Sophistipop had run itвЂ™s course, yet Prefab Sprout still managed to find themselves on the outside looking in. Not making it to BillboardвЂ™s Top 200 albums was more a testament to the changes in the American popscape than the quality of the production. That fact alone might be why the genius of Thomas Dolby was not enough to push this album over the edge. While lyrics might suggest a troubled soul or sarcasm, the songs are beautifully arranged and structured more like Gershwin than any pop conventions of the day. Sublime melody is this albumвЂ™s calling card. Despite being heavy subject matter, McAloon manages to keep it positive and wraps it all in beautiful melody and harmonies. Many of the tracks are loosely grouped together in ways that complement each other by subject like the faith and personal redemption messages of the churchy вЂњOne of the BrokenвЂќ and вЂњMichaelвЂќ, which features a conversation with the famous angel. вЂњAll the World Love LoversвЂќ for instance turns the gushy love song on its ear with a more realistic approach to long term relationships вЂ“ all under the guise of a beautiful pop melody. Like much of Prefab SproutвЂ™s material, Jordan: The Comeback has a little humor and sarcasm. On a few tracks like вЂњThe IcemadenвЂќ she figures prominently early in the song in what can be described as a anti-harmony. Wendy Smith, whose soft vocals gave Two Wheel Good much of its charm was now firmly in the background and no longer the ghostly chorus of the past (that role had been taken by keyboards). Jordan: The Comeback does not dispense completely of guitars, but they take a back seat to synthesizers that give the production a more ethereal and symphonic sound. The withheld 1985 UK only release Protest Songs was where the ideal originally took root. Prefab Sprout had been slowly moving away from the scruffy post-punk of its earlier work to a more polished pop sound first introduced in 1988 to US audiences on From Langley Park to Memphis. As much a visual album as a sonic tour de force, Jordan: The Comeback played out like a 19 track Broadway musical complete with festive samba sounds (вЂњCarnival 2000вЂќ). Its similar territory thatвЂ™s been explored by other under promoted artists, but McAloonвЂ™s vision retains a childlike wonder and optimism missing from many of his peers. The four piece lineup lead by Paddy McAloon would once again work with Thomas Dolby who had become a defacto fifth member of the band it, a kind of George Martin to the Beatles as it were.ДolbyвЂ™s atmospheric production would give the McAloon the room to expand his pallet of musical ideals вЂ“ this time focusing more on love, faith and fleeting stardom. Unfortunately, his type of genius did not seem to sell well in America.ДЄfter a string of great but under distributed and promoted albums, Jordan: The Comeback was as close to a big league distribution as the band would ever get. Indeed, McAloon easily matches the brilliance Difford & Tillbrook and aspires to the level of greats like Sir Paul McCartney.

Paddy McAloon, never one to stand still artistically, was once hailed as one of the best songwriters of the вЂ™80s. Undeterred, the Sprouts set out to record perhaps its most ambitious album ever with Jordan: The Comeback. I think Jordan: The Comeback was their second.Д«y the end of the вЂ™80s, Prefab Sprout was flush with critical acclaim that did not always equate to massive sales in America. Many critics concede that Two Wheels Good (or Steve McQueen in the UK) was the bandвЂ™s first masterpiece.

From about 1984 on, the English band turned out one impressive album after another. One of the great underappreciated bands of the 1980s was Prefab Sprout.

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