Level 42 - World Machine

Contains Three Bonus Tracks Not on USA Version.i Sleep on My Heart, Coup D'Etat and Dream Crazy. Album Details

Incomparable Masterpiece

Amazing, Simply Amazing, What a song, what a song, what a composition, Mark King is the King,Lindep and all,you were great, I thank the circumstances that lead to Level 42's creation and their music, especially the perfection that this song "Something About You" is, so melancholic, yet stylish, cool cool cool.what does it take to make a song like this, a perfection like this, really boggles the mind, the swagger, the sadness, the sophistication....class...absolute class! August 31, 2007

World Machine Level 42

Back in the eighties I was really into Level 42, (yes, I know that's Mark King, I just typo'ed it and couldnt figure out how to fix that...) I played their music for hours when I was younger, I don't know why but I just stopped playing them, but also most of the other music I enjoyed back then, Recently while with a friend a song came on the radio "Something About You", I instantly fell in love with the band, this was one of my favorite CD's back then, and when I couldnt find it in my collection, nor any of the other Level 42 discs I knew I had, I went all out and bought them all over again, again one track especially on the WORLD MACHINE my all time favorite, "Something About You'.....really "something about" this song, and every other song on this CD, You won't be disappointed, really. May 31, 2007

Level 42

First song I have heard was Love Games in 1980 and I was totally suprised. This was unlike anything else. Superb musicianship. Mostly Mark King on Bass and one of Gould brothers on drums. Just amazing precision.World Machine I found very special, Level 42 was at their peak.
Too bad it did not last forewer. Today only Mark King is the ramaining member and it is not the same. December 12, 2004

One GREAT Little Song!

I would be pretty safe I'm sure in saying that 'Something About You" is the culmination of everything Level 42 had been trying to accomplish in it's then five years of existance,and four of the stars shown relate strictly to the song!It's a classic perhapes because of how familiar it is to me (having heard it in saturation play during the autunm of my fifth year;1985 to be excact) and also because of the general clean mix and clever arrangement.It was a time when heavily R&B,funk and jazz-oriented groups such as The Talking Heads,Sade,Scritti Politi and The Style Council had a good chance of getting a decent hit without selling out,and they did.
There's only one little problem with this.That one brilliant single notwithstanding 'World Machine' sounds like one of Level 42's least satisfying albums,and contains very little of the sting and zest of the groups first four albums.I suppose the changes started coming on 'True Colours',but even so they're strictly musical ones-the band still sounds miraculous from a standpoint of pure chemistry.But the trouble here (namely in the title song) is that Level 42 and Mark King himself have started to back away from the jazz fusion and R&B/funk stylings of their earlier work in favor of a blander pop sound that embraced more strains of latin and hispanic melodies and percussion.Not that there is anything wrong with that but in the mid 80's artists like Paul Simon,Peter Gabrial and Sting had that worldbeat stuff locked away and they all did spectacular work with that sound.
But it just doesn't mesh well with Level 42's particular brand of music whitch tends to be more sultry,glossy and quite funky.
So 'World Machine' is a great album for it's time-it's up with the current trend of that era and has certain reminders of this bands firey past.But Mark King's bassey funk instrumentals are now a thing of the past-every song has vocals and pop hooks.So did Level 42 sell out?Not here,just had their music take a very different form.I recommend this album to fans of Level 42's more commercialy potent period but for fans of the band's more fusion and funk material the UK have put out a two CD set covering both the bands self-titled debut,1980's 'The Early Tapes' PLUS bonus material.That and the twofer containing the albums 'Pursuit Of Accidents" and "Standing In The Light" are the type of albums fans of the classic Level 42 British jazz/funk styles will enjoy more.For fans of more pop/R&B with slight funk/fusion influences this album and most of what came after it are a good choice.It all depends on what you want. October 28, 2004

Pop Sensibilities, Jazz-Funk Musicianship

This is where it all started for most Yanks like me. Imagine that it's 1986, and you have your first taste of this quartet from England. They write really thumpin' dance-pop songs and really pretty pop ballads, but underneath it all is a stylistic nod to classic 70's jazz-funk a la Stanley Clarke and the musicianship to pull it off. In other words these were world-class musicians making great pop. World Machine has all of the above in spades.

Nowhere is this pop vs. musicianship phenomena more evident that on the worldwide hit single "Something About You". It's a great pop song with a great hook and lush vocals, but it is driven by the stalwart rhythm section of bassist-extraordinaire Mark King and groovalicious drummer Phil Gould, for my money one of the funkiest drummers ever. Guitarist Boon Gould delivers a beautiful guitar solo to boot.

King is without a doubt the most visible of Level 42's star musicians. He is arguably the greatest bass guitarist in the world, and World Machine shows a slightly more subdued side of Mark King. The thumb acrobatics of prior Level 42 albums give way to more tasteful yet still funky bass guitar work on "Lying Still" and "It's Not the Same for Us". Try doing what he can do on the bass guitar AND sing at the same time!

Other highlights include the pretty yet melancholy "Leaving Me Now", featuring Mike Lindup's beautiful piano work, and the title track "World Machine", a club-friendly dance number.

World Machine shows a band at its peak of popularity yet also in transition. In a couple of years after this release, producer Wally Badarou would be gone as would the Gould brothers. The classic jazz-funk sound of Level 42 would eventually give way to a more rock-based sound. So this is an important time capsule of sorts in that it shows the best of Level 42's jazz-funk past but also hints at the best of things to come.

A special note about the latest US release of World Machine is that it includes a couple of songs that were originally released on the True Colours album from 1984: "The Chant Has Begun" and "Hot Water". These are among the all-time Level 42 classic songs, but they are included at the expense of excluding other classic Level 42 tunes "I Sleep On My Heart", "Coup D'Etat", and the ever-funky "Dream Crazy", which were included on the original US version and are on the current UK version. May 23, 2004

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