After carving out a moderately successful career as a jangling power pop craftsman,
Dwight Twilley
jumped headfirst into modern technology on 1984's
Jungle
. He backgrounds the guitars, trades a thumping live drum sound for a tinny robotic one, switches from analog reverb to digital effects, and adds globs of synths everywhere -- in the process managing to sound up-to-date circa 1984, but losing much of the magic along the way. The hit single "Girls," which features
Tom Petty
taking over the vocals in the chorus, comes closest to peak
Twilley
, but even that song sounds muted and plotted out rather than felt. It's a shame that
took the plunge into new recording techniques because the songs themselves aren't bad at all. For example, the chorus of lead track "Little Bit of Love" is super hooky and the vocals sound impressively impassioned, and "To Get to You" has a nice lilting melody and lyrics that really get to the confusion that intense love can bring. Sadly, the former is ruined by clunky sequencer patterns and corny, fake-sounding piano, while the latter is sunk by cornball electronic drums sounds, uninspired guitar work, and an extra, very unnecessary, layer of studio gloss. (The less said about the embarrassing title track the better...) One can't help but feel like if
had stripped the songs down and played them in the studio with his usual crew of musicians, the result would have been more exciting than this wet blanket of an album. Proof of that comes with the one song that keeps the technology at a minimum: "You Can Change It" is the most exciting track by far, "Girls" included. Despite its many flaws,
is still worth checking out for
fanatics and completists, though, because even borderline bad
is better than no
at all. [
Iconoclassic
's 2024 reissue of the album comes with new liner notes, remastered sound, and six bonus tracks. "Forget About It Baby" is a previously unreleased outtake, while the other five are a mix of demos and outtakes of songs from the album, some of them never released before.] ~ Tim Sendra