When Karl Wallinger left the Waterboys in the mid-'80s to form World Party, it only took one song to convince fans that this was no one-off side project. That track, "Ship of Fools," and 12 others populate the band's first-ever "greatest-hits" compilation, the appropriately titled Best in Show. Wallinger, a devout "Beatlemaniac," never aped a move by the Fab Four without throwing more of himself into the mix, which makes World Party's sophomore effort, Goodbye Jumbo, such a joy. Represented here by no less than seven tracks, Jumbo riffed on the new beatnik vibe of the early '90s without ever resorting to the mildly disingenuous Lenny Kravitz version of the "new summer of love." World Party may have been part-Dylan, part-Donovan with a little bit of Wings-era McCartney thrown in for good measure, but Wallinger's socially conscious brand of mysticism felt firmly rooted in the prosperous Clinton era. Cuts like "Put the Message in the Box," "Way Down Now," and "Thank You World" grooved with an easy-enough vibe to lure AAA radio listeners, but connected on a deeper level with the college crowd. 1993's Bang!, 1997's Egyptology, and 2000's Dumbing Up deserve more than the one track apiece that appear here, but to be fair, Bang!'s "Is It Like Today?," one of the group's strongest moments, was the last real radio presence Wallinger and company enjoyed. Best in Show is nothing if not concise, and while longtime fans might lament the omission of songs like "All I Gave," "Vanity Fair," and "Kingdom Come," incoming ears will perk up and seek them out for themselves.
The first thing to say about this 5 CD Arkeology 'diary and music collection', a set that that serves up 70 new and rare studio recordings including covers and live material spanning 25 years, is that presentationally it certainly has the 'wow' factor.
Like the rest of us who grew up on the wonders of the gatefold album sleeve, Karl Wallinger is fed up with CD packaging that needs a magnifying glass to decipher the lyrics / credits. So Arkeology is delivered in a much more user friendly, and useful, almanac format - a 142 page, any year (although it includes calendars through to 2015), large paperback sized, ring bound, diary.
In many ways Arkeology doubles as both the 6th World Party album, and a wonderful, previously unheard, reflective 'behind the scenes' trawl through the previous 25 year history of World Party.
The thing that strikes you most is the consistency and quality of the song writing, musicianship and the recordings - whether they be songs finished as recently 2011, unreleased rare studio gems, live sessions, concert recordings or b-sides and demos.
Wallinger's love of the sixties - The Stones, Dylan, Neil Young, The Beach Boys and of course, the Beatles is never far below the surface, as evidenced by the inclusion of covers such as Dear Prudence, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, Cry Baby and Fixing A Hole (The Beatles), Like A Rolling Stone and Sweetheart Like You (Dylan) and Man Was We Lonely (McCartney). He would have fitted like a glove into The Travelling Wilburys line-up: probably Wallinger's idea of dying and going to heaven.
Naturally, the more obvious World Party 'hits' are included - live versions of Put The Message In The Box recorded in the USA in '93 and 2006, live versions of Ship Of Fools from the Kilburn Empire in 1990 and the States in 1998, and the Robbie Williams covered She's The One from the same concert.
But over the whopping 5 hours running time of Arkeolgy there's something for everyone, whether it be Wallinger's impressive reinventions of his heroes, his dabbling with Prince style funk, or excursions in to soul and even, opera. For World Party aficionados the decision to purchase Arkeology is a 'no brainer'. And for those less familiar with Karl Wallinger's work it serves as an ideal jumping off point for exploring the 5 studio albums.
It really is a lovely artefact, and while Karl claims the packaging is designed to be as useful as it is informative, it would be sacrilegious to deface it. The only criticism I can level is that it simply isn't going to fit onto your cd shelves next to your World Party collection.
