New-waver Joe Jackson returns with eclectic tracks

Highlights abound. On the jazzy side, for instance, there is the Oscar Peterson-esque "Uptown Train," which sprawls, in all its six-minute glory, right across the middle of the record. For the first minute, in fact, I was convinced that the song was going to be an instrumental, so convincing is its emulation of Blue Note jazz albums from the '50s - but Jackson is smarter than that, and, in an ingenious, surprising move, his keening falsetto bursts in at 1:26, transforming the track from an improvisational workout into a supremely catchy pop gem. Jackson's knack for melody also shines through on the album's more straightforward pop/rock tracks, many of which sound like they could've been plucked from Billy Joel's "The Stranger" with their strong piano lines and melodic, Beatles-esque vocal hooks. Joel's influence is particularly strong on the gorgeous, shimmering "Rush Across the Road," whose beautiful piano work and soaring chorus make up for its rather run-of-the-mill lyrics: "Someone that we've loved before is a love forever..." Come on, Joe, what happened to that old, snarky cynicism we loved you for?

The album's most successful songs, however, are its two ballads, and it's not just because they're the only tracks that vaguely live up to the downbeat connotations of a title like "Rain." First off, we have the jazzy, smoky "Wasted Time," a bittersweet love song that has what is by far Jackson's best vocal performance on the album. I dare you to listen to his sublime falsetto on the chorus without ripping open a box of Kleenex to check the tears. With its beautiful yet simple melody, "Wasted Time" already sounds like a standard and undoubtedly ranks among the best in Jackson's extensive catalogue. In this post-album world, if you have to download one track, make it this one. And, as long as you're there, you might as well grab the stately "A Place in the Rain," which matches abstract, Dylan-esque lyrics to a nostalgic, surging melody and some of the best piano work of the album. Jackson's intricate 30-second solo in the middle of the song is clear evidence of how much his late-'90s sojourn into classical music has paid off.

As impressive as it is, though, "Rain" isn't perfect and hardly stands as evidence of any kind of cathartic artistic rebirth on Jackson's part. Of course, I'm not demanding that every one of Jackson's albums be drastically different from its predecessors, but part of what makes "Rain" so strong - its variety - is also its greatest weakness, because this is all stuff Jackson has done before, and the problem is that sometimes it sounds like it. This detached, almost half-hearted attitude is most evident on the album's punkier songs, which sound awkward and perfunctory in comparison to raging tracks from his debut like "Got the Time" and "Baby Stick Around." "Good Bad Boy" is particularly dispiriting, a clumsy and rigid rock 'n' roller that tries far too hard to capitalize on past successes.

Even so, despite the occasional sense that Jackson is going through the motions, "Rain" is a consistent and satisfying record: not an artistic triumph, but certainly no failure. If you give it the chance, you'll find that beyond the professional veneer lie beautiful piano work and gorgeous melodies from one of the most creative and underrated minds in popular music. And if late-career albums from punk rockers past their prime doesn't sound like your cup of tea, well, run out and buy Jackson's debut "Look Sharp!" - a riffing, breathless, five-star classic that stands along "Never Mind the Bollocks" and "The Pretenders" as one of the most influential albums of the late '70s.

4 out of 5 stars

PROS: Strong song writing, eclecticism and great piano work, especially in the jazzy "Uptown Train"

CONS: The occasional sense that Jackson is going through the motions; no significant artistic growth. (Then again, Jackson's mined every genre from punk to Broadway-inspired show tunes, so what more can we ask? That he branch into hip hop?!?)