertones, then Ziggy Stardust, the glamrock album, without too much glam but again darkness in it. Like the Skids four very different sounding albums, but for me they all have an element of darkness to them.

"Lady Stardust sang his songs of darkness and dispair"

And for me all four Skids albums  (five if you include STJ) have that same element, those songs "of darkness and dispair"

yer m8, think the same thing, a lot of similarities between Richard Jobson and David Bowie lyrics style, most lyrics had deeper meanings than the usual pop stuff ... noo Sweet Suburbia ... class song and class lyrics .....

I'm not a prophet or a stone age man
Just a mortal with the potential of a superman
I'm living on
I'm tethered to the logic of Homo Sapien
Can't take my eyes from the great salvation
Of bullshit faith
 

Hunky Dory album one of my all time favourites

It's one of mine as well. and as this is the Joy thread Russell is a fan of Bowie as well, he said that some of STJ was loosly based on Bowie circa "Low" the sort of synth ambiant noise.

For me Bowie wise don't mention Tonight and Never Let Me Down.....

Looking forward to Station To Station 4 disc set due out this year.

Disc 1
CD = Original stereo Station To Station album
Disc 2
DVD = 5.1 Station To Station surround sound mix and original stereo album. 5.1 - Mixed by Harry Maslin.
Discs 3 & 4
2 x CDs = Uniondale, Nassau Veteran's Memorial Coliseum March 23rd, 1976 - Mixed by Harry Maslin.
 

sounds good, I think I have station to station on tape but the tape has been printed wrongly, cant remember exactly what album or its the other way around ... need to check that next time I am up the loft. ... lol tried my best not to do down the Bowie route on a Skids website but ..... this aint rock n roll this is genocide!!!!!!

I can see why Bowie would have influenced a lot of people "in the old days" LOL

Tonight was were it all went a bit Pop for me and started to lose interest although still like a lot of the songs from that era, I suppose Bowie is a good "resemblance" to the Joy album in a lot of ways in the experimental sense and some things you just dont like and some you totally love.

I know Bowie again is probably similar to Russell as Bowie would play guitar, piano, sax in fact anything that made a noise and liked to get involved in the production as well. Mick Ronson ...boy could he play guitar :)

gonnae go polish ma steel toe caps for the football tomorrow might put some Scary Monster on while buffing the shine up

sorry couldnt resist!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV4SnQXhwWk 

I'd side with the opinion that Joy is a good album, but it does have its faults. As a concept, tracking a man's life from youth to middle age - with a period of warfare in between, it largely works. How I've always thought of it is:

Blood and Soil - The young apprentice learning to work the land, but feeling rebelious over religio and dogma.

The Wanderer - A chance meeting with a mercurial stranger, telling stories of adventure and glory.

Men of Mercy - The young man fantasising about what he may become in the future.

A Memory - The farewells to the man's family.

Iona - The departure.

In Fear Of Fire/Brothers - The battle songs - despair, fear and the celebration of brotherhood with your fellow troops.

Waltzing Matilda - Good song but just doesn't fit. All of a sudden an song written from the viewpoint of an old Australian man looking back at the first world war is thrown into a Scottish Album that could be set at any time. The timeline is thrown too far forward - the main character should be younger at this point. Skip this song.

Men of the fall - lamenting the brave comrades who have fallen.

Sound of the retreat - the journey back home.

Fields - an older, wiser man many years later, tends the fields where he grew up.

Okay, things I'd change about this album is ditch Waltzing Matilda, do something about the "hi hos" and not have the line "will ye no come back again". They always make me cringe.

Jim

After Stuart left I kind of lost interest in the last two albums although I'm quite getting into them now as I've warmed to Celtic Rock over the years.

I was really pleased when I first heard Big Country and of course The Armoury Show. The Skids split gave birth to two great bands with fantastic music. It's great to see it all coming back together again in a live set.

Now, a good quality CD of Waiting For The Floods plus some of their other tracks would be a very good idea indeed. Captain Oi, are you listening???