Goodbye Jumbo

Goodbye Jumbo
Studio album by World Party
Released	24 April 1990
Recorded	1987–1989
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	53:22
Label	Ensign
Producer	Karl Wallinger
World Party chronology
Private Revolution (1987) Goodbye Jumbo (1990) Bang! (1993)
Singles from Goodbye Jumbo
"Way Down Now" Released: 1990 "Put the Message in the Box" Released: 1990 "Thank You World" Released: 1991

Goodbye Jumbo is the second studio album by British alternative rock band World Party. Originally released on 24 April 1990 on Ensign Records, the album was aided by a number of guest artists, including Sinéad O'Connor and frontman Karl Wallinger's former bandmates in The Waterboys. Its traditional rock sound – guitar, bass and drums – was augmented by piano, strings, flute and electronic percussion. The songs on Goodbye Jumbo follow the loose concept of an everyman's journey from lonely despair to spiritual fulfillment.

Goodbye Jumbo was voted as Album of the Year by Q magazine in 1990, with the album also receiving a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album the same year. In 2000, Q placed it at number 94 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. A remastered version of Goodbye Jumbo was reissued by Seaview Records on 4 April 2006.

"Way Down Now", the album's lead single, spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and follow-up single "Put the Message in the Box" reached number 8.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Chicago Tribune	[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[5]
Hot Press	11/12[6]
Los Angeles Times	[7]
Q	[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]

In a contemporary review for the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot noted heavy influence from The Beatles in the album's "sense of pop and studio craft" and wrote that the biting humor and ironic viewpoint on life expressed in Wallinger's lyrics was balanced out by "memorable melodies and moments", calling all the album's songs "worth savoring."^[3] Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times felt that his "Lennonisms sound somehow endemic, not affected" and the wide range of musical influences on Goodbye Jumbo did not constitute "petty theft", stating that the album "comes together marvelously."^[7] Don McLeese of Rolling Stone wrote that Goodbye Jumbo "displays an ambition as broad as the emotional range of its music" and that while Wallinger's "missionary zeal occasionally belabors his messages", the album's music is "sufficiently vital to overpower resistance".^[9] Spin's Jon Young dubbed it as a "winning opus".^[10] One detractor was Robert Christgau of The Village Voice, who assigned the album a "dud" rating,^[11] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought".^[12]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Karl Wallinger.

1. "Is It Too Late?" – 4:24
2. "Way Down Now" – 3:49
3. "When the Rainbow Comes" – 4:58
4. "Put the Message in the Box" – 4:16
5. "Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready" – 5:05
6. "And I Fell Back Alone" – 3:57
7. "Take It Up" – 4:37
8. "God on My Side" – 4:14
9. "Show Me to the Top" – 5:15 (contains untitled hidden track beginning at 4:42)
10. "Love Street" – 4:21
11. "Sweet Soul Dream" – 4:39
12. "Thank You World" – 3:47

Personnel

Credits for Goodbye Jumbo adapted from album liner notes.^[13]

World Party Karl Wallinger – vocals, guitar, composition, design, engineering, production Guy Chambers – drums, harmonium, synthesizer, piano, sampling Martyn Swain – bass guitar Jeff Trott – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar

Additional personnel Joe Blaney – engineering Richard Evans – artwork Steven Fargnoli – management Jerod Minnies – acoustic guitar Roy Morgan – tambourine Michael Nash – design Sinéad O'Connor – backing vocals Sophia Ramos – backing vocals Steve Wallace – photography Chris Whitten – drum kit Steve Wickham – violin Tim Young – digital editing, mastering

Charts

Chart (1990	Peak position
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[14]	38
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15]	20
UK Albums (OCC)[16]	36
US Billboard 200[1]	73

Notes

1. "Goodbye Jumbo – World Party (Awards)". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
2. Erlewine, Iotis. "Goodbye Jumbo – World Party". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
3. Kot, Greg (10 May 1990). "World Party: Goodbye Jumbo (Ensign)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
4. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
5. Sandow, Greg (18 May 1990). "Goodbye Jumbo". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
6. Byrne, George (3 June 1990). "Goodbye Jumbo". Hot Press. Retrieved 14 July 2015. (subscription required (help)).
7. Willman, Chris (27 May 1990). "World Party 'Goodbye Jumbo' Ensign/Chrysalis". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
8. Black, Johnny (June 1990). "World Party: Goodbye Jumbo". Q (45).
9. McLeese, Don (31 May 1990). "World Party: Goodbye Jumbo". Rolling Stone (579). Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
10. Young, Jon (July 1990). "World Party: Goodbye Jumbo". Spin 6 (4): 79–80. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
11. Christgau, Robert. "CG: World Party". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
12. Christgau, Robert. "Key to Icons". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
13. Goodbye Jumbo (liner notes). World Party. Ensign Records. 1990. CDP 32 1654 2.
14. "Dutchcharts.nl – World Party – Goodbye Jumbo" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
15. "Swedishcharts.com – World Party – Goodbye Jumbo". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
16. "World Party | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved January 20, 2016.