She didn't try to make punk rock or new wave music, but she let its freedom enter her songwriting consciousness and open it up. She had heard the late-'70s music from England and Jamaica - as well as the Lower East Side of New York - and was affected by it.
Eight cuts from the Me Myself I album represent the vast majority of it it also marked Armatrading's first true rock & roll outing. Disc two features all four tracks from the excellent How Cruel EP, including the reggae soul-drenched bluster of "Rosie," the title track, and "He Wants Her," with its dubbed-out drums and snaky guitar slinking through her sensual vocal. Admittedly, the results were sometimes erratic, but were never, never less than utterly compelling. She became a pop singer whose lyrics were anything but pop and whose music expanded the boundaries of pop to include reggae, jazz, and slippery folk music. The only problem with this is that Armatrading was just beginning to gain a confidence that led her to become really adventurous, taking huge chances with both her songwriting and production styles in the 1980s. It covers Armatrading's prolific period from 1975-1979, where a lot of old hippies, now upwardly mobile professionals seeking mellow escapes from their relentless and often ruthless pursuit of "the good life," got off the bus and remained stuck, listening only to her early records along with those of the Jacksons, Eagles, and James Taylor. All of the expected material from the early years is included on disc one, such as "Cool Blue Stole My Heart," "Travel So Far," "Dry Land," "Down to Zero," "Love and Affection," "Help Yourself," "Woncha Come on Home," "Show Some Emotion," "Willow," "Barefoot and Pregnant," "Bottom to the Top," "You Rope You Tie Me," "Your Letter," and many more, including "The Flight of the Wild Geese" from the soundtrack to the film. Culling 43 tracks over eight years and 11 albums is even better in many ways than issuing an Armatrading box set. The numerous single-disc compilations never came close to being representative of her achievement as a recording artist. This is the way a Joan Armatrading best-of collection should be assembled in the first place. Joan Armatrading Composer, Primary Artist
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