After over a decade w/ no access to the music of JF, and very limited access to Ultravox, i finally have a friend at a music shop who can order this stuff for me. (It takes forever, though..)
I have the first 4 JF albums,(Meta, JF, Garden, Section.) Years ago, I heard "Mysterious Ways", and to say I was disappointed would be putting it lightly. If anyone could reccomend some of John's other albums for me to check out, it would be appreciated.

Hi JT

If you can get it, I'd recommend the Golden Section Tour / Omnidelic Exotour digipac as the start point.

Ostensibly a double live album set, disc one is various performances from the 1983 tour that accompanied the release of the Golden Section.

Disc two is an apparently 'live' album - though no audience reactions or acoustics can be heard - featuring JF and Louis Gordon from 1997. The album incorporates vintage Ultravox, solo-JF and - at the time - newer songs from the JF & LG collaborations.

Never far from the top-played stuff in my iPod

The Omnidelic Exotour is not a live album as such – it's 'live' studio sessions, I think, but it's well worth tracking down if you can get it.

In Mysterious Ways is probably John's weakest album - or at least not the sound or style expected from him. Since 1995 John has been back doing what he does best.

I would recommend everything! Especially "The Pleasures of Electricity".

Here's a brief comment on his later works:

Shifting City (1995)
A very sparse electronic album, Beatles influence in places.

The Pleasures of Electricity (2001)
Excellent - so typically John. Takes you back to the same place Metamatic took you to. My favourite.

Cathedral Oceans 1, 2 or 3 (1995 - 2005)
Very ambient and etherial. All three volumes are very similar, but very good. My favourite is 'Cathedral Oceans 3'. Includes John's vocals like you've never heard them before!

Crash and Burn (2003)
Obvious Kraftwerk influence in places. Heavier and more energetic than 'Pleasures of Electricity'.

Nation 12 - 'Electrofear' (2005)
The unreleased collected works John did in the early 1990s with Tim Simenon under the name 'Nation 12'. Lots of demos, but quite interesting! Includes early versions of some tracks that ended up on Shifting City and Pleasures of Electricity.

Tiny Colour Movies (2006)
Yes, the new album - out next week (or advance copies from ebay). All instrumental concept album. Absolutely brilliant and quite varied.

Perfectly summarised Alex!

Chris C

I agree with Chris C. All the recent albums summerised nicely using very short paragraphs. I personally hate reading very long reviews. I tend to start skipping bits.
Thanks for this Alex

Blimey, is it really 3 years since "Crash and Burn"? Amazing to think that John's 'first' solo career lasted barely 5-6 years, and his second one's now been going for twice as long!

I must disagree slightly. I consider 'The Pleasures of Electricity' to be the worst album John has ever produced. Clearly he was trying to work out his Kraftwerk fixation and I hope he has done so permanently. It doesn't help that I don't much like Kraftwerk, 'Neon Lights EP' excepted.

Please don't compare it to 'Metamatic'. That is.... sssssacrilegious.....

*foams at mouth and growls quietly*