The 1981 Listening Post - Joan Armatrading - Walk Under Ladders

 Joan Armatrading - Walk Under Ladders

#452

By Chris Natale

September 1981

Joan Armatrading

 Walk Under Ladders

Genre: Rock of the times

Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Chris’ Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Highlights: 

When I Get It Right

Walk Under Ladders

The Weakness In Me

Let’s get it out there...Joan Armatrading is the shit.  Songwriting, singing, composing…she’s brilliant.

Walk Under Ladders is Joan Armatrading’s seventh record.  If one way to determine the juice of a person is by the company they keep, then Armatrading is a full-on V-8.

Having recorded her previous album, Me, Myself, I with a backing band who would soon become the house band for Late Night with David Letterman, on Walk Under Ladders, Armatrading brings Andy Partridge from XTC and Thomas Dolby on board for turns on guitar and synthesizer. .

While Ladders and Me, Myself, I both clock in at 35 minutes, Me, Myself, I feels like a much fuller record...one that has more heft.  Ladders is not without it’s gems though.  “When I Get It Right” is a song from the perspective of the perpetually frustrated and criticized, who just can’t take it anymore.  Despite subject matter so bleak and desperate, it’s a catchy earworm that may provoke a little swagger in a homebound, sing-to-yourself moment.  

“I’m Lucky” flips the script, though, as Armatrading, introduced through some powerful Thomas Dolby 1980s synthesizer, gushes about her good fortune in life and love.  Good on you, Joan…

The other lyrical powder keg is “The Weakness In Me”.  Here, Armatrading lays it all out there, the good and the bad of loving someone deeply and all the vulnerability that it presents.  The pain of being both in the presence and the absence of someone…

Armatrading would go on to make a total of 19 albums.  And while Ladders isn’t her strongest as a whole, it has songs that really speak to the full range of human emotions and do so through some powerful musical arrangements and performances.  That’s a win in the record business...

https://open.spotify.com/album/1DC3bRduAQzGnktyGiEjiQ?si=W-wHw7ZLRXS8nVazEYHPlQ

The 1980 Listening Post - Joan Armatrading - Me Myself I

Joan Armatrading - Me Myself I


#228

Reviewed by George Chastain Jr. 

May 1980 

 Joan Armatrading 

Me Myself I 

 Genre: Anything you can do, I can do better 

 Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5 

George’s Rating: 4.25 out of 5 

George’s Highlights: 

Me Myself I 

Ma Me O Beach 

Friends 

Simon 

I Need You 

 By George Chastain Jr. 

My fourth album to review, and the fourth artist that I was unfamiliar with. However, this album is exactly why I joined the Listening Post – to be introduced to good music I had never heard before. I loved this album, so much so that I pulled it into my Spotify playlists. First, Joan Armatrading’s vocals are superb. Her voice is pure, clear, and melodic. Her range is large with equal control over low notes as well as high. The songs are varied in style, mood, instrumental focus, and vocal complexity. Each song took the album in a different direction. I was constantly surprised. Even the album’s failures had rewarding elements. The songs were vocal centric, and while the musical instruments used in each song might have changed, the reliance on the vocals remained the same. The music was always in service to the voice. If I had to lodge a complaint, I would say that Joan never let loose with her voice. It feels like she could really turn it up a notch vocally. She never does a full-on diva or push herself, and it feels like she is more than capable of doing so. It is for this reason only that this album is not a “5”. Had she let loose, I would have probably died and gone to heaven. Overall, the album feels like a perfect 70’s to 80’s transition album. It covers a lot of musical territory and sounds, but the one constant is the solid vocals of Joan Armatrading. I have not done this with a review yet, but I decided this review required a song by song critique. Me Myself I The vocals are strong and powerful. The message unique. It felt like a slow-tempo rock song with early 80’s guitars. The song is my wife’s anthem. I love the lines: I want to have a boyfriend
And a girl for laughs But only on Saturdays
Six days to be alone It's not that I love myself
I just don't want company
Except me myself I Ma Me O Beach Another fun, upbeat song. Has a country feel to it which I could easily imagine hearing at some honky-tonk bar. It’s easy to listen to this song and imagine Ma Me O Beach. Friends Now Joan switches to a more serious mood. Her voice is never better than in this song. More of Jazz feel with strong classical jazz guitar sounds. The lament in her voice is palpable. Who was it
Who came for me when I was
Stranded in the bad man's land
Who was it
Who put up bail for me when I was
So desperate to get out
Who believed with me
That I was not guilty
Who gave me beer when I was thirsty
And who gave me twenty-five dollars to hold Is It Tomorrow Yet? This tune reverts back to the early 80’s pop rhythms and guitars of Me Myself I. It reminded of some Talking Heads tunes. There’s nothing in the lyrics here that are potentially gripping or soul shattering, but the desire for Joan to see her “baby” and wanting to know if it is tomorrow yet comes across well. Her vocals on this song are her best as she travels up and down the scales. Turn out the Light A love ballad, slow and caressing. Joan travels in the low range for long periods of time in this song, and she does it well. First time we here an electric guitar which weeps during the instrumental, a poor man’s Pink Floyd riff, but serviceable. There are moments in this song where I think she’s going to totally let loose and go Janis Joplin, but she never goes there. Unfortunately. When You Kisses Me This song moves the album into the funk realm. Nice funkadelic base. The chorus is less funky. For me, this song is one of the weaker tunes on the album. All the Way from America I did not think Joan’s vocals were very strong on this song and sounded strained in some parts. The weakest song on the album. Had some violins which was new. Was a cross between folk and John Denver. Feeling in my Heart (For You) Now let’s move to Reggae shall we. Her vocals are clear and beautiful. Lyrics aren’t much, and the song is rather uninspired. This song ends the run of weaker, more mediocre tunes that started with When You Kisses Me. Simon Transitioning from a Reggae sound to a Ska beat. I really enjoy the story of this song. It is the most lyrically clever and, dare I say it, cool. The saxophone is new and fun. Gave her practical things
Like diamonds for her neck And Simon won't be feeling friendly
He'll be lying too close to the floor P.S. After I did my review, I went and did some research on Joan Armatrading and this album. Clarence Clemons was on the sax. I Need You What do you say we change it up again? Powerful violins and strings. Sad and melancholy. Joan’s voice is full of emotion. A ballad – pure and simple. There is something about the length of the song that is just perfect. It feels like it ends to soon, leaves you wanting for more, but that feeling of incompleteness is perfect for the song. https://open.spotify.com/album/0bbqWBKFr1kdqxjoAAIBcR?si=5WY53EkGQIqX3EXCaBM3EA&fbclid=IwAR1OcjSv3Z4LVt4-qn1IxmbDkTBJrL8ZlNKI1F8p4KlE1GSsmI02crJniUA

