=
Every day brings change,
And the world puts on a new face,
Certain things rearrange,
And the world seems like a new place.
Secretly I've been trailing you,
Like a Fox that preys on a Rabbit,
I had to get you, and so I knew,
I had to learn all your ways and all your habits.
You're the catch that I was after,
I looked up and I was in your arms,
And I know I was captured.
What's this whole world coming to,
Things just ain't the same,
Anytime the hunter gets captured by the game.
=

I was browsing my vinyl collection, looking for something that I could rip from my turntable when I hit a snag at Warm Leatherette, the fourth studio album from model turned singer Grace Jones. The Jamaican-born Ms. Grace Jones is known as one of the scariest, craziest personalities in the musical world, the cinematic world, and the modeling world due to her bluntly androgynous image and the way she challenged gender roles. After three underground disco records, Grace Jones went in an entirely different direction with her forth record and began her work at Compass Point Studios. Grace had not yet dipped her feather into the songwriting ink, so Warm Leatherette is a collection of covers from a slew of genres including punk rock, pop rock, new wave, and soul. But then Grace Jones and her band of producers and characters decided to turn each and every track and flip it on its head. With the first off three Compass Point records, Grace took her surprisingly gorgeous singing voice and created avant-reggae, which branches out to electronica and disco. The result is a musical acid trip that I regard as the greatest record of her career. If you've read my reviews on Epinions before, then you know that my favorite time in music was 1980 - 1983, a time when music was in a very awkward state-- who knew where the hell it was going to hell. Men at Work, Debbie Harry, Queen, and others were busy with heavily experimental records that either put them on the top or cost them whole fanbases. In 1980, with this record, Grace Jones put herself on a new playing field.

The reason I wanted to trip Warm Leatherette from the vinyl in the first place is for one very specific reason: the CD mastering sucks harder than an experienced hooker. The only reason to buy the CD version is to hear the unedited versions of the tracks; because just about every song on this album ran too long (hitting the seven and eight-minute marks), they had to be severely edited for an LP release. As cool as it is to hear the full mixes, not only do I prefer these shorter cuts, but they each have a very vibrant sound that makes the vinyl release a treasure to behold. While I like both editions of this powerful album, the vinyl version strips it off any musical padding that should have been left to maxi singles for DJs to play around with. My copy of Warm Leatherette currently runs at around 40 minutes; in comparison, the CD mix runs at about 46, meaning that five of the eight songs were either abridged or severly chopped down to size. This review will focus on both.

Warm Leatherette begins off this album with a minimal synth beat with loud guitar strikes that musically illuminate and hit very, very hard. Grace screams with her scary, I'm-going-to-eat-you voice: "WAAAARRMM!" before she sarcastically and tauntingly spits out "...leatherette." The song was originally written and performed by Daniel Miller, but it was Grace's crazy delivery and hypnotic vibe that made this art-rock song something special and valuable. It's edit on the vinyl is awkward and rushed, so the CD version has a bit of a one-up here. The track can feel a little long, but I'd rather a long mix than an abrupt end. Private Life is a famous cover of the Pretenders song, and the fantastic Chrissy Hynde was very adamant that Grace's version was the way she initially wanted it to sound. The spoken-word version are combined with a dusty reggae beat and very hushed choruses. As the record goes on, the covers just get better and better, but first you get treated to a bouncy pop song in A Rolling Stone, the only track to feature lines penned by Grace herself, accompanied by others. Her vocals and attitude are fully developed and recognized on Love is the Drug, a cover of Roxy Music's classic new wave anthem. Bryan Ferry is absolutely wonderful, and I have quite a few of his solo records-- that said, Grace absolutely tears through this song 1,000 times better than he ever could with her hot vocals that are both strong and entertaining to listen to. It's the longest track on either release, but because of the slick production and urgent vibe make it deserving of its runtime.

Side B fairs just as well as Side A, perhaps even better. The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game is quite possibly Smokey Robinson's finest songwriting moment, and it's clever lyrics are haunting, eerie, and ...catchy? Oh, yeah. This song is amazing. My favorite version of this song would have to be the smokey (ha!) and starkly candid version sung by Debbie Harry and Blondie on The Hunter that was released two years after this version. Grace's rendition is a complete 180 from their jungle-inspired mix; it features some of her older disco elements, but they are reworked and now sound timeless. Less like a two-bit 70s single, the beats work together and remind me a lot of Chic. Grace's voice is, of course, stellar, and this is really the kind of track she sound be lending it to. Unfortunately, the flat mastering on the CD edition makes it completely unlistenable. Drastically shorter on the vinyl, it features much more kick and in-your-face presence-- it's amazing how a bad pressing can ruin a song (and my day.) Bullshit follows, and it's the most universally loathed track on the album. Personally, I like the slight country vibe that it has. Not to mention it's got verses that find their way into your memory and never leave. Warm Leatherette finishes on two downtempo reggae songs that are wet, moody, and bitter: Breakdown, a cover of the Tom Petty song, blows the original out of the water; Pars (Leave) is an angry track sung in French with musical samples and motifs that hook the listener easily. Her deliver transcends language-- you just know she's hurt. When you finish this album, you're not sure if she just took you to an underground disco, her bedroom, a movie theater, a stage, or simply in your mind. Though it was released in less than a year between her last disco record Muse, Grace Jones and those at Compass Studios created one of the best records of the decade.

VERDICT
Get the vinyl edition. It's a damn-near perfect exploit in rock, pop, reggae, disco, and funk. Grace Jones outdid herself in so many ways on this record. Each cover sounds like she wrote it. The CD edition is way too dragged-out for words, not to mention the fact that it was poorly mastered and the volume is too low. You don't want it, you never want it. You will, however, go out right now and get yourself a beautiful 12" copy.

01. Warm Leatherette [4.5 Stars]
02. Private Life [4.5 Stars]
03. A Rolling Stone [4.5 Stars]
04. Love is the Drug [5 Stars]
05. The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game [5 Stars]
06. Bullshit [5 Stars]
07. Breakdown [5 Stars]
08. Pars [5 Stars]

Best: Breakdown, The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game, and Pars
Worst: ...I dunno.

SCORE: 5 STARS (4.8+ )

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OTHER GRACE JONES REVIEWS
1977 - Portfolio
1980 - Warm Leatherette
2008 - Hurricane

Recommended: Yes