ALBUM: Grace Jones 'Disco' - GigslutzGigslutz

Rating:

Disco is a combustion time capsule, bringing together Ms Jones’s three pivotal, era-defining albums, Portfolio, Fame and Muse. 43 time defining tracks are packed into one box of Grace Jones career, spanning from the disco scene in New York in the ’70s – to the dawn of the disco era in ’80s London. Grace Jones certainly has an unforgettable voice which can not be mistaken, however you can not be held to the thoughts of sequinned flares and disco balls with this stellar collection. With not only the disco mix of her most known belters, are the instrumentals of those songs which will sure be used for future karaoke nights across the UK and beyond.

‘La Vie En Rose’ has an appearance on Disco and was previously seen on Island Life, released in 1985. Although somehow this is different from what is seen on the whole new album, sounding almost chilled and nothing like the tense disco-funk that is seen through the rest of the climatic album. Grace sings a more graceful sound, rather than something that sounds like something that will jump out from your headphones and make you dance. This is certainly the highlight of the album and is one of the most comforting soundtracks to Grace’s sound.

‘Atlantic City Ambler’, certainly processes the disco scene of the ’80s, with slapping bass, seen also in the catalogue of Nile Rodgers, but the influx of jazzy synthetic keyboards which we can’t help but relate to dad dancing at family weddings, or those bad, big collared films processed to us from a “better time”. Grace has kept that fresh scene alive in this album with her defining voice, but perhaps a re-release of past hits may show that the time has come.

‘I Need A Man’ appears three times on the collection – including 12″ and instrumental versions – and this may have been a song that was the epitome of the disco scene; it seems almost outdated and something of the past, let alone something to be repeated three times on one album. If you’re an avid fan then this is something that you just have, although easy listening would not be something that springs to mind. Feeling as if Jones is trying to set a bar which may have surpassed long ago.

Although ‘Do Or Die’ seems to convey the funk disco attitude, something that would be heard in Saturday Night Fever. Grace sings “you’ll never change my mind/it’s either do or die” and Grace certainly shows this throughout the album; it is her iconic life trapped into a box collection and this is her time. The Disco Years seems to be a tribute to the times of the past and while her time there can be forgotten for later material, a spot at Hyde Park – alongside Kylie and Chic feat. Nile Rodgers – is a reminder that Grace Jones was a staple of the disco scene, and it’s in demand now more than ever.

Disco is out now via Island Records.