LP Reviews: Victory and 2300 Jackson Street
Previous LP: Triumph (A)
VICTORY
Released: 1984
LP Charts: #3 R&B, #4 pop
Victory is a mess.
As you can see from the artwork, all six Jackson brothers are involved. Yep, Jermaine returned to the fold after nearly a decade detached from his brothers. Didn’t make much of a difference since nearly every song here was recorded by the brothers separately.
Best as I can tell, only on “Torture” (#12 R&B, #17 pop, #26 UK) did multiple Jacksons significantly sing on a song. On that track, Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie all share the lead. Coincidence that it also happens to be the best song on the album? Mayhaps!
But let’s get back to the mess.
On Triumph and Destiny the brothers had produced the whole albums together. On Victory, it’s a your turn, my turn proposition. So despite every brother getting a lead vocal, this sounds nothing like a group project.
“Wait” was Jackie’s solo showcase. It’s decent mid-80s R&B/rock hybrid. Randy’s “One More Chance” is pleasantly mellow and sparse. Michael’s “Be Not Always” is too mellow and too sparse.
“State of Shock” (#4 R&B, #3 pop, #14 UK) was definitely not mellow; it’s still pretty sparse though. It’s Michael and Mick Jagger peacocking all over a dance-rock beat that’s just drums, guitar, and bass. Despite the star power, the song is actually worse than “Wait” and “One More Chance”.
“We Can Change The World” is Tito’s time to shine! And you can tell he’s not a great singer on this reggae-ish track. His voice has all kinds of studio echo thrown on it. I don’t blame Tito at all, though. He always happily played his guitar never seeking the dancing or singing spotlight. But if everybody else is getting a lead vocal, why not Tito?!
Randy’s “The Hurt” is technically on the album, but does it matter?
Ending the LP on a thievish note, Marlon straight up rips off “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” on “Body”. Guess he figured his older brother would never sue for plagiarism.
ALBUM GRADE: C-
Despite being a lukewarm mess, Victory went double platinum based purely on hype. All six Jackson brothers went on the ridiculously ill-conceived Victory Tour. Imagine being Michael Jackson at this point. You’d just had the best-selling album of all-time with Thriller and then had to go on tour with your brothers… FOR THIS WRETCHED ALBUM instead of Thriller. I could see doing a few shows with the family but not a whole nationwide tour.
Afterwards, Michael and Randy quit the group. Can’t say I blame them.
Song Scores
Torture: 7/10
Wait: 6/10
One More Chance: 6/10
Be Not Always: 2/10
State Of Shock: 5/10
We Can Change the World: 4/10
The Hurt: 5/10
Body: 6/10
2300 JACKSON STREET
Released: 1989
LP Charts: #14 R&B, #59 pop
Prior to sitting down for this review, I’d only heard two songs from 2300 Jackson Street: the upbeat but generic “Nothin’ (That Compares 2 U)” and the pap title track.
So, I didn’t exactly come into this with high hopes. Gotta say my low expectations were exceeded, though. 2300 Jackson Street isn’t any Triumph—pun!—but it’s slightly yet definitively better than the messy Victory.
The number of Jacksons had never been fewer—just Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, and Randy—and there were a few outside producers, but the album still sounds far more cohesive than the preceding effort.
Let’s start with the title track, “2300 Jackson Street”. The address refers to the street that the family grew up on in Gary, Indiana. (Yes, the street was renamed for the family once they got famous). On one level this song is cute. If I had a family of nine siblings who had sold millions of records worldwide, I’d flex too by having them all sing on a single song. I mean, the song sucks musically, but I can’t knock the family for recording it.
I can knock them for releasing it as a single. It reached #9 on the R&B charts and I have to suspect it did so purely on the novelty factor of hearing all the Jackson children—from Jermaine to Janet to Michael to Rebbie—on one song.
Written and produced by Babyface and LA Reid, “Nothin’ (That Compares 2 U)” was much more deserving of its #4 R&B placing. Although generic New Jack Swing, it has its charm and far worse songs have done far better sales wise.
The great Lee Oskar drops by on the Jermaine Jackson produced “Maria” to play harmonica. Donna Summer’s husband Bruce Sedano and Michael Omartian helped the boys out with the rocker “Art Of Madness”. Teddy Riley produced the extremely loud “She” that clearly is built around the bridge of Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative” (also produced by Teddy Riley). The song’s biggest problem is that it’s too long. At three minutes? It works. At five minutes? It drags.
“Alright with Me” had the good sense to only last 3:25. Gets in and does its 80s pop business and gets out. I can respect that.
And the rest of the album just kinda blends together in a pleasant, but non-memorable way. You’ll have a hard time remembering anything here once the record stops.
Anyhoo, that’s the end of the line for the Jacksons as a group. They burst onto the musical scene with four consecutive #1 pop singles and 20 years later they just faded away.
ALBUM GRADE: C
Song Scores
Art Of Madness: 5/10
Nothin’ (That Compares 2 U): 6/10
Maria: 6.5/10
Private Affair: 5/10
2300 Jackson Street: 4/10
Harley: 6/10
She: 5/10
Alright With Me: 6/10
Play It Up: 6/10
Midnight Rendezvous: 5/10
If You’d Only Believe: 5/10
Previous LP: Triumph (A)