Karl Wallinger really hit his stride on Goodbye Jumbo, which has the same overly obvious influences as Private Revolution but which features more steady and substantial songs. Indeed, it’s easy to marvel at the consistent quality of the songwriting and the excellent execution of the performances, with pretty synthesizers and a wonderfully melodic guitar tone leading the way along with Wallinger’s plaintive croon. This is a thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully crafted pop album that’s aided by a clean production sound that perfectly fits the bright, buoyant material. Lyrically, Wallinger again focuses on the environment and other topics that are important to him, particularly religion and relationships, and impressively rich, mellow grooves carry the often-evocative album forward musically. Perhaps I could live without the sparse, funky “Is It Too Late?” (a poor choice for an album opener), and I’m also not a fan of the discofied “Show Me To The Top,” but otherwise I’d be hard pressed not to tout any of the other tracks. THE CLASSIC groover “Way Down Now” (which liberally borrows from the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil”) and the emininently singable “Put The Message In The Box” were minor hits and both are outstanding, but the evocative “When The Rainbow Comes,” with its gorgeous slide guitar and lyrics lifted from the Marvelettes (how in the world did Wallinger escape plagiarism charges?), the uplifting “Take It Up,” and “Sweet Soul Dream,” a sweet soul ballad on which Sinead O’Connor again guests, are almost as good. Elsewhere, “Ain’t Gonna Come ‘Till I’m Ready” is sexually explicit yet still sexy, even if there isn’t much of a melody to it (it still works, mostly ‘cause of Wallinger’s falsetto), while “And I Fell Back Alone” and “God On My Side” are sparse, solemn ballads and “Love Street” is a beautifully breathy synth ballad. Last but not least, “Thank You World” provides an uplifting, sincere signoff from a then-popular but since-neglected gem of an album that at the very least ranks as a minor classic of its type, some liberal borrowings and a duff track or two aside. Karl Wallinger is a true pro, and this is a sparkling, expertly crafted pop album by a "band" who (then and especially now) deserve a much wider audience.
Though drummer Chris Sharrock and guitarist Dave Catlin-Birch have signed on as official band members, World Party is still Karl Wallinger’s show, though co-producer Steve Lillywhite adds his customary big drum sound to songs such as “Give It All Away.” An avid psychedelic-era Beatles fan whose soulful synth pop sound is updated by Prince-ly affectations (particularly “What Is Love All About?” and “Rescue Me”), Wallinger remains a gifted melodist, and the album starts strongly with “Kingdom Come” and “Is It Like Today?,” both of which continue along the same lines as the mellow musings found on the excellent Goodbye Jumbo. “Kingdom Come” has pleasantly smooth synths, a brisk beat, and country guitars going for it along with varied vocal hooks (the galloping chorus and the airy “forever” sections), while “Is It Like Today?” is the kind of effortlessly melodic and singable ditty that gives singer-songwriters a good name. “What Is Love All About?” is another questioning, socially conscious winner, this one on the funky side, but after that promising start the middle of the album flounders somewhat, largely because of a reliance on overly busy arrangements and electronic effects, plus the fact that Wallinger’s voice doesn’t translate well to higher volumes. The silly interlude “And God Said...” is also a hindrance (preachy lyrics are again a problem), while “Hollywood” and “Radio Days” are overly repetitive, lazy efforts. Fortunately, the ship gets righted on “Rescue Me,” which among other funky Prince-like attributes features a soulful guitar solo. The next song, “Sunshine,” provides ample ammunition to detractors who lament the band’s obvious musical references, since the song starts by borrowing the melody of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” before borrowing the melody of The Who’s “Getting In Tune.” It’s still a solid song, and "Sooner Or Later" and “All I Gave” are other singable synth pop pleasures, though “Give It All Away (Reprise)” repeats one of the album’s weaker songs, new ideas obviously being harder to come by this time around. Strangely enough, despite being an overly long and disappointingly patchy album, this was the band’s biggest commercial success, hitting #2 on the U.K. charts. Still, Bang! is certainly not the place to start with World Party, though there’s enough high quality stuff here that fans of the band’s previous work should be willing to give it a try.