In my ever-so-humble opinion, this is the best record that Joe Jackson ever made. It's also one of my favourite records of all time. I'd almost call it a masterpiece. The record contains Steppin' Out, one of the finest pop singles ever released. My first copy of this record was on cassette and I played it so much that the tape stretched and it became unplayable.
Of course, there is Jackson's weird take on Cancer:
Everything
Everything gives you cancer
Everything
Everything gives you cancer
There's no cure, there's no answer
Everything gives you cancer
On one level, that's fair enough, but then he says:
No caffeine
No protein
No booze or
Nicotine
Remember –
On the surface, this is also fair enough, since we know that tar is the cause of cancer not the drug nicotine. But, the primary medium for most people to use nicotine is smoking, and that is definitely cancerous. I wish he would just accept that he is an addict and dump the smoking apologies. But, back to the music.
There is not really a bad track on the record. I just wish the record was a bit longer. The weakest song might be T.V. Age, mostly because of his vocal delivery. Steppin' Out, A Slow Song, and Real Men are highlights for me.
You don't want to sound dumb – don't want to offend
So don't call me a faggot
Not unless you are a friend
Then if you're tall and handsome and strong
You can wear the uniform and I could play along
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