The 1986 Listening Post - Joan Armatrading - Sleight of Hand

Joan Armatrading - Sleight of Hand

#175/1340

May 12 1986

Joan Armatrading

Sleight of Hand

Genre: Rock

2.75 out of 5

I...

do not…

care for…..

Joan Armatrading. 

There. That felt good. 

I went back to look at the ratings for every single JA album I’ve listened to since the 1978 start of this project and she never rates higher than a 3.5. That was ONE record, To The Limit, in 1978. After that it’s a series of 2.5’s and 3’s. And yet, I know that I am supposed to consider her in the upper pantheon of popular music. I don’t. She’s boring. She’s talented, I guess, but her songs are dull, uninviting and calculated. This album is slow and plodding and I can’t imagine sitting in a studio, listening to it just prior to release and thinking…yeah…this…THIS is the shit the world has been waiting for, Joan!

Please tell me there’s no more Joan in my future. 

Oh, she’s back in 88? 

Great. 

Well, at least there’s a year off in between.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/sleight-of-hand/1443393529

The 1985 Listening Post - Joan Armatrading - Secret Secrets

Joan Armatrading - Secret Secrets

#42

February 4 1985

Joan Armatrading

Secret Secrets

Genre: MOR Rock

3 out of 5

I’ve never cared much for Joan. I feel like her reputation is the result of management and PR success. Every album has been an exercise in aiming for the middle, imo. 

So, I almost pulled her from this list because she doesn’t ever seem to fit into the “rock” idiom. I was convinced that this one is different and, it sure starts off that way. “Persona Grata” sounds like 80s Prog Rock and “Temptation” follows it with some close approximation of Eurythmics. Both songs are really good but, these sounds are played out by this point so Joan just sounds like she’s a few steps behind the rest. 

Joan can sing. She can write perfectly good MOR pop songs. But she leaves me wanting. Always has. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/secret-secrets/370487761

The 1983 Listening Post - Joan Armatrading - The Key

Joan Armatrading - The Key

Joan Armatrading
The Key
3

Highlights:
(I Love It When You) Call Me Names
Drop the Pilot
Tell Tale

Why does Joan Armatrading sound like Annie Lennox on Drop the Pilot? Must be by design. Must also be Steve Lillywhite’s production.

Everything I didn’t like on the previous couple of Joan’s albums disappear for me on The Key. Like it’s designed to appeal to exactly the listener I am now. I’m not sure I would’ve cared in 83, but the production and musicianship is stellar. Some songs are trite. Others are excellent. An improvement over Ladders.
April 1983
Joan Armatrading
The Key
3

Highlights:
(I Love It When You) Call Me Names
Drop the Pilot
Tell Tale

Why does Joan Armatrading sound like Annie Lennox on Drop the Pilot? Must be by design. Must also be Steve Lillywhite’s production.

Everything I didn’t like on the previous couple of Joan’s albums disappear for me on The Key. Like it’s designed to appeal to exactly the listener I am now. I’m not sure I would’ve cared in 83, but the production and musicianship is stellar. Some songs are trite. Others are excellent. An improvement over Ladders.
Among all the polish is The Dealer, a dark and experimental bit of terror that I really appreciated. It’s not great, but it was unexpected.