On Saturday a friend dragged me to the cinema to see "W." There were some good performances and a handful of well-drawn scenes, and the film was never less than competently made, but I wasn’t impressed by it. Although he clearly had made an effort to rein in his tendency toward hysterical conspiracy theories, Oliver Stone seemed to want to present the material as if it were a family drama of Shakespearean dimensions. As a result, the film frequently teetered on the brink of caricature, and yet it left me actually a bit bored overall. My friend is even more left-wing than I am, but he felt that the film’s attempts to explain what drives President Bush served to make him more sympathetic and to humanize him. That’s all very well and good, but does humanizing him excuse the fundamental wrongness of his administration? I don’t think so.
What does this have to do with John Foxx, you may be asking. Well, the other thing I did this weekend was listen –
a lot – to the remastered
In Mysterious Ways. My perspective on many things has changed with time and maturity, and I'm not afraid to admit when I've made mistakes or demonstrated poor judgment. I have tried to be very objective in my assessment of
IMW, and I would like to think I gave it more than a fair shot. I understand where it fits in the greater scheme of John Foxx's career. I think I understand what motivated him to record it and perhaps why he made some of the choices he made in the recording of it. I acknowledge the human aspect of it. But, well, even taking all that into consideration, I still think the end result is just
wrong.
To suggest that a listener can’t fully appreciate
IMW because he or she has never felt the emotions that drove John Foxx to write the songs on it is unfair. I have been in love and I have been happy – it’s not all whiskey and Tindersticks round my house, you know! The starry-eyed lovesick sentiments aren't what bother me. The limited vocabulary of the lyrics doesn't bother me. The
arrangements, however, do! I love Van Morrison and I’m thrilled John Foxx does too, but karaoke versions are best left to teenagers down at the local. Eddi Reader has done some wonderful work in her career, but I do not count her contributions to
IMW as being among it. The backing vocals in particular date this album badly.
When you put it in the context of the times
IMW was easily John Foxx’s most consumer-friendly record (whether intentionally or by accident) and it’s still kind of amazing to me that it didn’t catch on bigger, because it wasn’t any worse than a lot of stuff that was popular. However, as I didn’t enjoy "Miami Vice" and John Hughes's teen films back then, I don’t look back on them with affectionate nostalgia now. Similarly, I didn’t like the sound of this particular brand of mainstream alterna-pop when it was huge (Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, Big Country, late-period Simple Minds), and I still don’t look on it fondly it now. It’s just never been my cup of tea and I don’t think it ever will be, and John Foxx’s approximation of it was not likely to change that opinion no matter how much good will I extend toward his efforts. Having relistened multiple times to
IMW I find I am continually frustrated by the kernels I hear of promising material in several of the songs that then, for the most part, go all gloppy and bombastic and cringe-worthy.
However, on a positive note, I acknowledge that the sound on the remastered Disc 1 is vastly improved and the balance is much better than on the previous CD. The change in tracking does help tremendously, because the songs that sound so much alike have been separated. And it’s always nice to hear John Foxx throwing himself wholeheartedly into his vocals, because he really
can sing (even though he seemingly prefers not to do so).
As for Disc 2, well . . . um . . . I don’t think I can add anything to what’s already been written about it! I expect I could go to my grave quite happily without having to listen to the likes of some of those bonus tracks again. Yikes!
I'm not sorry I caved in and bought it, but I suspect
IMW will continue to be my least favourite among John Foxx's many recordings. I really liked the following comments originally posted by feline1:
I can listen back now with a certain equanimity, because we know now that John survived and got it together again and has returned making Good Stuff again.
I just enjoy the bits that work . . . and just chortle/wince at the naff bits. But I don't feel threatened or depressed by them any more - they're in the past and we beat them!
And perhaps that may be the best explanation for why, although I am still not won over by this album, I am pleased to report that no discs have gone flying across my room . . .