Jimmy Cliff: Cliff Hanger

Jimmy Cliff: Cliff Hanger

1985

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Hitting with Music  2. American Sweet  3. Arrival  4. Brown Eyes  5. Reggae Street  6. Hot Shot  7. Sunrise  8. Dead and Awake  9. Now and Forever  10. Nuclear War


Woah, 80's! Maybe this is just giving me whiplash because I listened to it directly after "Give Thanx" which was so tasteful and natural sounding, but this thing has every stereotypical  80's production trick you can think of...Sterile production, loud, echo-y drum machines, blaring synths, syndrums, slippery bass (at least the slippery bass was actually performed by Jaco Pastorius, who at least popularized the technique, as far as I can tell...). The only way it could be any more 1985 is if Mr. T stopped in for a guest rap on "Nuclear War"...

 Luckily, I love 80's music...Still, on the first listen "Hitting With Music" even turned my head...Me, a man who is known to rock "Invisible Touch" from time to time...

 ...But I eventually got over it and now I think "Hitting with Music" rules...Jimmy even takes a shot at dancehall on the song! And honestly, he's pretty good at it...But however much I like "Hitting With Music," everything on this album pales compared to "Arrival." Good LORD I love this song so much...That simple, yet triumphant chorus hits so hard...For some reason "Arrival" is the perfect word for him to sing, the syllables fit the contours of his voice perfectly...Geez, he deserved that 1986 Grammy for this song alone...

(Honestly, I think Jimmy Cliff is too good for the Grammys...Isn't this the same award they hand out to talentless hacks like Milli Vanilli, Starlight Vocal Band, and the Black Eyed Peas? Yes, no better song came out in 2007 than the monumentally retarded "My Humps." What a towering artistic achievement! "I mix your milk wit my cocoa puff, Milky, milky cocoa, Mix your milk with my cocoa puff, milky, milky riiiiiiight..." Hmmm, do I detect just a hint of William Butler Yeats' feverish,  esoteric, later works in Will.i.am's sparkling verse?).

The other big winner is "Brown Eyes." This chirpy, pop-reggae track can't help but put a bounce in your step...It's a little nursery-rhymey, but charmingly so (unlike that "milky., milky cocoa puff" stuff).  BTW, apparently this song  (and two others) sport a co-writing credit with LaToya Jackson!



I wasn't especially aware she even wrote songs...The other two aren't quite as successful as "Brown Eyes." "Reggae Street" is tolerable, but "American Sweet" is pretty awful...

Some of the stuff gets a little sweet and syrupy for me ("Sunrise" being the biggest offender), but for the most part it's enjoyably light 80's pop...We sure are a long way from "The Harder They Come" at this point though, and this, is hands-down, my least favorite Jimmy Cliff album that I own.. So I'd tread very cautiously unless you have a lot of Matthew Wilder albums in your collection...Then "Cliff Hanger" is going to rock your freakin' world...

I didn't know anyone bothered to do a dub version of "Break My Stride"...Right now I'm debating whether or not I want to subject myself to it...

Nahh, it's Friday Night! Let's toss some "Arrival" onto the jambox, homeslice! Enjoy...