_Look Sharp!_ is a smash album with ridiculously catchy tunes, infectious melodies, cynical and ambivalent lyrics, and snappy rhythms that'll be impossible *not* to bop your head to. There is literally not one boring, unlistenable tune to be found here: every track is jam-packed with energy, taste and charisma. While the lyrics are quite sarcastic (and hilarious in spots), the music is impossibly upbeat, and refrains from depressing wallowing: leave it to wisecracking Joe to turn something so self-deprecating and sarcastic into something peppy and upbeat -- it almost makes you wonder if Joe is celebrating his own dissatisfactions with love and life. Either way, infectiousness and intelligence are so rare to come by in one package. But Joe Jackson delivers big-time in this department. "One More Time" is a perfect example of how Joe makes something miserable sound so peppy and fun: listen to those ironic, almost masochistic lyrics. Yet the music is so driving, tasty and energetic. Of course, many already know "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" featuring those semi-hilarious, yet reflective lyrics, and the muted riff on the verses. "Throw It Away" is a fast-paced, energetic rocker, with Joe howling in certain parts of the track. The title track many may have heard as well: a snappy, tasty number exhibiting excellent musicianship. Listen to the sophisticated arrangement in the vocal harmonies during the closing parts of the chorus. "Fools In Love" is a reggae-rock number that pretty much speaks for itself, title-wise: the lyrics and Joe's vocal delivery crack me up hysterically. Hilarious stuff. And later, to close out the album, "Got The Time" is a fast-paced, energetic rocker in the style of "Throw It Away."

Want something ludicrously catchy and snappy? Want something subtly sarcastic and sneering, but at the same time, utterly reflective, moving and funny? Want some upbeat music good for cruising with your girlfriend, or otherwise? Pick this album up, along with _I'm The Man_. Both are essential Joe Jackson albums.


Awesome remastering of a landmark album   August 15, 2001
doublehighc (California)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

The new Joe Jackson CD reissues of "Look Sharp!" and "I'm The Man" are paradigms of CD remastering. Hats off to reissue producer Mike Ragogna, remastering guru Erick Labson, and the rest of the reissue team for a superb job!

If you like these albums, these reissues have everything you could want - dramatically improved sound, non-album B-sides as bonus tracks, expanded album art, full lyrics, new liner notes, and a mid-range price.

This was Joe Jackson's debut album and it still sounds great over 20 years later. This is the one with "Is She Really Going Out With Him?", but just about all the songs on it are excellent. Softer songs like the reggae-ish "Fools In Love" especially benefit from the wonderful remastering job - you can hear every bit of the interplay between the Joe and his 3-piece band.

More please!


Classic New Wave Album   July 25, 2002
Dave Yoerke (Pittsburgh, PA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Joe Jackson's debut album is one of the greatest debuts of all time. Before you even pop the CD in to your player, you can look at one of the greatest album covers of all time. It shows two shiny, white shoes, casting light upon the sidewalk in front of them. Incredibly cool. Then, the music. "Look Sharp" is filled with varying musical styles. Punk, reggae, pop, and even jazz can be heard at different points on this record. Another achievement of Jackson's on this record is the songwriting. Much of "Look Sharp" conveys Jackson's cynical views on relationships, dating, and love. This often is presented in a humorous manner, which makes it that much more entertaining to listen to. The album kicks off with "One More Time," one of the more punkish tunes on the album. It goes on to classics such as "Sunday Papers," and "Is She Really Going Out With Him." The latter is arguably the strongest song on the album. It is Jackson's observations on the men he sees the women around him dating ("pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street..."). Other standout tracks include "Fools In Love" ("fools in love, are there any other kind of lovers?") and "Look Sharp." Overall, a classic new wave-period album that is both emotional and humorous at the same time. One of the talented Jackson's crowning achievements.


Joe Jackson's First Album Is His Best   December 4, 2005
The Footpath Cowboy (Kingston, NY United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

LOOK SHARP!, Joe Jackson's debut album, is also his best. He had yet to turn into a crank here, and the lyrics are filled with righteous anger and biting humor. "Sunday Papers" is an attack on the press for sensationalizing things, and expresses how I felt when a murder on campus at my old school made the newspapers and the TV news, leading to a fellow alumnus telling me that he'd never wear a school jacket from there to meet his favorite actress, as well as my feelings about how the news sensationalizes crimes by people with mental disabilities, which promotes discrimination against them. "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" and "Happy Loving Couples" humorously satirize romantic breakups, and "One More Time" and "Throw It Away" show a guy dissing his girlfriend for wanting a romantic vacation in a country that regularly arrests foreign tourists for trumped-up crimes, which is not surprising considering Jackson's belief that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia on drug-smuggling charges was unjustly convicted. The only problem with this CD is that it's TOO perfect; Joe Jackson would equal it on the follow-up, and then swiftly decline.


Angry Young Man + Tight Band   June 26, 2002
Timothy D. Shoppa (Bethesda, MD USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

I've played this album over and over again on vinyl and now have this new remastered CD. The sound on the CD is better, and the tight band of the original vinyl is still perfectly intact. It sounds like you're listening to a live set (all the energy you could expect out of any recording session) while the band is flawless; a combination that no other "angry young men" band of the late 70's could achieve. (OK, most of the other bands didn't play more than 3 chords, but that's a different matter.)

Not all the songs are "angry young man"-oriented, of course. The background of club music is very strong, especially in "Is she
really going out with him" and the almost doo-wop "Baby stick around", but these are executed with a vibrancy and excitement that you rarely see applied to pop-tunes. At the other end of the spectrum "Got the time" and "Throw it away" are pure frenzy that's also musical. I would give anything to go back in time and see the band do these live.

The two bonus tracks are obviously just "tacked on" to the end of this CD; they don't belong there but I won't hold them against the CD. Just program your CD player to not play them.